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To Build a Fire
"Day had broken cold and grey, exceedingly cold and grey, when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth- bank, where a dim and little-travelled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland..."
A man alone on the Yukon Trail—save for his dog—is planning on meeting friends when the day turns for the worse and he encounters severe cold reaching 75 degrees below zero. His luck only goes downhill from there when he gets wet after falling through the snow. Now, his only hope of surviving is to build a fire, but his lack of supplies, the extreme elements and his own diminishing senses prove to be an impenetrable barrier to his existence.
First published in 1902, 'To Build a Fire' is one of Jack London's most beloved short stories. A heartbreaking tale set in the vast wintry landscape of the North, it endures as one of the greatest adventures ever written.
Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist, journalist, and social 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. His most famous works include 'The Call of the Wild' (1903) and 'White Fang' (1906), as well as the short stories 'To Build a Fire' (1902), 'An Odyssey of the North' (1900), and 'Love of Life' (1905).
A man alone on the Yukon Trail—save for his dog—is planning on meeting friends when the day turns for the worse and he encounters severe cold reaching 75 degrees below zero. His luck only goes downhill from there when he gets wet after falling through the snow. Now, his only hope of surviving is to build a fire, but his lack of supplies, the extreme elements and his own diminishing senses prove to be an impenetrable barrier to his existence.
First published in 1902, 'To Build a Fire' is one of Jack London's most beloved short stories. A heartbreaking tale set in the vast wintry landscape of the North, it endures as one of the greatest adventures ever written.
Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist, journalist, and social 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. His most famous works include 'The Call of the Wild' (1903) and 'White Fang' (1906), as well as the short stories 'To Build a Fire' (1902), 'An Odyssey of the North' (1900), and 'Love of Life' (1905).
32 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 1902
About the author
Jack London
5,629 books6,886 followersJohn Griffith Chaney (1876-1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist, and social 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.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in 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".
London was part of the radical literary group, "The Crowd," in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, workers' rights, and socialism. He 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.
London died November 22, 1916, in a sleeping porch in a cottage on his ranch. London's ashes were buried on his property, not far from the Wolf House. The grave is marked by a mossy boulder. The buildings and property were later preserved as Jack London State Historic Park, in Glen Ellen, California.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in 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".
London was part of the radical literary group, "The Crowd," in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, workers' rights, and socialism. He 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.
London died November 22, 1916, in a sleeping porch in a cottage on his ranch. London's ashes were buried on his property, not far from the Wolf House. The grave is marked by a mossy boulder. The buildings and property were later preserved as Jack London State Historic Park, in Glen Ellen, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,569 reviews
February 4, 2024
To Build a Fire is about a man in the Yukon, the upper parts of Canada. He is walking to town in 75 degrees below zero weather with his husky when he suddenly slips through some snow and falls into a puddle of water up to his knee. To save his life, the man needs to build a fire.
This short story was written in 1908 by Jack London, the author of White Fang and The Call of the Wild. It is remarkable that this story still holds true 114 years later. Michigan (where I live) borders on Canada, and we experience cold snaps particularly in January. Temperatures can dip into 30 degrees below zero. Several years ago, there was a university student who went out without his coat on, thinking that he could take a shortcut, only to face a fence. His body was discovered several days later. It is so cold that if you go outside, icicles will form inside your nose in just a few minutes.
There is one thing that I would love to ask the author. In the story, “there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man. The one was the toil-slave of the other, and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whip-lash and of harsh and menacing throat sounds that threatened the whip-lash.” Why would the author put this in the short story? The fastest way for someone to dislike a character is to mistreat animals. Bill, my Russian Blue cat, did not approve of this story.
Overall, this was a fascinating short story, leaving me with a renewed reverence for Mother Nature.
2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities
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This short story was written in 1908 by Jack London, the author of White Fang and The Call of the Wild. It is remarkable that this story still holds true 114 years later. Michigan (where I live) borders on Canada, and we experience cold snaps particularly in January. Temperatures can dip into 30 degrees below zero. Several years ago, there was a university student who went out without his coat on, thinking that he could take a shortcut, only to face a fence. His body was discovered several days later. It is so cold that if you go outside, icicles will form inside your nose in just a few minutes.
There is one thing that I would love to ask the author. In the story, “there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man. The one was the toil-slave of the other, and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whip-lash and of harsh and menacing throat sounds that threatened the whip-lash.” Why would the author put this in the short story? The fastest way for someone to dislike a character is to mistreat animals. Bill, my Russian Blue cat, did not approve of this story.
Overall, this was a fascinating short story, leaving me with a renewed reverence for Mother Nature.
2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities
Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook Insta
October 19, 2022
I haven't read anything by Jack London since I was a child. White Fang was the book my mother gave to me then. To Build a Fire is another story better read inside, in front of a fireplace ( or radiator), while watching the snow falling outside. It is a story about a man who thought he was better than the forces of nature. Who won? It is probably not hard to guess. The writing is beautiful and immersive, I could really feel the cold and the desperation of the man trying to build a fire to save his life.
Read with the Short Story Group.
Read with the Short Story Group.
May 5, 2024
The life could be difficult when it is reduced to its most basic form, we often think that we could master the life, for innate ability we have to observe, discern and therefore learn gives us the confidence that we, the human beings, can overcome any obstacles. We have proven time and again, over the years, that we can adapt to the circumstances quite swifty, no matter how challenging they may be. Our evolutionary history and its inborn, integral knowledge, embedded in our genetic make up enables us to overcome the ordeals which may put even the most resilient ones to shame.
link: source
There is no dispute that we have come a long way from where we started in the evolutionary journey, or at least as far as we know with current scientific understanding. But the question here arises that does it give us the licence to take things for granted? Our survival instinct gives us immense power to overcome the dangerous situations for preserving ourselves to stay alive, even in the most treacherous circumstances. However, doesn’t we need to question ourselves about our myopic vision, from whose seeds germinates into the weeds of overconfidence, that despite having the seemingly unique survival instinct and proving ourselves in variegated probing circumstances, we can not ignore the power of nature, the inherent absurd nature of life.
Jack London’s story is about a man who is stranded in the cold and frosty environment of Yukon, where everything appears to be white and grey as far as his eyes could see, the darkness seems to be so profound and dense that even the rays of life-giving Sun could not be penetrate it. The being of man oozes the confidence whose ground we are not sure of, having full faith in his innate survival instinct and himself more specifically, which made the warnings that came from the experience of human kind surviving through the years seemingly benign, he takes upon himself to journey through the hostile circumstances of fifty degree below zero to a old camp of Hendeson Creek where boys were already.
link: source
What follows is an intense and scorching tale of survival of the man through the unforgiving and deceptive circumstances of Yukon, he is the most observant of the men and notices every single possible detail, curve and bend to have a clear understanding of where exactly to lend his feet. There is no one with him to talk to, but there is no need as well for the trying and hostile circumstances out there takes his innate ability to communicate out of question, such is the life out there that all advantages you have being human or acquired over the hustle of years go to nothing, for life may be surprising out there since we have comprehended life through our limited capability.
