Brrr!

I thought reading To Build A Fire and The Open Boat back-to-back was interesting. The Open Boat carried a slight hope and optimism that To Build A Fire did not. Growing up with South Dakota winters helped me to relate to Jack London's short story better than Stephan Crane's. I have no experience with the open sea, but I certainly understand sub-zero temperatures, although not the the extremes of To Build A Fire. I don't deal well with the cold and the thought of slowly freezing to death makes me want to put on another sweater and stay indoors. I kind of wanted to shake some sense into the main character. From the beginning, his decision to travel alone had "STUPID" written all over it. I cringed a little every time he took his gloves off; even I know to keep all body parts covered in cold weather. The end was a little sad but expected under the circumstances. I thought it was tragically ironic when the character says to himself, as he dies, that people back home have no concept of cold and he will be able to inform them of real cold after his experience. Although the story was a bit depressing, I now kind of want to pick up a book by London when I have a spare moment. I will definitely be reading it indoors with a blanket though.