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Rating: 
Summary: wilderness
Review: both of these books are good. both have an animal as a main star. L has a way of describing how you adjust to the wild and how it influence you. you simply have to adjust to survive. in Call of the wild, the wilderness really grow on you. in White fang the real wilderness seem to be something inside creatures, breaking down the barrier between creature and nature (sort of).
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Summary: Good, but marred somewhat by London's Social Darwinism
Review: I had mixed reactions to this book. I missed it as a kid, and as an adult I have read too many other books to miss its shortcomings. Now, reading it as an adult, I find I have two major objections to the book, difficulties with central elements that impede my enjoyment of it. First, there is the book's personification of animals. I don't enjoy books where the author projects human emotions and instincts into nonhuman animals. Too many of Buck's actions were inexplicable as as a dog but explicable as a human. The second difficulty lies the poor understanding of animal behavior that the book projects. London didn't have the benefit of the work of ethologists like Konrad Lorenz and David Mech, but as readers we do, and their work makes much of the behavior of Buck unfathomable. Finally, like the vast majority of people, I find Social Darwinism to be both unpalatable and outmoded. Philosophically, this book harkened from a completely different generation. Today we have trouble accepting survival of the fittest modes of thought. On the other hand, despite these shortcomings and the naive philosophy, London does manage to tell a nice story, and I did find myself caring about what happened to Buck.
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Summary: The Gory Truth of Call of the Wild
Review: I highly recrecommend Call of the Wild to Sick minded people who do nothing but sit around all day playing bloody gore war games rated M. There is a bloody graphic death every chapter! YAY! OH! And who could forget the gory fight scences? Eptic blood battles with the moral being winners kill and loosers show mercy! What an important life lesson! And the PAIN!! How can life go on without PAIN? Broken bones, body slashes, club beatings, and, best of all, freezing to death!!! Ah, What a life! In conclusion, I prefer MY games rated E for everyone.
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Summary: The Gory Truth of Call of the Wild
Review: I highly recrecommend Call of the Wild to Sick minded people who do nothing but sit around all day playing bloody gore war games rated M. There is a bloody graphic death every chapter! YAY! OH! And who could forget the gory fight scences? Eptic blood battles with the moral being winners kill and loosers show mercy! What an important life lesson! And the PAIN!! How can life go on without PAIN? Broken bones, body slashes, club beatings, and, best of all, freezing to death!!! Ah, What a life! In conclusion, I prefer MY games rated E for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing book
Review: I just started really getting into the classics, and my mother in law got me this book. By the first chapter I became a Jack London fan. These two stories are incredible and intense. I think anybody would love it, but especially those who are interested in animals and/or psychology. I didn't want White Fang to ever end. Oh, I just loved it! I will purchase more Jack London novels, especially at these prices!
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Summary: How'd London end up in the children's section?
Review: Jack London has his faults -- prone to overuse of superlatives; overdescription and overemphasis; occasional suggestions of misanthropy; an uneasy blend of aristocratic intellectualism and socialist populism. But not that many writers can match his linguistic energy, and at his best his writings achieve a majesty and intensity akin to the cinematic mode of expression. White Fang is the better story, despite London scholar Andrew Sinclair's protestations to the contrary. Criticizing the "bathos" of the ending, he probably missed the cynicism that can be extracted from the "Blessed Wolf" ending. Human recognition doesn't mean much in the end of White Fang, after all -- notice that London does not end on the note of "Blessed Wolf" but on the more important thing -- rejuvenation, the next generation...the puppies. This is the true triumph of the wolf, not the acceptance of the Sierra Vista. White Fang succeeds on the strength of its coming-of-age story and because White Fang is less heroic than Buck. Buck in The Call of the Wild is almost too powerful to be convincing -- his defeat at the hands of The Man in the Red Sweater makes his devastation of the Yeehat tribe at the end of the novella incredible. However, Sinclair's criticisms of Jack London taking liberties with dog behaviour (eg. Buck's "imagination" while fighting; White Fang's electric-cars-as-screaming-lynxes nightmares) verge on the idiotic. The use of allusions (as in the case of the nightmares) is an ages-old and very effective device; as for Buck's "imagination", I would rather trust London to comment on dog behaviour than Sinclair. Besides, who cares? The novel was never designed to be a hard-line news-journalistic form, so to criticize a novel for "not being realistic", especially in the case of a modern mythmaker like London, is ridiculous. The savagery of these two stories makes it baffling why they frequently end up in the children's section. Shocking, powerful storytelling set in a merciless world.
