To Build a Fire

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.

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4 stars.