Will I love White Fang?

Jack London is by far my favorite writer of youth-accessible literature, and White Fang is one of his best. My senses came alive as I read about a wolf’s struggle to survive and adapt to changes in its environment. Reading his description of a world through the experience of an animal was transformative. The Klondike became a real and deadly place, vibrant and alive.

Sure, this book is more than a century old, written in 1906. Sure, Jack London’s reputation has soured in the 21st century as critics re-appraise his motley life and books. This isn’t one of them: part dog, part wolf, the titular White Fang is born into a wild mostly wolf pack and has a pretty good life. Until he’s thrown into the immeasurably cruel and brutal world of mankind, first in a Native village, then to white men during the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s. Another book told from the dog’s point of view, the cruelty is presented… show more.