White Fang

Written by Jack London

Narrated by William Dufris

1. “In order to face the constant danger of hurt and even of destruction...he became quicker of movement than the other dogs...more ferocious, and more intelligent. He had to become all these things, else he would not have held his own nor survived”.So writes Jack London of White Fang, the title character in one of his most well-known books. Through London's tale, the listener will come to know the intriguing life of a wolf-dog from his birth in the wilds of arctic Yukon Territory to his end of days as a resident of a California estate. White Fang's story is marked by themes of determination, will to survive, and redemption, and has been enjoyed by generations of readers since it was first published in 1906.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ChristianAudio.com
• Release date: Apr 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781610454001

Jack London

Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist and journalist. Born in San Francisco to Florence Wellman, a spiritualist, and William Chaney, an astrologer, London was raised by his mother and her husband, John London, in Oakland. An intelligent boy, Jack went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley before leaving school to join the Klondike Gold Rush. His experiences in the Klondike—hard labor, life in a hostile environment, and bouts of scurvy—both shaped his sociopolitical outlook and served as powerful material for such works as “To Build a Fire” (1902), The Call of the Wild (1903), and White Fang (1906). When he returned to Oakland, London embarked on a career as a professional writer, finding success with novels and short fiction. In 1904, London worked as a war correspondent covering the Russo-Japanese War and was arrested several times by Japanese authorities. Upon returning to California, he joined the famous Bohemian Club, befriending such members as Ambrose Bierce and John Muir. London married Charmian Kittredge in 1905, the same year he purchased the thousand-acre Beauty Ranch in Sonoma County, California. London, who suffered from numerous illnesses throughout his life, died on his ranch at the age of 40. A lifelong advocate for socialism and animal rights, London is recognized as a pioneer of science fiction and an important figure in twentieth century American literature.

Reviews for White Fang

[amyelizabeth_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think I tried to read this book when I was a lot younger and it just didn?t do anything for me. I got bored and ended up putting it down before I really gave it a chance. This time, however, I got hooked. In fact, I read more than half of it in one afternoon. The tale of White Fang is many things: intense, sad, funny, depressing, and happy. You?ll run the whole gamut of emotions with this story.The story is set in the late 1800s when the Wild was really wild and life was much tougher for men and animals alike. London gives us a nice back story ? before we even meet White Fang we meet his mother and learn about her cunning and her past. When White Fang is born, we see through his eyes and discover the cold and dangerous Arctic along with him. We learn that man is godlike in his way to control things both dead and alive and that while man means food and shelter, he also means pain and discipline. White Fang must learn to adapt to two worlds, that of the Wild and his inner wolf, and the world of humans where he must find his inner dog. I won?t give anything away, but throughout the story you?re also torn between wanting him to live in the Wild and wanting him to find love in the human world.This is a great, short read for a summer afternoon or two. Read it when it?s too hot to do anything outside and you?ll be transported to the cold Arctic for a few hours. I understand now why this book has become a classic. The story of White Fang is unforgettable and touches the heart.5 out of 5 stars because this has quickly become one of my favorite books.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For some reason, though I had it when I was little, I never read White Fang. I think I was afraid of anthropomorphism. I figured it was going to be kind of cutesy, not really worth my time. Much as I liked Narnia and the like, in fiction based in the real world, I wanted more realism. I obviously never even started reading it. I think the book does a good job of portraying the wolf as a completely different creature from the human -- as well as a human can do without becoming a wolf for a while himself. The slow taming of White Fang seemed more or less realistic to me, and my heart was in my mouth in the last couple of pages. The book does make you care about the characters, particularly White Fang and his final master.

I was especially intrigued by the idea of wolves/dogs seeing humans as their gods. White Fang's view of his gods reminded me of the ancient Greek pantheon -- all those jealous and fighting gods, some more powerful than others...

I'm glad I finally did read this book.

[missboyer3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of White Fang - 3/4 wolf and 1/4 dog. It tells of White Fangs parentage, his birth, his early days in the wild, his meeting with men and learning to live with them, of his meeting with white men and learning to live with them. Along the way, he learns some terribly hard lessons, and also learns some great joys as well.

[juva_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An intimate story about the life of wolves and the Alaskan wilderness. One puppy survives the litter of a half breed wolf and her full blooded mate. This puppy is eventually adopted by Alaskan natives and has a rough and often mixed experience with humans. But it isn't until he is bought out of the dog-fighting ring by a kind hearted man that White Fang truly experiences love.

[iudita_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's never a good sign when a relatively short book feels like forever to finish. I'm not sure why this beloved classic didn't speak to me. Maybe I didn't gel with the writing which I found very plain. Or maybe it was the perspective of the animal which doesn't often work for me. Maybe it was just the wrong book at the wrong time. Either way, I was bored by it. On to other books!