The man struggles through the white and grey blanket of snow and underneath layers of perilous ice, to find meaning in his solitude of existence through the environment indifferent to his sufferings, the surroundings which are oblivious to his pleas and act with utter disdain towards any prayers. He knows that fire is a life-giving blessing in such amidst such unrelenting and unforgiving might of the nature, he gets his feet wet as he falls through the ice into the water of hot spring but the severe cold burns his feet and reduces his life to hang it tantalizing upon his ability to burn the fire for keeping his feet away from freezing to numbness.
The man tries various things he learnt through his years of experience and of course, he has the survival instinct, through his various endeavours to light the vitalizing fire. The unforgiving nature blesses him with a companion in the long spreads of profound solitude, a dog who belongs to those trying conditions, having generations spend out there, seems to equipped better than him to deal with those conditions, he may not be well versed with the precious lessons of survival but these things come naturally to him as if they rise from the deepest core of his being, but, of course, a man blinded with the cloud of overconfidence unable to learn from the dog.
link: source
The imagery Jack London conjures up from the picturesque prose takes the reader through vast landscape of whites wherein the reader may feel the chilling cold of Yukon, wherein one may realize the human rationality can not overcome the irrational and powerful nature and perhaps a seemingly unadvanced species like dog is more disposed to contest the unforgiving and unrelenting nature. Does the man rises above the clouds of overconfidence to see the absurdity of nature and therefore to act in accordance, for self-preservation, it is intriguing struggle to read for.
The contemplative prose of Jack London forces the readers to reflect upon their own lives through the painstaking story of the man travelling through bone chilling environment. Though the man takes decisions riding upon his whims and fancies which have roots in his overconfidence and ignorance but eventually he comes to realization that authenticity of human existence lies in accepting the absurd of life and thereby to meet his eventual fate with dignity by staring into its eyes and accepting it with proud and serene embrace to welcome the ‘most comfortable and satisfying sleep’ he has ever known.
September 4, 2021
This is the story of a man and his dog, trying to reach camp in the Yukon, to meet with the rest of the boys. The temperature has plummeted to 75 degrees below zero. When the man’s feet break through the ice, he gets soaking wet and then freezes. He knows that to survive he desperately needs to build a fire, but that’s easier said than done when you can’t feel your limbs.
Wear something warm when you read this excellent story, because the author’s description of the landscape and its appalling conditions definitely produces icy chills!
Wear something warm when you read this excellent story, because the author’s description of the landscape and its appalling conditions definitely produces icy chills!
January 18, 2018
“The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances. Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost. Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable, and that was all. It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold; and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and man's place in the universe.”
July 22, 2019
How can one not give this story full 5 stars? When I read it, I did not know who the writer was. I have never read such a compelling story before.
On the surface, it is the story of a man who fails to reach the camp and consequently freezes to death. Though he is strapping and able-bodied, he is not familiar with the power of cold and what it can do to the frail human body. Too much caution against snow and extremely low temperatures do not pose any real challenge to a masculine man like him. This is how he thinks. In some naiveté, he sets out and calculates that he would join the boys at camp for supper. He underestimates the -50 degrees temperature. His dog knows what he does not. “The animal was worried by the great cold. It knew that this was no time for traveling. Its own feeling was closer to the truth than the man’s judgment.”
The man, along with his dog, walks toward the camp. It takes him a while to know that some of his limbs are already numb. Later on, he has to see his hands and legs to know that they are still attached to his body. He decides to build a fire. The story carries a beautiful description of how he goes about this. He successfully builds a fire, but it dies out because a big load of snow falls from the tree under which he made it.
As one reads, one walks with the man and his dog through the chilling snowscape. The wintry air, the unbroken white of the landscape and the vulnerability of the man are shown with such skill that one feels the ‘chill,’ and the danger this poses to man’s life, in one’s gut. In fact, man, animal, and nature interact in fascinating ways. One can really reflect on these themes. In the end, the overconfident man, the adventurer, succumbs to the hostile nature.
Just before he becomes supremely exhausted and the death seems near; he looks at the dog and wants to kill the dog to save himself from dying. But the dog senses the change in the man’s voice, his gesture, the danger of it all. However, the man could not move his limbs to carry out the deed.
At the end, the man seems sitting in an upright position, not moving or doing anything, nor attempting to build a fire. “Never in the dog’s experience had it known a man to sit like that.” The dog intuitively senses death. This is how Jack London writes about the dog’s response:
“… the dog howled loudly. And still later it moved close to the man and caught the smell of death. This made the animal back away. A little longer it delayed, howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky. Then it turned and ran along the trail toward the camp it knew, where there were the other food providers and fire providers.”
It is such a remarkable story because it tells us things about life, about beauty, about other beings, other worlds that are not ours–not in a way we think they are. The man, for instance, except for his too cocky ideas about his own superiority, is admirable. He fights to the end. One wants him to survival and see him to make it to the camp. We like happy endings in life as well as in fiction. Jack London does not disappoint in because at least one of the two makes it to the camp.
September 21, 2022
The love of money may be the root of all evil, but it can also be the route of danger.
An unnamed man turns off the main Yukon trail as he hikes to join “the boys” at an old prospectors’ claim. It’s cold. Very cold (−75°F, which is −59°C):
“As he turned to go on, he spat speculatively. There was a sharp, explosive crackle.”
He’s alone, apart from a husky he’s never shown any affection and whose tail is “drooping discouragement”.
That’s it. A simple survival story: a linear narrative of a single day, over a handful of pages. It’s not my usual fare, but the writing is superb: immersive, realistic, with visceral details of bodily and mental sensations, and perfectly paced.
Image: “As he looked apathetically about him, his eyes chanced on the dog.” Illustration by Frank Schoonover (Image source)
He starts out confidently, despite the warnings of an old-timer. He’s observant, knows the danger of thin ice above bubbling springs, the risk of getting wet, and how to make fire:
“He had been out before in two cold snaps.”
When he’s cautious or spots danger, he congratulates himself, but he’s “without imagination” and “not given much to thinking”. Time and again a trivial decision is laden with foreboding and his overconfidence is contrasted with the dog’s primordial instinct for self-preservation.
“What were frosted cheeks? A bit painful, that was all; they were never serious.”
Jack London cleverly tricks the reader into a parallel form of arrogance: I felt I knew better than the prospector as I noted each stupid action or wrong choice that I assumed would lead to a doom he deserved.
Image: “He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly. It meant life, and it must not perish.” (Image source)
Note: This is a review of the better-known 1908 version of the story, not the 1902 original that, among other differences, omits the dog.
Quotes
• “The only caresses it [the dog] had ever received were the caresses of the whip-lash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whip-lash.”