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Summary: White Fang
Review: This book was a very good book. I would suggest to those of you who like books about Nature. The book is about a young wolf who is beaten several different times and it is because of his heritage that he survives. I don't want to ruin the ending for you but the book is a complete 180 degree turn from the movie. The ending is totally different than the movie. White Fang has many learning experiences that help him get to where he was. Once again I just want to say that it is a great book and i want to suggest to people who enjoy books about nature.
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Summary: Boys and Girls will love "White Fang"
Review: This, in my opinion, is among the greatest sociological books existing. Unlike any other book you have read: there is no jealousy in this book, no bickering, no envy, no greed, no pettiness -- there is only life and the struggle for life. That life is good. That living is good. That making it through the day, or the hour, is good. The book pounds the reader through the confines of the frozen north, where two men attempt to transport a decedent in his coffin. On the way, hungry wolves pursue the trail -- we can't blame them -- "their muscles are strings" -- the wolves are literally starving to death. The men understand this, but also that they have a job to do. Later, one of these wolves delivers a few pups, and the pups struggle to live within their den while the mother attempts to find food that is virtually nonexistent. One of these wolves is White Fang -- in his struggle for survival, he must rise above his fears and his teachings, and in so doing, discovers that living is essential, that living is good. Through trials and tribulations, White Fang understands that love is the highest pinnacle of existence, and that order is the highest essential of Life. Crammed with so many wonderful scenes, so many poigant and solemn images of life, the struggle for life, the very act of living -- impossible to put down, impossible to ignore. If you have doubts about your world, your doubts will be shaken if you read this book.
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Summary: When the way of the wild was a fact of life
Review: Written almost of century ago by Jack London, both of these stories have truly stood the test of time. Both of them are based on London's experience in the Yukon, and both are written from the point of view of dogs. In "The Call of the Wild", the dog Buck is kidnapped from an easy life and sold to a sled team during the Klondike Gold Rush. In spite of the numerous cruelties inflicted on him, Buck learns to survive. Eventually, he returns to the wild and to run with the wolves. In "White Fang", the story is reversed. White Fang is three-quarters wolf and was born in the wild. Through a series of events, he is domesticated and eventually becomes a tame and loving pet. There is much to learn in both of these stories. One thing is the way of animals and their life in the wild. Another is of the way of life in the Yukon. And of the men, both brutal and kind, who rely on the dogs to pull the sleds. Jack London used his words well. There's an elegant cadence and a vigorous spirit. His love for the animals comes through as well as his respect for the wild forces of nature. And the theme that life changes are really possible because of environmental forces. London didn't set out to write a story about the glorification of nature or vanishing wildlife. Indeed, during his short lifetime (1876-1916) the way of the wild was a fact of life. London just simply wrote his stories. And through his words, left a legacy of work that will continue to enrich the lives of readers for many generations to come.
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Summary: When the way of the wild was a fact of life
Review: Written almost of century ago by Jack London, both of these stories have truly stood the test of time. Both of them are based on London's experience in the Yukon, and both are written from the point of view of dogs. In "The Call of the Wild", the dog Buck is kidnapped from an easy life and sold to a sled team during the Klondike Gold Rush. In spite of the numerous cruelties inflicted on him, Buck learns to survive. Eventually, he returns to the wild and to run with the wolves. In "White Fang", the story is reversed. White Fang is three-quarters wolf and was born in the wild. Through a series of events, he is domesticated and eventually becomes a tame and loving pet. There is much to learn in both of these stories. One thing is the way of animals and their life in the wild. Another is of the way of life in the Yukon. And of the men, both brutal and kind, who rely on the dogs to pull the sleds. Jack London used his words well. There's an elegant cadence and a vigorous spirit. His love for the animals comes through as well as his respect for the wild forces of nature. And the theme that life changes are really possible because of environmental forces. London didn't set out to write a story about the glorification of nature or vanishing wildlife. Indeed, during his short lifetime (1876-1916) the way of the wild was a fact of life. London just simply wrote his stories. And through his words, left a legacy of work that will continue to enrich the lives of readers for many generations to come.
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