[bookslesstravelled · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I tried to read this book many times. I now wonder what took me so long! I really enjoyed this book, and the touching example of what a kind heart can do to a damaged soul.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

White Fang by Jack London is the story of a wolf who is born in the wild to a half wolf/half dog mother and a full wolf father. He spends his first few formative months in the wild being raised by his mother and then the two of them are absorbed into an Indian village and White Fang learns about living with humans. There is always an aspect of wildness about White Fang and unfortunately as he is passed on to other humans this aspect is taken advantage of. He is tortured and mistreated and set to fight against other animals. Eventually he is rescued from the fighting ring but now must learn how to trust and care for a human again.This book shows both the cruelty and kindness that an animal can face during it’s lifetime. It reminded me a lot of his Call of the Wild, although to my way of thinking White Fang should have been left in the wild where he truly belonged. Set in the Canadian Yukon at the time of the Klondike Gold Strike, I found this to be an absorbing read. I know that research into wolves has advanced since Jack London wrote about them, but the writing here is extremely descriptive and at times quite lyrical. I couldn’t totally buy into this story as the author’s descriptions of White Fang’s thought processes were a little too detailed and human-like, but I can certainly understand this author’s popularity as the book was a true adventure read.

[she_climber · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't sure if I'd ever read this or not, and afterwards, I don't think I had. It was good, nothing spectacular. I would have thought that I would have loved it more. I enjoyed that it was was from the point of view of the wolf. White Fang had an interesting life but there just wasn't any particular high point in the story. It just plodded along.

[gbill_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The sequel to ‘The Call of the Wild,’ ‘White Fang’ is more developed and tells a mirror story. In it, a half-wolf, half-dog endures great hardship in the wilds of Alaska, and eventually is domesticated. As in the first book, its realism suffers as London ascribes emotions and actions to the dogs that are too human-like, but he is effective in painting a picture of life in the cold, harsh climate, where the law is “eat or be eaten,” as he puts it. Unfortunately, it also has a dose of the white supremacy common to the period, as the dogs look up to the Indians as “Gods,” and then look up even more to “White Gods,” who are described as superior. Overall, though, it has some memorable scenes, such as the owner who holds brutal dog fights, and a nice message of how love, tenderness, and patience can overcome the bitterness bred from a violent upbringing. London also gets in a little jab at corruption in law enforcement towards the end, via a prisoner who has been framed. Imperfect, but worth reading.Just this quote:“To have a full stomach, to doze lazily in the sunshine – such things were remuneration in full for his ardors and toils, while his ardors and toils were in themselves self-remunerative. They were expressions of life, and life is always happy when it is expressing itself.”

[steller0707 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Many years ago our friend had a beautiful dog, named Bianca. She was 3/4 dog and 1/4 wolf, a wonderful, gentle family dog, and, like White Fang, from the "northlands." Although Jack London's White Fang is the reverse proportions of Bianca, and leads a very different life, I couldn't help but have Bianca on my mind while reading this classic story. I visualized a beautiful animal, even through the brutal descriptions of White Fang's life. The hunting and killing instinct for survival was inbred from White Fang's puppy-hood. But London puts us into the mind of the wolf-dog, as he learns the "laws" that govern his existence in the wild and in his relationships to the "god-men" who take him on. Without sentimentality the reader comes to understand how he might think and react toward other animals and people, and to appreciate both his wildness and his loyalty. I loved seeing him come to life. White Fang and those like him, even while acting on instincts, are indeed beautiful and intelligent animals.

[liscarey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've lost track of how many times I read this as a kid. Wonderful book!

[ctpress_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The aim of life was meat. Life itself was meat. Life lived on life. There were the eaters and the eaten. The law was: EAT OR BE EATEN. He did not formulate the law in clear, set terms and moralize about it. He did not even think the law; he merely lived the law without thinking about it at all.” “I’m going to give the evolution, the civilization of a dog—development of domesticity, faithfulness, love, morality, and all the amenities and virtues.” Jack LondonThe opening scene where White Fang lures out the sledge dogs one by one and kills them - and then goes after the two men - is both frigthening and fascinating. There are several other frightening scenes - like the crucial fight with the bull dog. Oh, my. But then also delightful scenes where White Fang encounters the God’s (humans) goodness and tenderness. I had forgotton how great this classic American tale was - up there with "Watership Down"] in it’s realism and moral force.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed the first three chapters, even if they were a bit gruesome. Cast Liam Neeson and you'd have the makings of a fine movie there. Lost interest when the narration switched to the wolves' point of view. Also, the narrator's voice was grating and seemed to emphasize the wrong things. Unfinished.