• “This man did not know cold. Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of real cold, of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing-point. But the dog knew; all its ancestry knew, and it had inherited the knowledge. And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold.”
• “The circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below. No matter how fast he runs, the wet feet will freeze the harder.”
• “He remembered the advice of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek, and smiled… Well, here he was; he had had the accident; he was alone; and he had saved himself… Any man who was a man could travel alone.”
See also
• Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl.
• Stephen Crane’s The Open Boat is another survival tale that I read a couple of weeks before this and reviewed HERE.
• How to build a fire in the snow, on Survival World, HERE.
Short story club
I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
An unnamed man turns off the main Yukon trail as he hikes to join “the boys” at an old prospectors’ claim. It’s cold. Very cold (−75°F, which is −59°C):
“As he turned to go on, he spat speculatively. There was a sharp, explosive crackle.”
He’s alone, apart from a husky he’s never shown any affection and whose tail is “drooping discouragement”.
That’s it. A simple survival story: a linear narrative of a single day, over a handful of pages. It’s not my usual fare, but the writing is superb: immersive, realistic, with visceral details of bodily and mental sensations, and perfectly paced.
Image: “As he looked apathetically about him, his eyes chanced on the dog.” Illustration by Frank Schoonover (Image source)
He starts out confidently, despite the warnings of an old-timer. He’s observant, knows the danger of thin ice above bubbling springs, the risk of getting wet, and how to make fire:
“He had been out before in two cold snaps.”
When he’s cautious or spots danger, he congratulates himself, but he’s “without imagination” and “not given much to thinking”. Time and again a trivial decision is laden with foreboding and his overconfidence is contrasted with the dog’s primordial instinct for self-preservation.
“What were frosted cheeks? A bit painful, that was all; they were never serious.”
Jack London cleverly tricks the reader into a parallel form of arrogance: I felt I knew better than the prospector as I noted each stupid action or wrong choice that I assumed would lead to a doom he deserved.
Image: “He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly. It meant life, and it must not perish.” (Image source)
Note: This is a review of the better-known 1908 version of the story, not the 1902 original that, among other differences, omits the dog.
Quotes
• “The only caresses it [the dog] had ever received were the caresses of the whip-lash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whip-lash.”
• “This man did not know cold. Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of real cold, of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing-point. But the dog knew; all its ancestry knew, and it had inherited the knowledge. And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold.”
• “The circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below. No matter how fast he runs, the wet feet will freeze the harder.”
• “He remembered the advice of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek, and smiled… Well, here he was; he had had the accident; he was alone; and he had saved himself… Any man who was a man could travel alone.”
See also
• Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl.
• Stephen Crane’s The Open Boat is another survival tale that I read a couple of weeks before this and reviewed HERE.
• How to build a fire in the snow, on Survival World, HERE.
Short story club
I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
August 3, 2017
Well, despite the oppressive heat and humidity in western New York yesterday, this little story by Jack London managed to give me the chills! London is a master at recreating the sights, sounds and feelings of the harsh elements of the north. I seriously got up and made a cup of hot coffee in the late afternoon while reading about a man's treacherous trek along the Yukon trail. With temperatures plummeting to seventy-five degrees below zero, the solitary man traipses along with just one dog as companion. Undeterred by the warnings from an old-timer, the man is convinced he is smart enough and hardy enough to make a go on his own in order to meet up with the rest of the 'boys' at Henderson Creek. It seems the dog, who simply views the man as food and fire provider, has the better instincts of the two. Conditions worsen and the man finds himself in grave danger. Will his own instincts and survival skills be enough to combat the perils of nature?
Recommended for those that enjoy short stories, adventure stories, or anyone that needs to take a quick break from the sweltering heat of summer. Just make sure you keep the circulation going!
Recommended for those that enjoy short stories, adventure stories, or anyone that needs to take a quick break from the sweltering heat of summer. Just make sure you keep the circulation going!
December 23, 2022
“The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances. Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost. Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable, and that was all. It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold; and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and man's place in the universe.”
I read this because I happened to have Chaboute’s comics adaptation home, and we are in near-blizzard conditions, a huge snowstorm with several inches of snow, and below zero temperatures, which is unusual for Chicago. -33 degrees wind chill. At any rate, I hadn’t read it in years, but it was indeed chilling in so many ways to read. It’s a masterpiece. You can read it free online here:
https://americanenglish.state.gov/fil...
I first read “To Build a Fire” in Miss Parmalee’s 7th grade English class as part of a “Man vs. Nature” unit of study that was very much like the same unit I studied in tenth grade English with Mr. Robert Rozema. We also looked at, as I recall, London’s connections to realism and naturalism, but it wasn’t until later that I found London had been a tramp, became committed to socialism, and in his travels to the Klondike as part of the Gold Rush saw the madness of people unprepared to face the Arctic desperate for gold and financial relief from very real poverty.
In “To Build a Fire,” his most widely known story, part of what catapulted him to international stardom, a newcomer to the Yukon territory ventures—against the advice of an old-timer—out in in the cold—with an unimaginably brutal, freezing temperature—with only a dog.
“In reality, it was not merely colder than 50 below zero; it was colder than 60 below, than 70 below. It was 75 below zero. Because the freezing point is 32 above zero, it meant that there were 107 degrees of frost.”
On the way, he successfully builds a fire at lunch, but later, when his feet break through the ice, get wet, and freeze, he fails to build a fire.
“When it is 75 below zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire. This is especially true if his feet are wet.”
His ignorance/arrogance about his (in)ability is a key to the story, though as with the non-fiction story (and fictional film) Into the Wild, there’s not finally a lot of sympathy for him. Dispassionately, quietly, inexorably, London relates the sense of the growing horror the man faces.
I add to my review that I was actually IN the Yukon for the first time the summer of 2022, and Alaska, where you can find London's works everywhere.
I read this because I happened to have Chaboute’s comics adaptation home, and we are in near-blizzard conditions, a huge snowstorm with several inches of snow, and below zero temperatures, which is unusual for Chicago. -33 degrees wind chill. At any rate, I hadn’t read it in years, but it was indeed chilling in so many ways to read. It’s a masterpiece. You can read it free online here:
https://americanenglish.state.gov/fil...
I first read “To Build a Fire” in Miss Parmalee’s 7th grade English class as part of a “Man vs. Nature” unit of study that was very much like the same unit I studied in tenth grade English with Mr. Robert Rozema. We also looked at, as I recall, London’s connections to realism and naturalism, but it wasn’t until later that I found London had been a tramp, became committed to socialism, and in his travels to the Klondike as part of the Gold Rush saw the madness of people unprepared to face the Arctic desperate for gold and financial relief from very real poverty.
In “To Build a Fire,” his most widely known story, part of what catapulted him to international stardom, a newcomer to the Yukon territory ventures—against the advice of an old-timer—out in in the cold—with an unimaginably brutal, freezing temperature—with only a dog.
