jacobdekay's review against another edition
4.0
How to Build a Fire is harrowing. If you've never felt true cold I encourage you to embrace it vicariously through London's beautiful story. It's a short but elegant tale of a man suffering through the Alaskan chill. You could read this on a beach in Cancun and London would still leave you shivering!
frede_schou's review against another edition
4.0
To Build a Fire: 9/10
The Chinago: 9/10
Love of Life: 8/10
After reading Cinema Speculation, I feel like reviewing everything I'm reading/watching, so here we go:
Three great stories about life and death, and what happens when you are face to face with the reaper himself. These stories was not just very exciting and dramatic, but they were also thought-provoking. What would I do in these situations? Would I have the endurance?
In "To Build a Fire" and "The Chinago" Jack London has created two very interesting, deep main characters. The hardy man with no fears of "To Build a Fire" and the optimistic migrant worker, who, despite that he lives in almost slave-like conditions, stays positive, of "The Chinago".
The last short story, "Love of Life", probably has the most exciting story and the ending, I liked the most, but its main character just isn't as interesting. He feels a bit one-dimensional.
Overall three very nice tales, that was everything I hoped for.
The Chinago: 9/10
Love of Life: 8/10
After reading Cinema Speculation, I feel like reviewing everything I'm reading/watching, so here we go:
Three great stories about life and death, and what happens when you are face to face with the reaper himself. These stories was not just very exciting and dramatic, but they were also thought-provoking. What would I do in these situations? Would I have the endurance?
In "To Build a Fire" and "The Chinago" Jack London has created two very interesting, deep main characters. The hardy man with no fears of "To Build a Fire" and the optimistic migrant worker, who, despite that he lives in almost slave-like conditions, stays positive, of "The Chinago".
The last short story, "Love of Life", probably has the most exciting story and the ending, I liked the most, but its main character just isn't as interesting. He feels a bit one-dimensional.
Overall three very nice tales, that was everything I hoped for.
saralynnburnett's review against another edition
4.0
Not as good as call of the wild and White Fang - but London was a global explorer and these stories show the amazing range of places he visited.
liambluer's review against another edition
5.0
This is a great mixture of adventure and existentialism. An obvious comparison can be found in Hemingway's short stories, but London is simply more consistently interesting. These tales are at once rip-roaring adventures, windows into lost times and places, lessons on the power and brutality of nature, and meditations on man's place in the universe. Jack London is the MAN.
inthecommonhours's review against another edition
4.0
It's the second story, Love of Life, that haunts me---the feel of the wolf's breath on his cheek, the will to life. Our Russian friends turned me back on to London, just as they did Somerset Maugham, and they were right. Two unappreciated, great writers.
michael_taylor's review against another edition
3.0
My thoughts regarding this collection of short stories is conflicted. On the one hand, Jack London is capable of writing some of the most evocative short stories I've ever read (the physical sensation of cold is captured exactly). On the other hand, this is a rather dour assembly of stories. Mr. London's world is a hard, unforgiving one. Slavery, misogyny and racism run rampant. He's not shy about the violence people commit against one another. If I were to rate this solely on content, I'd say 4/10. If I were to rate it solely on quality of writing, I'd say 8/10. It's more consistent than most collections of short stories. If you read the first one and aren't into it then you won't be into the rest. I think it's telling that it took me a long while to read the entire collection. If I hit a story that didn't quite jive with me I'd put this aside for months at a time. I think that if you were curious about Jack London as an author this would sum him up.