[krista.rutherford · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Classic story of a wold-dog hybrid named White Fang. It's kind of the reversal of Jack London's other work "The Call of the Wild" wherein the animal starts off in human society and goes feral. White Fang is born wild and ends up with a beloved master. The point appears to be that nature is savage and brutal ("Eat or be eaten!"), and that man can be even more savage and brutal, or let the power of love and gentleness overcome.

[jimocracy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I don't want to get too critical of this book but it is ironic that the author reversed the very thing I liked best about The Call of the Wild: the ruthless ending. I suppose that this book ended with a ruthless event but not with a wildness of mind and life. I thought that parts one and two were simply brilliant. The beginning of the book was gripping and exciting and a great way to introduce the reader to White Fang.

All in all, I enjoy this book very much... I just thought it got too sappy and lovey-dovey in the end. Also, I did not really enjoy the deification of humans to the extent it was used. The first couple of references would have sufficed to make the point of the wolf's point of view.

[santhony_35 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For Christmas, I ordered an mp3 player (Library of Classics) that was pre-loaded with 100 works of classic literature in an audio format. Each work is in the public domain and is read by amateurs, so the quality of the presentation is hit or miss. White Fang is a novel written by Jack London, much on the same topic and of the same style as his classic novella Call of the Wild. In Call of the Wild, the story is told from the point of view of the kidnapped sled dog, Buck. Likewise, in White Fang, the protagonist and narrator is a wolf/dog hybrid named White Fang. Born in the wild to a wolf father and half wolf, half dog mother, White Fang soon becomes domesticated as a pup in a nearby Indian village. From there he passes through various stages of life in Canada, Alaska and finally California.London’s writing is fascinating and the imagery is first rate. White Fang’s progression from a wild animal, to domesticated sled dog, to fighting dog and finally to family pet (interestingly, exactly the opposite experience of the protagonist in Call of the Wild) is vastly entertaining and educational.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So infinitely better than Call of the Wild. I really enjoyed this book. White Fang had so much more personality than Buck and White Fang's perspectives of the world, his myriad interactions with everything around him, and the wonderful characterizations of the people in White Fang's life really invited the reader to truly care for him.

[shakirh.b3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

White Fang is a wolf dog who lies in Alaska. He was born in a cave with 4 other pups and he was the only one who survive. He was taken to an Indian Camp with his mom. He was given the name White Fang. He was very cunning and fierce. He was hated by all the other dogs in the camp. Soon his mom was taken from him and he was bullied and also scared. He learned how to protect himself from the other puppies and how to live with humans. He was sold to a man name Beauty Smith who treated him badly and put him to fight and kill other dogs for money. He was saved by Scott after he almost died when dog fighting. Scott took him to his home in California where he was love and became a part of Scott family and also had puppies of his own. I enjoyed reading this adventurous book which shows us about animal feelings and trust. It shows how some people can be cruel to animals and some can be kind as well. White Fang went from a fierce animal who met cruelty, being bullied and abused to enjoying life and having his own puppies. I think it was very horrible the way he was beaten and put into fights. No one deserve this type of treatment.

[crashmyparty · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book a few years ago, and have constantly gone back to it because I just enjoyed the story and London's style of writing that much. 

[zhyatt-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pros: this is a lovely, lovely book. It follows the tale of an Alaskan wolf from birth to his meeting with a human who shows him compassion and love, forming a bond stronger than any he's formed in his life. Beautifully written, evenly paced, it's classic Jack London.Cons: I'm pretty sure this book was at least partly responsible for starting the whole "OMG I LUV WOLFZ!!!" trend among our young people in the last few years. Especially teenage girls. I'm talking about the kind who talk about how beautiful and majestic wolves are and how ugly and awful humans are and they would just love to live with the wolves forever. Urgh.Also, I guess you could interpret some mild racial stereotyping in that White Fang's first master is a native who becomes an alcoholic.For these two offenses, I deduct one star. But it's still a great little novel.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I expected to like this more than Call of the Wild because it was supposed to be London's book where he got all nitty-gritty about writing from the wolf's perspective in a real as opposed to a kind of anthropomorphic epical way, and there was some good stuff in that vein early on, with the baby wolf figuring out how the world works, and I think the "nature faker" label is somewhat unreasonable to apply to him unless you were expecting actual nature writing and not tall tale shit. (But only somewhat, since the fact that White Fang's narrative arc is basically that he is wild and magnif and then bad humans make him ornery and vicious and then good humans bring him into the light of civ gives the ecocritic-type, let-the-animals-be-animals-irretrievably-Other criticisms levelled against London by Teddy Roosevelt (!) at least three legs to stand on.)No, the problem with this book has nothing to do with nature--it's London's atittudes toward humanity that are the problem. We see how nails-tough Grey Beaver and the other native people who first semi-domesticate White Fang are, but then when he wanders into the white man's town he sees--apocalyptic revelation!--that those "gods" (humans are gods) are as nothing before the pale gods, and you're like, why exactly, given that the white people in this are mostly a bunch of drunks and fuckups. London's racial ideology is accompanied by this thing where the scion of the judge's family in California comes in and stomps the vicious lumpen goldpanners who are forcing White Fang to dogfight ("You beasts!" he shrieks, fists flying, superman curl coming unstuck. "You beasts!"). And White Fang is redeemed by being brought into the manor of the patriarch, the Judge of the Law. London himself said this book was an expression of "worship of power" and evoked Nietzsche, but it's a pretty thin Nietzscheanism--more Leibnizian all-is-for-the-best-in-this or Calvinist elect: those who rule are the strongest by virtue of ruling, not vice versa. Like, this guy's a socialist???? But then you read further that London saw this book as a fable-retelling of his own stratospheric rise from working-class kid to millionaire author, and you're like, no, he may think he's a socialist but he's actually the worst kind of fuckhead.

