The Law of Life

by Jack London

The short story "The Law of Life" by Jack London is a study on the human psyche, as one faces the familiar cycle of life and death. Old Koskoosh, who is the father of his Native American tribe's chief, is dying. As his people leave him and he lays on the ground in his final hours to wait for his end, he looks back on his life. Memorable events fill his thoughts until the very end - even until the wolves arrive. The short story is one of London's stories inspired by the period the writer spent at the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 19th century and was published in the early 20th century.-

Genres: Short Stories, Audiobook, Read For School, Fiction, Adventure

17 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1901

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

[Ashton H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, there isn’t much to this narrative. The only theme I could get from it was “You don’t matter and you will die,” which is pretty black-and-white and stupid if you ask me. There’s a lot more to life than procreation and death.

[Wiktoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ½

[zainab · Rating 2 out of 5]

why does every elder male protagonist talk about younger girls' full breasts

[Space Panda · Rating 3 out of 5]

•Spanish:
La Ley de la vida es una historia cortísima de Jack London. No sé la cantidad de páginas, pero se lee en menos de 10 o 20 minutos.

En una tribu un hombre está en su lecho de muerte, recuerda su pasado y reflexiona sobre la importancia de la naturaleza y la Ley de la Vida. Ese Ciclo eterno que nadie puede evitar.


>Trigger Warning: Mención pequeña de Violencia animal, pero muy pequeña, no se muestra. Toda la obra de Jack London habla sobre la naturaleza y los animales, así que es algo recurrido este TG en sus libros.

He visto muchos quejas de este tema, sobre todo en reseñas de libros suyos más conocidos como "The Call of the Wild" (su novela más conocida), pero hay que entender el contexto histórico. Vi que se quejaba de que hay "mucha violencia a los animales", pero en esa tiempo era muy normal que pasara eso. El concepto de "animal de compañía" o "mascota" es relativamente nuevo, al menos en la clase media.

Los caballos: eran usados el transporte/carreras, perros: para la caza/seguridad, vacas/conejos/ovejas/chanchos: leche/lácteos o consumo/comida, o sus pieles para abrigos y protegerse del frio. Sobre todo en la clase baja, o gente del campo, los animales representaban una ayuda en el trabajo, no un animal de compañía. Evidentemente algunas veces si compartían un conexión emocional con el animal porque los ayudaban, pero muy distinto a como es hoy en día.

En las clases altas, que no tenían que salir a a trabajar, si se ve veía mucho el animal que los acompañaban a todos lados.

Si eres muy sensible con este tema, no recomiendo sus textos, solo leí "The Call of the Wild" y es muy grafico. El resto de sus libros lo iré comentando a medida que lo vaya leyendo.


#Third person writting.
#Classic Short Story

[Anatoly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Law of Life by Jack London — Review

The main character of the story “The Law of Life” by Jack London is an old man named Koskoosh. The story is told from his perspective.

In this story, his tribe leaves their previous place and move on. It is Koskoosh's turn to accept the fate which old people expect.

This story will surprise the reader with its realism. You cannot help but marvel at how harsh those times were. It is especially interesting to read and see everything through the eyes of the main character, Koskoosh. Here we see the passing of his youth, maturity ... But the old man understands everything and he doesn’t complain about his fate.

This is a link to the text of the story:
https://www.rcsd.ms/site/handlers/fil...

[Guille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leyendo este corto y estremecedor relato a uno le da por pensar en todas esas loas que se hacen a la vida en la naturaleza, cuando en realidad esa vida es durísima y brutal, cuando la naturaleza asiste indiferente a las alegrías y las tristezas de todas y cada una de las especies que la habitan, no digamos ya hacia cada individuo de esa especie.

El comportamiento que la tribu de la que nos habla el autor tiene con uno de sus miembros nos parece cruel, aunque en verdad es una crueldad necesaria, imprescindible para la supervivencia del grupo. Ojalá pudiéramos tener la entereza que muestra este anciano cuando nos llegue el momento y la valentía para actuar en consecuencia. Eso sí, esperemos que ese acto pueda ser más civilizado y no tan natural como el que se describe en el cuento.

[Edith Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old, blind, american indian man is left alone by his tribe, as is the custom, as he is near death. he's left with nothing but a small pile of sticks and a fire -- when the fire burns out, he will die.

this story is the mind-wanderings of this old man as he sits there waiting to die. he remembers many things, among which is the memory of hunting down an old moose. following the tracks with a fellow hunter, the story of the moose hunt is made clear from the tracks and remnants in the snow. at the end of the hunt, he stares at the moose as it is brought down.

[Marklandman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look into a very different way of life. Overall a pretty sad, morbid story.

[Ivan Koma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Экзистенциальный кризис Лондона опять дает о себе знать
Сцена сравнения с битвой лося понравилась

[Monzenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick story. Depressing as it should be.

[Karl H · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring!!

[✨Alix✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty depressing but it contains a lot more emotion than "to build a fire"

[Rebecca Ryder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the story too short for me to develop connections with the characters. Despite this, the prose used was wonderful and the message conveyed was also very good. Short and interesting.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't expect the immortality of the individual, rather the strain of the sea almond.

[Ray LaManna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sparse moving story about the end of life which comes to all of us.

[kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

*listened to audio book*

this is the first short story in a very long time that has made me feel something

(english assigned reading)

[Carmen Esplá · Rating 3 out of 5]

thank you for the depression.

no está mal, me ha gustado, pero creo que la vida tiene más chicha que solo crecer para morir.

[Katusha]

ასე ჯეკ ლონდონის წაკითხვა მე ჯერ არ გამჭირვებია. სამჯერ წავიკითხე აზრი რომ გამომეტანა