White Fang by Jack London

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He was three quarters wolf and all fury. Born in a cave, in famine, in the frozen Arctic. Born in a world where the weak died without mercy, where only the swift, the strong, the cunning saw each dawn. It was White Fang's world - until he and his mother were captured by the man-gods.
Men and their dogs taught White Fang to hate. He was beaten and abused. Bought, sold, tortured, and trained to kill in blood sports. Knowing no kindness, he became a mad, lethal creature of pure rage.
Only one man saw White Fang's intelligence and nobility. Only one had the courage to offer the killer a new life. But can a wolf understand the word hope? Can a creature of hatred understand the word love?

White Fang is one of London's classic tales of survival and one of his most popular stories. White Fang is part dog, part wolf, and in his lonely world, he soon learns to follow the law of the North - kill or be killed.
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One of the classics for a reason.

It took me a little while to get into this book. I didn't really know what exactly, it was about and was quite taken aback at how bleak and horrid the tale starts out.

Cold, famine, abuse, death and the survival of the fittest all play a very predominant role in the book, and it was just so brutal. I felt so sorry for that poor animal. Thankfully his luck changes and the ending was so sweet.

Though I had to put it down once in a while to take a breather after all the brutality, I was quick to pick it back up and read on. London wrote an amazing book, almost all of it from White Fang's point of view and we are shown ourselves through the wolf's eyes. The book paints quite the picture of man's cruelty against animals and the wolf's mindset. It also shows man's kindness though and how it doesn't have to be that way. London also brings up some interesting descriptions of how we are moulded by our origins and our upbringing to become who we are.

White Fang is one of a kind and it's a classic I'd recommend people to read and learn from.

203 pages (ePub) / published in 1906
Review by Iben Jakobsen, BoB, 2011