Since childhood, a man's dreams have taken him into a distant ancestor's life. He recounts here the experiences of Big-Tooth, a protohuman in the
savage wilderness of the Mid-Pliocene, who battles predator and starvation and even his own species for survival.
Review
Though based on outdated models of human evolution, this story nevertheless creates an adventurous, danger-filled world with various "tribes" of
primitive beings. Interestingly, London chose to portray not the more advanced "Fire People," who have developed weapons and rudimentary language, but a
less-advanced primate whose kin vacillate between arboreal and terrestrial existence, casting some question over which lineage eventually led to modern
Homo sapiens. But, then, neither the narrator nor Big-Tooth claim to be scholars; they simply relate their experiences as their shared memory
recorded it, admitting that there are simply too many gaps and too many puzzles to ever find true answers. The story itself wanders, with glimpses of
human impulses often overshadowed by animal leanings among Big-Tooth and his kind - the man-to-be still grappling with the beast-that-was. Still, I
found it intriguing for what it was, and it successfully killed a couple afternoons.
Two of Jack London's most famed books, plus a biographical introduction by Abraham Rothberg: The Call of the Wild - Born and raised in sunny California, the dog Buck finds himself abducted by a servant and sold to
unscrupulous men, bound for the Gold Rush in Alaska to be broken as a sled dog. Chained and beaten for the first time in his life, facing
bitter weather and terrible masters, Buck's spirit refuses to let him die... and something deep within that spirit responds to the savage,
white wilderness, so unlike the soft green world he came from. White Fang - Sole surviving offspring of an Indian husky and wolf father, the pup White Fang started life in the harsh and
unforgiving Wild, before following his mother into Man's territory. Seeing these strange creatures as forces akin to gods, White Fang learns
of their hard rules and cruel justice... but can any of these terrifying, club-bearing beasts teach him the lesson he needs most, the lesson
of the strength of love?
(Note: The Amazon link above leads to a different edition than the older one reviewed.)
Review
This rating takes into account all three parts of the book. While I found The Call of the Wild a decent read, the rest of it drug
things firmly back into Okay territory. Rothberg's long-winded introduction, outlining the author's unhappy life and premature death, is riddled
with spoilers. Buck's tale paints a grim and hostile picture of the Gold Rush and humanity in general, with a bittersweet ending. White
Fang reads like a spiritual sequel to The Call of the Wild, with the wolf learning the ways of the dog instead of the dog learning
the ways of the wolf. Unfortunately, White Fang's story runs in circles more often than it advances, and has far too much space between its
beginning, middle, and end. (Any book where the main character isn't even born until the sixth chapter should have encountered a firmer editor at
some point between creation and publication.) That said, London's prose is interesting, if somewhat exaggerated, and I can see why both books
would be considered classics.