“In reality, it was not merely colder than 50 below zero; it was colder than 60 below, than 70 below. It was 75 below zero. Because the freezing point is 32 above zero, it meant that there were 107 degrees of frost.”
On the way, he successfully builds a fire at lunch, but later, when his feet break through the ice, get wet, and freeze, he fails to build a fire.
“When it is 75 below zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire. This is especially true if his feet are wet.”
His ignorance/arrogance about his (in)ability is a key to the story, though as with the non-fiction story (and fictional film) Into the Wild, there’s not finally a lot of sympathy for him. Dispassionately, quietly, inexorably, London relates the sense of the growing horror the man faces.
I add to my review that I was actually IN the Yukon for the first time the summer of 2022, and Alaska, where you can find London's works everywhere.
October 3, 2022
I never knew that there were two versions of this story, a 1902 story first published in YOUTH'S COMPANION magazine and a decidedly more mature version published in 1908 in CENTURY magazine. Both are realistic stories of a man's foolish actions which lead to disaster in the frozen Klondike. Vivid descriptions of freezing and urgent attempts to build a life saving fire highlight both stories.
These stories are fine examples of Jack London's knowledge and talent to bring the great northland to life. There is also a small Klondike gold rush photo album in the back of the book.
These stories are fine examples of Jack London's knowledge and talent to bring the great northland to life. There is also a small Klondike gold rush photo album in the back of the book.
January 30, 2024
To Build a Fire by Jack London is an American Literature Classic Short Story!
An inexperienced unnamed man strikes out on the Yukon Trail to meet with friends. He's without a sled, only his dog for company, wearing mittens, but his face is uncovered and cold. Walking through the snow is a struggle for both the man and his dog.
At noon when the man stops for lunch he discovers his hands are numb and his lips are frozen over. He slowly builds a fire to warm up to eat. He remembers the old man warning him about the dangers of the cold. He finishes smoking his pipe and continues with his dog reluctantly following.
Soon the man breaks through the snow and ice and is in water halfway to his knees. He slowly builds another fire to dry out quickly. His pace of walking had kept his body warm and he's surprised by how quickly he has lost the feeling in his hands and feet. He remembers the old man's warning about not traveling alone when it's this cold but he now knows he'll be fine.
Then disaster strikes...
To Build a Fire quickly turns into a tale of survival in extreme circumstances that continues to go unheeded. The beauty and power of nature and the isolation of the setting are perfectly described by author, Jack London, yet underestimated by the overconfidence of the inexperienced and ill-equipped nameless man. Even the dog possesses the instincts to sense the dangers.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by B.J. Harrison who does an amazing job of voicing the battling emotions of the nameless and voiceless protagonist and his dog.
To Build a Fire is a story I highly recommend to those who enjoy reading Classics, Short Stories, and/or stories about nature and survival!
4.5⭐
Published on May 29, 1902, To Build a Fire was written by Jack London (born John Griffith Chaney 1876–1916) who was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. He was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. Between 1900-1916, he wrote 50 books and hundreds of short stories. He died at 40 years old.
An inexperienced unnamed man strikes out on the Yukon Trail to meet with friends. He's without a sled, only his dog for company, wearing mittens, but his face is uncovered and cold. Walking through the snow is a struggle for both the man and his dog.
At noon when the man stops for lunch he discovers his hands are numb and his lips are frozen over. He slowly builds a fire to warm up to eat. He remembers the old man warning him about the dangers of the cold. He finishes smoking his pipe and continues with his dog reluctantly following.
Soon the man breaks through the snow and ice and is in water halfway to his knees. He slowly builds another fire to dry out quickly. His pace of walking had kept his body warm and he's surprised by how quickly he has lost the feeling in his hands and feet. He remembers the old man's warning about not traveling alone when it's this cold but he now knows he'll be fine.
Then disaster strikes...
To Build a Fire quickly turns into a tale of survival in extreme circumstances that continues to go unheeded. The beauty and power of nature and the isolation of the setting are perfectly described by author, Jack London, yet underestimated by the overconfidence of the inexperienced and ill-equipped nameless man. Even the dog possesses the instincts to sense the dangers.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by B.J. Harrison who does an amazing job of voicing the battling emotions of the nameless and voiceless protagonist and his dog.
To Build a Fire is a story I highly recommend to those who enjoy reading Classics, Short Stories, and/or stories about nature and survival!
4.5⭐
Published on May 29, 1902, To Build a Fire was written by Jack London (born John Griffith Chaney 1876–1916) who was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. He was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. Between 1900-1916, he wrote 50 books and hundreds of short stories. He died at 40 years old.
November 26, 2017
A most imaginative cover of Jack London's book.
WHEN the going gets rough, the tough get going. Man can prove himself to be real tough when the odds are stacked against him. But can man really fight against nature, especially extreme weather?
I had read Jack London's "The Call of the Wild" last year and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Today I read his short story "To Build A Fire" and enjoyed myself as much.
In the story the protagonist is shown walking across the frozen Yukon towards the old camp at Henderson Creek. He thinks about reaching the camp around 6 on the same evening. He is accompanied by a big native dog or rather a gray wolf-dog. There is no sun in the sky. In fact, it has been days since he has last seen the sun. He would be floating logs from the islands in the Yukon down the river when the ice melted. Most men who came here did that for a living. In short, they were lumberjacks.
Jack London: Author, journalist, socialist and adventurer. Maybe the muscular writer was a boxer too!
Mr London writes: "The trouble with him was that he was not able to imagine. He was quick and ready in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in their meanings. Fifty degrees below zero meant 80 degrees of frost. Such facts told him that it was cold and uncomfortable, and that was all. It did not lead him to consider his weaknesses as a creature affected by temperature. Nor did he think about man’s general weakness, able to live only within narrow limits of heat and cold. From there, it did not lead him to thoughts of heaven and the meaning of a man’s life. 50 degrees below zero meant a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens, ear coverings, warm moccasins, and thick socks. 50 degrees below zero was to him nothing more than 50 degrees below zero. That it should be more important than that was a thought that never entered his head."
Jack London sitting on a bench carved out of a giant tree.
Reading the above-mentioned extract reminded me of my visit to Chicago -- also known as the "Windy City" -- in December 1980 and January 1981. One day the temperature went down to minus 16 degrees Centigrade. I was wearing a two piece Long Johns thermal underwear beneath my warm clothes, including a flight jacket, so as not to feel the biting cold. I had pulled my woolen cap down my ears to keep them safe from the cold and, of course, my head. However, my ears and nose had still turned red due to the freezing weather.
Anyway, getting back to the story, the protagonist walks on the frozen river. At one place the ice is thin, it gives way and the man falls knee deep into the river. He now has to build a fire so that he does not suffer from frostbite. It is at this moment that he realises that building a fire is not as easy as it seems. And once done it is all the more difficult to keep it burning. Animals are more adept at facing the vagaries of weather.
