5 h 31 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 31 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What keeps a man walking when his body is failing and the northern wilderness offers nothing to eat?
In Jack London's Love of Life, and Other Stories, survival strips life to its hardest choices. The title story follows an injured prospector across the barren Canadian north. His partner, Bill, presses on without him. Left hungry and alone, the man must keep moving as hunger changes not just his body, but the workings of his mind.
The collection also follows Keesh, an Inuit boy who wants his village to take him seriously, and Brown Wolf, a dog caught between comfort in California and the pull of the north. Walt and Madge love Brown Wolf, but love raises a difficult question: where does he belong? Across these tales, London explores courage, instinct and the stubborn will to live.
What you’ll discover
- A body pushed further Follow an injured man's struggle through cold and hunger, where every step demands more.
- Two creatures clinging on A sick wolf follows the starving man, bringing another desperate will into the wilderness.
- Courage sharpened by wit Meet Keesh, whose intelligence and courage challenge the way his Arctic village sees him.
- The pull of belonging Brown Wolf's divided loyalties make a dog's place in the world a deeply felt question.
- Hard choices, swift storytelling London's plain, fast style carries you through harsh country and the instincts beneath civilized life.
Who will love it
This collection suits readers who love adventure on the frozen frontier, stories of survival and willpower, and sharp short fiction about fairness, law and loyalty.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Hope keeps a starving man moving
- Old feeling breaks through calm
- Different laws can each seem logical
- Keesh demands a fair share
- Edith holds to law after violence
- Love leaves room for another's choice
- A journey can leave questions open
- Courage may look like weakness
- Choices reveal what people value
Who’s who
- The man in Love of LifeA prospector with a sprained ankle who is left behind and must cross the barren lands toward food and safety.
- John MessnerA calm Berkeley man who meets the wife who left him in a cabin in the frozen north.
- EbbitsAn old Yukon man who tries to explain to a traveler why the white man's ways make no sense.
- KeeshA fatherless boy who vows to hunt his own meat and share fairly with the weak.
- Edith NelsonA former lady's maid turned gold-camp wife who holds to the law while guarding a murderer.
- Skiff MillerA Klondike dog driver who has come to California and claims a dog he raised.
- Sitka CharleyA trail guide who learns to read pictures and tells of a chase he never understood.
- NegoreA man called the coward, who must prove himself to the woman he loves.
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Love of Life, and Other Stories
by Jack London · 1907
Across the Arctic barrens, a starving man crawls onward, carrying a bag of gold.
Easy read2–5 hours to readEnglish
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In short
A man stands in a milky Arctic stream and cries out to his partner. Bill does not turn his head.
Love of Life, and Other Stories at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 10 min2 h 30 min fast, 3 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 45,600 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1907by Jack London
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A starving man walks on after betrayal
Love of Life begins with a desertion. Two worn-out men wade through a stream in the Canadian barrens, heading for a food cache. One of them, Bill, will not stop when the other sprains his ankle. The hurt man is left alone with a rifle that holds no cartridges.
He tells himself that Bill will wait at the cache. He needs to believe it, because without that belief he would lie down and die. So he limps on through moss and muskeg, and his hope moves his legs.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1907
- Language
- English
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
London, Jack. Love of Life, and Other Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/love-of-life-and-other-stories.
London, J. (2026). Love of life, and other stories. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/love-of-life-and-other-stories (Original work published 1907)
London, Jack. Love of Life, and Other Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/love-of-life-and-other-stories.
@book{london2026love,
author = {London, Jack},
title = {Love of Life, and Other Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/love-of-life-and-other-stories},
note = {First published 1907}
}
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What is Love of Life and Other Stories about?
It collects eight tales of the far north, mostly set during the Klondike gold rush. The title story follows a man crossing the barrens alone, while the others deal with law, greed, loyalty and survival.
Which stories are in Love of Life and Other Stories?
The tales are Love of Life, A Day's Lodging, The White Man's Way, The Story of Keesh, The Unexpected, Brown Wolf, The Sun-Dog Trail and Negore, the Coward. Each stands on its own.
Is Love of Life a true story?
The story is fiction, but Jack London drew on his own time in the Klondike and on accounts of Arctic travel. The land, the dogs and the hardships come from the world he knew.
The author
Jack London
1876–1916 · American novelist and journalist
Jack London (1876–1916) was an American author, journalist and social activist. He was born in San Francisco and lived in California. He wrote novels, short stories and essays. His novels include The Call of the Wild (1903), The Sea-Wolf (1904), White Fang (1906) and Martin Eden (1909). He died in California.
More by Jack London
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