After Irving Stone's biographical novel, The Sailor in the Saddle, I wanted to turn to the work of Jack London, because it turns out I know far more about him than I do about his literary works.
"Daughter of the Snows" is Jack London's first novel. The author had to suffer a lot with excuses to the publishers of the manuscript, wait for the book to go to print, and then learn from the critics that his story is not at all perfect and not worthy of a masterpiece. Let's see.
John Griffith London was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.
The novel describes the times of the "gold rush," the setting being the Klondike. At the center of the events is the young and pretty Frona Wells, who has come to the North from Europe to visit her father. Her father is not the last man in the society, he is a tough guy, rich and influential, respected by local and guest miners who come to earn money. He is also infinitely fond of his only daughter, who was left early without her mother, a father who is ready to do the impossible for her.
Frona's years in the civilized world have not made her weak and vulnerable. To reach her father, she had to walk a difficult and dangerous multi-day journey, on which even grown men gave up under the weight of their luggage and lack of strength, and fell off the track. Hardened since childhood, the girl was able to overcome hardship and fatigue, and made it to her destination in good health.
A vivid but unobtrusive love line runs through the chapters of the entire novel. Of course, the beautiful and brave Frona is not left without male attention, her choice is given to two gorgeous, at first glance, but completely different men. They fight for the girl's hand and heart, each in his own way, but not without enthusiasm. Whom of the suitors will choose the lady, who is the lucky chosen one, who touched the soul of Frona, the reader will know on the very last lines of the novel. The author gives only a hint, but the discerning reader is sure to understand.
In my opinion, both suitors are not worthy of a socialite. One is too shy and lusciously kind, the other is a cowardly chatterbox, who will also end up involved in the murder of an Indian woman and her husband. Intrigued? Yes, London on top of everything else will offer the reader a little detective mystery.
The love adventure novel is not large in length, only 200 pages of printed text, but it is packed with extreme situations that happened to Frona and her friends. I was impressed by the ice drifting on the Yukon River. I can just see an American disaster movie with a Hollywood twist on the subject. A brave and fearless maiden who knows how to steer a fishing boat, battling a whirlpool of ice, battling the current and rushing to save a dying man on the other side of the river. Truly, the north is for the strong and brave, there is no room for the whiners and the weak.
London described the nature of the Klondike poetically. In every sentence you could feel his enthusiasm for the places he had been, the places he loved.
I enjoyed the beautiful description of the beginning of spring: the blinding rays of the northern sun, the melting glaciers glistening with a diamond sheen, the streams quickly filling with water, the awakening of buds on trees, insects, birds and animals, and finally the opening of the river.
Thanks to the talent of the author I was able to breathe a little air of the land of snow in the summer heat, feel the frosty air, hear the creak of snow under my feet and the howling wind, imagine a cloud of steam from my mouth escaping when I breathe, see carts pulled by dogs and endless expanses of snow. The debut novel succeeded. Only a completely icy heart would not have responded to Jack London's prose.
This article was sponsored by David Urbinati
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