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

White Fang is ¼ dog and ¾ wolf. He is born into the wild, but since his mother is ½ dog, she brings him back to live with people. Over the course of his lifetime, he has to learn to adapt to many different worlds. London does an amazing job of telling the story from the wolf/dog’s point of view. Although, I find it very, very difficult to get past some of the abuse that happens in the story, it is an amazing book about an amazing animal. The way the story is told depicts exactly how I think an animal’s mind would work.

[maryreinert · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful writing about the life of a dog/wolf in the Yukon. Life in the wild changes as White Fang is first "owned" by an Indian, later by a terrible man named Beauty Smith who makes him into a fighting dog, and last by a kind man who becomes very attached to the dog.

[saltvand-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book in Danish when I was about 10, and it made a strong lasting impression. For that reason I'll give it at least 4 stars, although don't know how I would had rated it if I had read it as an adult.

[isaacpeterson.sbhs · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book with a great story that kept me on my toes. Although you need to have kind of a long attention span it's a great story once you get into it.

[kikiunhinged · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked it alright as a dog lover but was a little bored finding descriptions repetitious. Call of the Wild was much better in my opinion.

[animyrch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An emotive book depicting the imaginary life of a wolf. Through his feelings and opinions, Jack London presents us a comprehensive critic of inner and outer nature of humans by means of implicit comparisons between animals and humans.

[marsap_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A classic by Jack London, White Fang could be considered the companion to London’s Call of the Wild, except in reserve. Whereas Buck from Call of the Wild finds his wild nature—White Fang finds his human love and is able to integrate into domestic life. White Fang is born in the wild to a wolf father and a half wolf mother. When he is made captive by humans, he is outcast from the other dogs because of his wildness. He learns to fight for his life. Finally, he has an opportunity to experience a new life away from the violence and savagery—but will he learn to embrace it is the question. I loved this book despite the violence and the brutality of the life led by White Fang—and the cruelty of the humans he encounters. A 4 out of 5 stars.

[karenleefield · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I first read this book when I was a young teenager. I remember crying then. I didn’t cry this time round but the actions in this book did strike a chord with me. I really do detest cruelty to animals; the cruelty in this book is paramount.White Fang is a product of his past. He has been taught to hate. He has been taught to survive at any measure. He is vicious. He is a killer! Yet he’s these things because he has to be. His other choice is to be the weak link and die.It’s a powerful story. Well told. No holding back; aimed straight for the jugular. The biggest lesson learned by reading White Fang is that you can beat an animal (and I believe this relates to people too) into doing what you want but loving them produces a much better (long-lasting) result. A beaten animal will do as you want, but will rip your throat out if given the opportunity. A loved animal will be faithful, loyal and forever.There’s little more to be said about this book except that it’s worth reading. I highly recommend it.

[evan719 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Book ReviewBy: Evan MercadoThis is a classic story about survival (in my eyes). This starts off interesting with a pack of 6 wolfs, and ends up with, well, you have to read the book for that :). It ends up in a good home after attacking it's owner's family. No one knows for sure, but the other wolfs might still be alive. Only 1 dies that I know of) the rest (except for 1 who goes solo) and they travel in a pack of 4. That until they came across this tribe of Indians (I called them Indians because in the book they were called Indians, if that offends anyone).Thats when one wolf turns on the rest of it’s pack, and leaves. It found a home, owner , until a Dog Musher wants this dog. But the owner (Scott) keeps the dog and moves to Sierra Vista, with his family.