Even though there are just two characters -- the man and his dog -- in this story, it is full of suspense and excitement. Besides, you are also bound to learn things about the natural environment you might have not known before. I did not and picked up several things from reading Jack London's melancholic tale.
Mr London spent quite some time in this rugged region of the world and is writing out of experience. And nobody writes better than one who has experienced things himself.
Even as a very young boy, fishing with his stepfather in small boats, Jack London's head would fill with visions of tropical islands and faraway places.
February 19, 2018
Wow! I haven't read this since I was in middle school. It was the next step from Jim Kjelgaard's dog stories. It's an overcast 79 degrees F outside, and I'm cold just reading the story.
https://americanenglish.state.gov/fil...
https://www.artofmanliness.com/2017/0...Jim Kjelgaard
July 15, 2016
Duane.....
and the Stephanie....both inspired me with their reviews here on Goodreads.
I immediately paid my 99 cents, (Kindle treasure addiction)....and downloaded Jack London's short story about building a fire. I was in the mood to read a little John Steinbeck today...so this short story was perfect.
Paul and I are Survivor fans ( the TV show), and every season, there are players who can't start a fire. Paul and I always talk about how 'you'd think", after sooooo many seasons of the show, it's the 'first' thing each player would master before going on live TV.
So....Jack London's story was about surviving too...from one pillage to another on the Yukon, near Alaska in the middle of winter.
Chilly-- cold to the bones, hands and feet raw freezing... 50 degrees below, then 75 degrees below, --my heart was racing while Jack, another traveler, and a dog confront extreme obstacles.
Choices needed to be made on the spot. Not always the right choice.
There are lessons learned.....we can't take safety for granted.
REALLY, we can't take safety for granted!!!
One of the finest America Authors ---Jack London was in a class of his own! Master storyteller! Terrific short story!!!!!
and the Stephanie....both inspired me with their reviews here on Goodreads.
I immediately paid my 99 cents, (Kindle treasure addiction)....and downloaded Jack London's short story about building a fire. I was in the mood to read a little John Steinbeck today...so this short story was perfect.
Paul and I are Survivor fans ( the TV show), and every season, there are players who can't start a fire. Paul and I always talk about how 'you'd think", after sooooo many seasons of the show, it's the 'first' thing each player would master before going on live TV.
So....Jack London's story was about surviving too...from one pillage to another on the Yukon, near Alaska in the middle of winter.
Chilly-- cold to the bones, hands and feet raw freezing... 50 degrees below, then 75 degrees below, --my heart was racing while Jack, another traveler, and a dog confront extreme obstacles.
Choices needed to be made on the spot. Not always the right choice.
There are lessons learned.....we can't take safety for granted.
REALLY, we can't take safety for granted!!!
One of the finest America Authors ---Jack London was in a class of his own! Master storyteller! Terrific short story!!!!!
July 11, 2016
It's easy to see how this is considered one of the great short stories in literature. London's ability to describe the setting and the conditions of the Great North is second to none. This story is so descriptive of what can happen to someone ill prepared to deal with severe conditions, like 75 degrees below zero, that it borders on horror, at least for me. Jack London at his best.
January 15, 2010
To Build a Fire is one of the stories that made me want to be a writer.
I remember hearing a radio version of this when I was young, long before I ever read it. My Dad and I were on a camping trip in one of the provincial parks, and he'd brought along a little transistor radio. In the dark of our tent we picked up a radio station that played old radio shows, and that night the story was To Build a Fire. It was wonderful to listen to it in that setting. The old crackly radio hummed, the static mixed with the Yukon wind sound effects, the dog barked, the man talked to himself while he tried to get his fire lit, and all the while our canvas tent creaked in the warm night. It was a full immersion into London's story of Nature humbling man.
A while later, in school, I had to read To Build a Fire in a reading period; I was thrilled to be remembering the story as the words unfolded in front of me. I wanted to go to the Yukon (which I am finally doing this summer). I wanted to face Nature in a way that was smart. I wanted to do what the man failed to do. I wanted to avoid arrogance, swallow my natural hubris, and experience the cold and danger of a Yukon winter just so that I could show the man that he should have listened to the old man's advice and paid attention to his dog's uneasiness.
Now that I teach, I bring out To Build a Fire in any class that calls for short stories. It is one of the greatest short stories ever written, and it always leads to a lively discussion, especially today when so many students are concerned with the environment.
Some students find themselves cheering for the Yukon, some find themselves cheering for the dog, and a few find themselves cheering for the way the man never gives up. Then there are those who scoff at the man for his stupidity, for his lack of imagination, for his arrogance in the face of such raw, frigid power.
I find that, these days, my reaction to To Build a Fire depends on my mood. I can see every side; I can empathize with every perspective, which I am sure has everything to do with the brilliance of London's craftsmanship. This last time I found myself connecting most with the story of the dog. When I reach the Yukon this summer (boy am I glad that it won't be winter), I'm going to read it again. I think it's a pretty good bet who I'll side with in that reading. But one never knows.
I remember hearing a radio version of this when I was young, long before I ever read it. My Dad and I were on a camping trip in one of the provincial parks, and he'd brought along a little transistor radio. In the dark of our tent we picked up a radio station that played old radio shows, and that night the story was To Build a Fire. It was wonderful to listen to it in that setting. The old crackly radio hummed, the static mixed with the Yukon wind sound effects, the dog barked, the man talked to himself while he tried to get his fire lit, and all the while our canvas tent creaked in the warm night. It was a full immersion into London's story of Nature humbling man.
A while later, in school, I had to read To Build a Fire in a reading period; I was thrilled to be remembering the story as the words unfolded in front of me. I wanted to go to the Yukon (which I am finally doing this summer). I wanted to face Nature in a way that was smart. I wanted to do what the man failed to do. I wanted to avoid arrogance, swallow my natural hubris, and experience the cold and danger of a Yukon winter just so that I could show the man that he should have listened to the old man's advice and paid attention to his dog's uneasiness.
Now that I teach, I bring out To Build a Fire in any class that calls for short stories. It is one of the greatest short stories ever written, and it always leads to a lively discussion, especially today when so many students are concerned with the environment.
Some students find themselves cheering for the Yukon, some find themselves cheering for the dog, and a few find themselves cheering for the way the man never gives up. Then there are those who scoff at the man for his stupidity, for his lack of imagination, for his arrogance in the face of such raw, frigid power.
I find that, these days, my reaction to To Build a Fire depends on my mood. I can see every side; I can empathize with every perspective, which I am sure has everything to do with the brilliance of London's craftsmanship. This last time I found myself connecting most with the story of the dog. When I reach the Yukon this summer (boy am I glad that it won't be winter), I'm going to read it again. I think it's a pretty good bet who I'll side with in that reading. But one never knows.
September 18, 2022
"The trouble with him was that he was not able to imagine."
