The Children of the Frost

By: Jack London

Narrated by: Walter Zimmerman

Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Jack London was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild, White Fang, The Sea Wolf and many other wonderful stories. The Children of the Frost is unique among his works in that it features the tragedies, travails and triumphs of the native Indians of the frozen Northland.

Stories included are "In the Forests of the North", "The Law of Life", "Nam-Bok the Unveracious", "The Master of Mystery", "The Sunlanders", "The Sickness of Lone Chief", "Keesh, Son of Keesh", "The Death of Ligoun", "Li-Wan, the Fair", and "The League of Old Men."

Public Domain (P)2010 Jimcin Recordings

Law and Disorder in the Alaska

If you could sum up The Children of the Frost in three words, what would they be?

Law and disorder.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Children of the Frost?

The Law emerged as a reoccurring theme throughout London's stories. It is a Law where the strong dominate the weak. This is played out by wolves devouring an abandoned elderly man, men dominating their wives, chiefs and shamans dominating their tribes, and finally by whites dominating the Native American cultures. In his last story, as a Native American man is tried for murdering whites, London remarked that this Law is brutal and unfair. Domination is the Law of nature where only the strong survives in a Darwinian dog-eat-dog world. This philosophy not only sums up all of the stories in London's book, but it also sums up his life.

What does Walter Zimmerman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Walter Zimmerman brings a masterful performance of multiple voices and characters with amazing dexterity. I not only saw the characters, I heard them.

Any additional comments?

Listen to the stories twice or thrice. The stories are so dense that much can be missed by a cursory listen in which you are not paying attention closely. There are tons of small but critical details that can be easily overlooked in one listen. I had to listen to the book twice or thrice to fully comprehend and appreciate London's mastery and depth as a storyteller.