To Build a Fire and Tales of the North: Museum Edition

by Jack London

A wonderful collection of seven stories by Jack London. The all-time classic story, “To Build a Fire”, tells of survival in the unforgiving wilderness. A solo newcomer ignores the advice of old-timers and travels alone in sub-zero temperatures where survival may depend on your ability to start a fire. This collection also includes “Lost Face” which tells of a trapper ingenuously trying to avoid torture at the hands of his captors. “The One Thousand Dozen” examines the importance of eggs in the far north.

Genres: Adventure

158 pages, Paperback

Published December 12, 2018

About the author

John Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.

London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.

His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".

Reviews

[Lisa Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was tough for me reaffirming what I likely didn’t enjoy about Jack London when a kid - it’s gruesome. Love of Life with its gory details at least ended without graphic violent death. Graphic violence - yes, but not death. Woosh! Will put London down for a bit - totally inspired by his estate in Glen Ellen Ca. Will go back to hike amongst his redwoods and delve into wolves and cold and frost bite and brutal beatings and death then. For now, a breath.

[Scott DuJardin · Rating 3 out of 5]

His writing style - at least here - is direct, brutal and abrupt.
One, maybe two stories on how brutally unforgiving the far north can be would be OK. Seven is just hitting me over the head again and again. My favorite was 'Lost Face' - maybe because it was the first. There are a couple of stories that also illustrate the clash of cultures between white man and native - the best being the last ('The White Man's Way). All of these stories include death - in the majority, the death of the protagonist.

[Peter Sumby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yukon tales...Page turners