In "To Build a Fire" a man is traveling with a wolf dog through the frozen Yukon on an extremely cold day. It was his first winter in the Yukon, and he had ignored the advice of the experienced old-timer to travel with a companion when the temperature falls colder than 50 below. The descriptions are ominous and chilling.
The wolf dog has a thick fur coat and uses its instinct to survive in bad conditions. The man had not given enough thought to the perils in the natural world. Nature is what it is, so it's up to mankind to respect it.
Reread for the Short Story Club. This survival story never loses its intensity.
In "To Build a Fire" a man is traveling with a wolf dog through the frozen Yukon on an extremely cold day. It was his first winter in the Yukon, and he had ignored the advice of the experienced old-timer to travel with a companion when the temperature falls colder than 50 below. The descriptions are ominous and chilling.
The wolf dog has a thick fur coat and uses its instinct to survive in bad conditions. The man had not given enough thought to the perils in the natural world. Nature is what it is, so it's up to mankind to respect it.
Reread for the Short Story Club. This survival story never loses its intensity.
March 3, 2023
A very sharp and tragic ending. Jack loved his dogs, and often wrote about how they were abused, so the dog gets to be the survivor.
Jack's warnings to humans in this novel still stand. And it’s not just about survival. However, as I live on the edge of raw wilderness, I never take anything for granted. So my Malamutes and me have returned exhilarated and unscathed from the forests though always remaining wary. Extra food for us, extra water, the means to start a fire, hatchet and a knife with a fire starter rod, first aid kit, etc. A good book 📖 🙂
Jack's warnings to humans in this novel still stand. And it’s not just about survival. However, as I live on the edge of raw wilderness, I never take anything for granted. So my Malamutes and me have returned exhilarated and unscathed from the forests though always remaining wary. Extra food for us, extra water, the means to start a fire, hatchet and a knife with a fire starter rod, first aid kit, etc. A good book 📖 🙂
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2021
Alaska bölgesinde altın arayan kişilerin hayatta kalma çabaları☺️👏
November 12, 2022
4★
“When it is seventy-five below zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire—that is, if his feet are wet. If his feet are dry, and he fails, he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation.”
The man is in the Yukon, alone (except for a husky), checking out possible sites for retrieving logs in the spring. It’s the time of year when there’s little or no sun. The others have gone a different way, but he wants to take a look at the Henderson Creek area. He thinks he knows cold, and ‘intellectually’, he does. But not this cold.
“As he turned to go on, he spat speculatively. There was a sharp, explosive crackle that startled him. He spat again. And again, in the air, before it could fall to the snow, the spittle crackled. He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow, but this spittle had crackled in the air. Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below—how much colder he did not know.”
Surprise! That’s too cold. This man has a beard but no balaclava and wishes he had something to warm his nose and cheeks. The husky is following him reluctantly. He knows instinctively (not ‘intellectually’) that it is ridiculous to be out in this weather.
“But the dog knew; all its ancestry knew, and it had inherited the knowledge. And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold. It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came.”
The man is ignorant, and the cold just keeps getting colder. I will leave them there and let you read the story for yourself. This was written 120 years ago, and it wasn’t news then and it’s not news now that it’s always worth paying attention to animals.
I’m sure you will find it in many collections and libraries, or you can download the PDF here:
https://tea4avcastro.tea.state.tx.us/...
This is another from the Short Story Club Group.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
[On a personal note, we spent one Christmas in the Wyoming Rocky Mountains when it was 40 below zero, which, incidentally, is where Fahrenheit and Centigrade/Celsius meet on the scale. It was unbelievably cold. Taps were left slowly running to stop the pipes from freezing. (It took a concerted effort with a hair dryer to thaw them if someone forgot.) I imagine newer homes have more and better heating and insulation.
Car engine blocks were plugged into a warmer in the garage so they didn’t freeze up. Going out at night, people left cars locked with engines idling, so parking areas were full of clouds of mist and fumes. Talk about emissions!
We had some balaclavas and our teenaged daughter announced there was no way she was wearing one of those ugly, scratchy things. . . until she stepped outside.]
“When it is seventy-five below zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire—that is, if his feet are wet. If his feet are dry, and he fails, he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation.”
The man is in the Yukon, alone (except for a husky), checking out possible sites for retrieving logs in the spring. It’s the time of year when there’s little or no sun. The others have gone a different way, but he wants to take a look at the Henderson Creek area. He thinks he knows cold, and ‘intellectually’, he does. But not this cold.
“As he turned to go on, he spat speculatively. There was a sharp, explosive crackle that startled him. He spat again. And again, in the air, before it could fall to the snow, the spittle crackled. He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow, but this spittle had crackled in the air. Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below—how much colder he did not know.”
Surprise! That’s too cold. This man has a beard but no balaclava and wishes he had something to warm his nose and cheeks. The husky is following him reluctantly. He knows instinctively (not ‘intellectually’) that it is ridiculous to be out in this weather.
“But the dog knew; all its ancestry knew, and it had inherited the knowledge. And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold. It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came.”
The man is ignorant, and the cold just keeps getting colder. I will leave them there and let you read the story for yourself. This was written 120 years ago, and it wasn’t news then and it’s not news now that it’s always worth paying attention to animals.
I’m sure you will find it in many collections and libraries, or you can download the PDF here:
https://tea4avcastro.tea.state.tx.us/...
This is another from the Short Story Club Group.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
[On a personal note, we spent one Christmas in the Wyoming Rocky Mountains when it was 40 below zero, which, incidentally, is where Fahrenheit and Centigrade/Celsius meet on the scale. It was unbelievably cold. Taps were left slowly running to stop the pipes from freezing. (It took a concerted effort with a hair dryer to thaw them if someone forgot.) I imagine newer homes have more and better heating and insulation.
Car engine blocks were plugged into a warmer in the garage so they didn’t freeze up. Going out at night, people left cars locked with engines idling, so parking areas were full of clouds of mist and fumes. Talk about emissions!
We had some balaclavas and our teenaged daughter announced there was no way she was wearing one of those ugly, scratchy things. . . until she stepped outside.]
September 17, 2022
Published in 1908, (rather than the 1902 version, which is more aimed at the young reader) Jack London's short story does indeed revolve around building a fire.
Set in the Yukon in Canada, the only character in the book, and his husky are setting out on an all day walk out to a mining claim where other men were already working, but it is a cold walk. Minus 50 f, is cold, but he suspects it is colder even than this. Spit freezes before it hits the ground; breath causes crystallisation on his beard, as does the tobacco he chews, which runs from his lips. The husky has an awareness that this temperature is not suitable for travelling, but the husky also knows the man can make fire, and fire revives.
The man does make a fire, and warms himself up while he eats lunch, and prepares himself for the second half of his journey. It is after than that events take a turn for the worse.
The man is very self-aware - he knows what he needs to do; he knows what not to do. He takes a few risks and perhaps doesn't admit to himself that he hasn't thought things through until it is too late. Each step through this journey he knows what needs to be done, and yet sometimes he uses poor judgement.
