Altivo's Fabulous Furry Tales #2: Jack London and the Wolves

[altivo]

<==Download podcast here.

Fourteen minutes this week, just under 7 MB download. I'm afraid the sound quality is a bit off, but not that bad and I can't spend a lot of time with it today. This week's topic: Jack London's The Call of the Wild and White Fang.

<==For those brave enough to want to subscribe.

Note that the RSS/XML link has been revised. I wasn't happy with the one generated by Ourmedia, since it combined everything I post into a single subscription. Those of you who want Fabulous Furry Tales without adulteration will probably want to unsub and resubscribe here.

Written transcript also available upon request. Hope you enjoy it. :)

P.S. After some confusion last time, here's a bit of info for the uninitiated. You do not need an iPod in order to listen to a podcast. The 'cast is just an mp3 file and it can be played back on any device that reads mp3 files, including, most likely, the same PC you are reading this on. The XML link is used to subscribe with an RSS reader that automatically downloads each new podcast when it is released. You don't need such software in order to listen, though.

Comments

Commentary on Podcast II

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Like most of furry I wuvs me a wuff. Its a kind of furry cliche
actually. You never see anyone making websites about how the
love Shrews or Catfish. XD

The music was goodly!

Jack London is one of those types that you just have to respect. He
didn't think this up, having no experience of it. Call Of The Wild
and his other works come from the things he did, real adventures
made into fiction. I can identify with the man, he did lots of
different work before he found his authorial voice. The Klondike
experience was probably ten lifetimes pressed into one.

As for the story, Buck is also an archtype for many who enjoy furry.
"Running with the Pack" sort of thing.

White Fang and Call Of The Wild seem to be opposite ends of the
same impulse...being wild but not wild...feral but good.

I suppose Jack would have enjoyed having an internet connection, he'd
have found a large audience for his ability to be wolf and identify
with the actual animal in ways that only now, nearly a hundred years
later, has become a rather common thing online.

Do you think that stories about animals that think, "furries" are now
relegated, as has been for the last century or more, to children's stories,
or have they become, with the internet, more adult fair?

Good stuff sir!

Re: Commentary on Podcast II

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That last is a good discussion question that I should get into in more depth. I think that "animal stories" such as these were first intended for adults. London did not write The Call of the Wild for children, but for everyone. And children in fact can't truly appreciate the deeper significance of the events in the story. Sewell, Saunders, and Salten were not writing for children either.

Somewhere in the intervening years, these stories have come to be thought of as children's stories, even though they are not. Fantasizing that animals can talk is somehow a childish thing, and so-called adults are expected to put such ideas aside. This ties right into the attitudes many have toward furry fandom as well. Modern writers know this just as well. Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels, C. J. Cherryh's Chanur series, Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar stories are all aimed at adults. Sure, lots of advanced younger readers enjoy them, but it takes a mature mind to really appreciate the depth of the political and social contexts presented.

Re: Commentary on Podcast II

[farhoug.livejournal.com]

At least I wouldn't recommend The Call of the Wild as a bedtime story, unless one would want to sneak nightmares to the little minds. It was one of the first books I read in its native language, so I've probably missed a thing or twenty muddling it through. But it's definitely worth of a re-read.

Even though it may be just my own experience, but I'm getting a feeling that stories about anthropomorphized animals are getting more acceptance among adult readers too, alongside with the coming of more fantasy-themed books, harrypotters and like. That it isn't just "a privilege" of the younger readers anymore. =)

Re: Commentary on Podcast II

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I think you're right that at least a certain segment of the population no longer thinks animal stories or anthropomorphics are merely childish things. But those who do think this continue to run the show in many cases. Bookstores and libraries will insist on placing these titles in the children's section, even when they are utterly inappropriate there.

And need I even mention the attitudes of many toward furry fandom?

Kenneth Grahame is up next, and he's the man I give credit to for making anthropomorphic stories at least somewhat acceptable to adult readers. ;)

[calydor.livejournal.com]

Ah, much more emotion in your voice this time, that's nice.

It is ironic that Chibiabos has so many times asked me if I'd read Call of the Wild, and every time I have said no, but the instant you mentioned Buck as the main character I realized I've seen at least two, maybe three different movie renditions of it.

In the line of Call of the Wild, though not written from the view of the wolves, would probably be "Never Cry Wolf" by Farley Mowat. It is a real life story of his spending ... half a year, I think, studying a wolf pack, and coming close to what I think all furs deep within seek - finding the very essence of the animal he came to love and admire.

All in all, a good 'cast, and again I look forward to the next one.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Amusingly, I've not read the text of Mowat's Never Cry Wolf though I have seen and very much enjoyed the film version.

Here's a deal for you: You find and read The Call of the Wild (I'll bet you can even get it in Danish if you like) and I'll make a point of reading the original of Never Cry Wolf.

Did you know that Farley Mowat was barred from visiting the United States? The Reagan administration considered him too subversive, and when he was invited by colleges to come speak or act as a guest professor he was denied entrance. I don't actually know if that ban was ever lifted.

[hrrunka]

Thanks for that. It is way too long since I read CotW and WF. I don't even seem to have copies in the house, so that's something I'll have to rectify next time I'm in a bookshop. I always identified more strongly with Kipling's Jungle Books, which, I guess, is at least partly down to my being tropical born and bred. The ice and snow were a little foreign. However, that the story should be told from the dog's point of view seemed perfectly natural.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I had a similar problem. There actually were copies of the two books here, but they are in one of those huge single volume anthologies of Jack London's writing. The whole thing is about 1800 pages in one volume, and weighs 5 pounds. Not exactly suitable for bedtime reading. I have a handheld electronic book reader that I like so I checked and, voila, both books were available in that format for 85 cents US each. They're also in Project Gutenberg, but if you prefer paper, try any large used book store.

(BTW, I really do love that icon. You should record some harp music and distribute it to us here.)

[hrrunka]

I'm sure both books are still in print over here, probably in a choice of editions, but I always keep an eye out for some books on second-hand bookstalls too. So far I've not found an affordable practical e-book reader, and plain old books are usually so much more practical. I did lug a hardback of Pullman's "His Dark Materials" around for a while. That one wasn't so practical. It's even heavier than the heaviest Harry Potter...

(...and as for the harp, I wish I could play it half well enough to be worth recording, but that's another story.)