Book 85: White Fang, by Jack London

Read: November 2010

Review: At first, I have to confess, I found this book incredibly dull. Tis one of many with which, were it not for the challenge, I would have neglected to persevere. It is, after all, a book about a dog. Thankfully this dog is not anthropomorphised; his thoughts and feelings are described from a human point of view, but with constant reminders that he is, in fact, a dog. Or a wolf. Or something in between. The tale of White Fang, cub of one wolf and one half-wolf, born in the wild but taken in to the community of men at a young age, began to get interesting about a third of the way through. In spite of the overly liberal peppering (and frequent repetition) of moralistic and philosophical explanations, I enjoyed reading about the life of the wolf and how his different treatment at the hands of different people brings out the full variety of his character. The opening sequence, which lasts several chapters and is the only part of the book told from a human point of view, seemed irrelevant at first but, with hindsight, it has the effect of setting the scene, demonstrating the type of book this is to be, and providing us with some background knowledge of our protagonist and his lupine race. As the wolf’s character develops, reading about his exploits becomes more interesting. To me the parallels between wolf and human are only too obvious, as the widely different treatment recieved at the hands of White Fang’s three owners results in corresponding behaviour on the part of the animal. Interesting.