For a story published in 1908 it reads well. It is not archaic, or complex. The story structure is not unfamiliar, and while the setting is perhaps not familiar it is described in a way that makes it available for the reader to see and feel. Jack London is famous for the stories he writes about wolves, and this dog, described as 'a big native husky, the proper wolf-dog, grey-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother, the wild wolf', he writes of its thoughts and assessments of the man.
Jack London doesn't write happy stories; and this is no exception. Not happy, but perhaps it tells a good lesson to be learned with regards to respecting nature and natural conditions.
Available free here
4 stars.
Set in the Yukon in Canada, the only character in the book, and his husky are setting out on an all day walk out to a mining claim where other men were already working, but it is a cold walk. Minus 50 f, is cold, but he suspects it is colder even than this. Spit freezes before it hits the ground; breath causes crystallisation on his beard, as does the tobacco he chews, which runs from his lips. The husky has an awareness that this temperature is not suitable for travelling, but the husky also knows the man can make fire, and fire revives.
The man does make a fire, and warms himself up while he eats lunch, and prepares himself for the second half of his journey. It is after than that events take a turn for the worse.
The man is very self-aware - he knows what he needs to do; he knows what not to do. He takes a few risks and perhaps doesn't admit to himself that he hasn't thought things through until it is too late. Each step through this journey he knows what needs to be done, and yet sometimes he uses poor judgement.
For a story published in 1908 it reads well. It is not archaic, or complex. The story structure is not unfamiliar, and while the setting is perhaps not familiar it is described in a way that makes it available for the reader to see and feel. Jack London is famous for the stories he writes about wolves, and this dog, described as 'a big native husky, the proper wolf-dog, grey-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother, the wild wolf', he writes of its thoughts and assessments of the man.
Jack London doesn't write happy stories; and this is no exception. Not happy, but perhaps it tells a good lesson to be learned with regards to respecting nature and natural conditions.
Available free here
4 stars.
June 3, 2019
Preparare un fuoco/Farsi un fuoco/Accendere un fuoco/Allestire un fuoco.
Diversi i titoli pubblicati in Italia del racconto ”To Build a Fire di cui Jack London redasse due versioni (con lo stesso tittolo).
La prima del 1902 e la seconda del 1908: apparentemente differenti solo per alcuni elementi tolti/aggiunti, in realtà, dimostrano come spostare le virgole faccia la differenza. *
E’ un giorno freddo e grigio quando un Uomo, solo, si lascia alle spalle la pista principale dello Yukon (a nord del Canada).
Fa molto freddo.
Nonostante un veterano gli abbia sconsigliato di mettersi in viaggio, l’Uomo s’incammina.
Deve raggiungere i suoi compagni -altri cercatori d’oro- alla miniera ma prima vuole vedere se in queste zone ci sono abbastanza alberi da legname così da poter tornare in primavera.
Così decide di fare un giro più largo.
L’Uomo s’inoltra affondando i piedi nel ghiaccio e sorride tra sé pensando ai consigli di quel veterano: certo fa freddo ma sta rispettando i tempi programmati, non c'è bisogno di preoccuparsi.
Poi non è proprio solo: alle sue spalle un cane: un lupo.
Non un vero e proprio compagno con cui scambiare due chiacchiere, certo! Però, una presenza obbediente.
Tutt’intorno un freddo inverosimile: meno sessantotto gradi!
…
Il racconto è così breve che diventa impossibile parlarne oltre.
Le riflessioni dopo questa lettura sono così tante da superare le pagine del racconto stesso.
Innanzitutto, mi chiedo: è così che vogliamo lasciar scorrere la nostra esistenza?
Subire, lasciar passare le ore, i giorni guardando solo la superficie delle cose?
Senza farsi domande sui significati profondi di quello che ci circonda?
London ci mette di fronte all'evidenza secondo la quale l’arroganza umana è sempre perdente se messa a confronto con l’ancestrale istinto animale.
Il racconto e breve ma, personalmente, ho dovuto fare una pausa nel leggerlo.
Incredibilmente questo mi è successo anche in questa rilettura e nonostante sapessi già l’evolversi della storia.
Il primo messaggio, esplicito, che ci colpisce come un secco schiaffo sul viso, è chiaro e limpido:
da soli perdiamo; siamo piccoli esseri fragili.
"Preparare un fuoco", per me, rappresenta la perfezione di un racconto:
quando la narrazione non necessita di grandi trame per farci riflettere sull'essenza di ciò che siamo.
”Ma tutto questo - la misteriosa, sterminata, filiforme pista, l'assenza del sole in cielo, il freddo spaventoso, e la stranezza, l'arcano dell'insieme - non aveva effetto sull'uomo. E non perché vi fosse ormai abituato. Era nuovo del posto, un chechaquo, e quello era il suo primo inverno. Il guaio è che era privo di immaginazione. Nelle cose della vita era sveglio, e sempre pronto, ma soltanto nelle cose, non nel loro significato.
* Esiste un’edizione italiana che raccoglie entrambi i racconti: https://www.ibs.it/preparare-fuoco-li...
Il racconto interpretato da Paolini:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nsqg9...
Diversi i titoli pubblicati in Italia del racconto ”To Build a Fire di cui Jack London redasse due versioni (con lo stesso tittolo).
La prima del 1902 e la seconda del 1908: apparentemente differenti solo per alcuni elementi tolti/aggiunti, in realtà, dimostrano come spostare le virgole faccia la differenza. *
E’ un giorno freddo e grigio quando un Uomo, solo, si lascia alle spalle la pista principale dello Yukon (a nord del Canada).
Fa molto freddo.
Nonostante un veterano gli abbia sconsigliato di mettersi in viaggio, l’Uomo s’incammina.
Deve raggiungere i suoi compagni -altri cercatori d’oro- alla miniera ma prima vuole vedere se in queste zone ci sono abbastanza alberi da legname così da poter tornare in primavera.
Così decide di fare un giro più largo.
L’Uomo s’inoltra affondando i piedi nel ghiaccio e sorride tra sé pensando ai consigli di quel veterano: certo fa freddo ma sta rispettando i tempi programmati, non c'è bisogno di preoccuparsi.
Poi non è proprio solo: alle sue spalle un cane: un lupo.
Non un vero e proprio compagno con cui scambiare due chiacchiere, certo! Però, una presenza obbediente.
Tutt’intorno un freddo inverosimile: meno sessantotto gradi!
…
Il racconto è così breve che diventa impossibile parlarne oltre.
Le riflessioni dopo questa lettura sono così tante da superare le pagine del racconto stesso.
Innanzitutto, mi chiedo: è così che vogliamo lasciar scorrere la nostra esistenza?
Subire, lasciar passare le ore, i giorni guardando solo la superficie delle cose?
Senza farsi domande sui significati profondi di quello che ci circonda?
London ci mette di fronte all'evidenza secondo la quale l’arroganza umana è sempre perdente se messa a confronto con l’ancestrale istinto animale.
Il racconto e breve ma, personalmente, ho dovuto fare una pausa nel leggerlo.
Incredibilmente questo mi è successo anche in questa rilettura e nonostante sapessi già l’evolversi della storia.
Il primo messaggio, esplicito, che ci colpisce come un secco schiaffo sul viso, è chiaro e limpido:
da soli perdiamo; siamo piccoli esseri fragili.
"Preparare un fuoco", per me, rappresenta la perfezione di un racconto:
quando la narrazione non necessita di grandi trame per farci riflettere sull'essenza di ciò che siamo.
”Ma tutto questo - la misteriosa, sterminata, filiforme pista, l'assenza del sole in cielo, il freddo spaventoso, e la stranezza, l'arcano dell'insieme - non aveva effetto sull'uomo. E non perché vi fosse ormai abituato. Era nuovo del posto, un chechaquo, e quello era il suo primo inverno. Il guaio è che era privo di immaginazione. Nelle cose della vita era sveglio, e sempre pronto, ma soltanto nelle cose, non nel loro significato.
* Esiste un’edizione italiana che raccoglie entrambi i racconti: https://www.ibs.it/preparare-fuoco-li...
Il racconto interpretato da Paolini:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nsqg9...
August 3, 2017
Oh my goodness, I have not felt the cold like this since I watched Dr. Zhivago and wanted to help get the ice out of Omar Shariff's beard. Fantastic descriptions that make you shiver with cold and fear.
June 5, 2019
Klondike, alle rive del fiume Yukon, un uomo ed il "suo" cane stanno tornando al campo base. Fa un freddo inimmaginabile, siamo a molte decine di gradi sottozero. Le mani e i piedi incominciano a non dare più segni di vita, allora l'uomo decide di prepararsi per accendere un fuoco. Decisione cruciale per la sua vita, altrimenti capisce che il freddo non gli darebbe scampo. Così...
Il racconto, molto breve, ha per contro una intensità emotiva, data da una narrazione piena di rimandi all'essere interiore, umano ed animale. London cerca di sondare come l'uomo e il cane reagiscano ad un evento estremo. Per quanto riguarda l'uomo, London, prende da alcune delle sue esperienze passate nel Klondike e dove l'avidità dell'uomo del potere su tutto e tutti può costargli caro, invece per quanto riguarda le reazioni dell'animale, in questo caso: il cane, cerca di sondare l'animo animale, con una sensibilità non comune.
Il racconto, molto breve, ha per contro una intensità emotiva, data da una narrazione piena di rimandi all'essere interiore, umano ed animale. London cerca di sondare come l'uomo e il cane reagiscano ad un evento estremo. Per quanto riguarda l'uomo, London, prende da alcune delle sue esperienze passate nel Klondike e dove l'avidità dell'uomo del potere su tutto e tutti può costargli caro, invece per quanto riguarda le reazioni dell'animale, in questo caso: il cane, cerca di sondare l'animo animale, con una sensibilità non comune.
May 6, 2020
This is why you should always bring a buddy when hiking through negative seventy-five degree weather
February 4, 2019
Required reading for American literature seminar. Impressively shocking. 5 stars!
May 26, 2020
"Sadece hayattakilerin canı acırdı. Öldükten sonra acı duyulmazdı."
Ateş Yakmak adlı öykünün iki ayrı versiyonunu okumak güzel oldu...
⭐
Ateş Yakmak adlı öykünün iki ayrı versiyonunu okumak güzel oldu...
⭐
July 23, 2017
This was a pretty good heart-wrenching tragic short story by Jack London about a man trying to survive the harsh Alaskan wilderness in the Yukon during a dangerous cold snap. If you like these adventure type stories, definitely look for this short story to read online and wherever books are sold.
June 13, 2019
La sensazione che ho avuto leggendo questo racconto è stata di claustrofobia. Strano da provare nell'infinito e sterminato bianco che si estende a vista d'occhio. Eppure quel bianco nasconde un'apparente tranquillità, è infido, e l'uomo lo sa. Ma nonostante questo lo sfida, e si prende gioco di chi lo teme. Solo chi davvero conosce la natura, il cane che lo accompagna, perché di essa fa parte, sa che non si scherza. A temperature sotto zero così proibitive per l'uomo, ogni cosa può diventare difficile, e una distrazione può essere fatale.
L'idea di un uomo senza nome, che può essere chiunque, è interessante. London è un maestro nella descrizione della natura oltre ogni limite, in cui l'uomo sembra sempre fuori posto. E il climax di ansia che crea perfetto. L'uomo di fronte al pericolo, prima ha solo paura, poi va nel panico quando capisce che non può fare nulla, si dispera nonostante sia inutile. E la narrazione di quel gelo che pian piano avanza in un corpo prima pieno di calore e di sangue che scorre, avvolge anche il lettore, fino alla resa finale.
Forse é quel voler sempre andare fuori dai limiti che rende London speciale. Voler sempre mettere alla prova se stessi e poi sapere che c'è sempre qualcosa di più forte. L'uomo soccombe, anche Martin Eden soccombe, nonostante tutto.
L'idea di un uomo senza nome, che può essere chiunque, è interessante. London è un maestro nella descrizione della natura oltre ogni limite, in cui l'uomo sembra sempre fuori posto. E il climax di ansia che crea perfetto. L'uomo di fronte al pericolo, prima ha solo paura, poi va nel panico quando capisce che non può fare nulla, si dispera nonostante sia inutile. E la narrazione di quel gelo che pian piano avanza in un corpo prima pieno di calore e di sangue che scorre, avvolge anche il lettore, fino alla resa finale.
Forse é quel voler sempre andare fuori dai limiti che rende London speciale. Voler sempre mettere alla prova se stessi e poi sapere che c'è sempre qualcosa di più forte. L'uomo soccombe, anche Martin Eden soccombe, nonostante tutto.
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January 20, 2015
An unnamed man leaves the Yukon Trail and sets out to meet up with friends, but the weather is no good for traveling on foot. He has a husky with him, and the dog knows he shouldn't go out in such weather, but he does anyway. If you ever wondered what it's like to be ill prepared and lost in the middle of winter out in the great Yukon wilderness, this story can give you an idea. (If you also ever wondered what it would be like to have hypothermia while a dog gives you the "told you so" look, this is the story for you.)
I've always liked Jack London's stories; they never end well for willfully ignorant or cruel characters. There aren't many writers who could characterize dogs with dignity and intelligence and make them memorable. Arctic breeds are especially intelligent and have lots of personality and attitude, and London captured them just so in his stories.
I've always liked Jack London's stories; they never end well for willfully ignorant or cruel characters. There aren't many writers who could characterize dogs with dignity and intelligence and make them memorable. Arctic breeds are especially intelligent and have lots of personality and attitude, and London captured them just so in his stories.
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