Jack London- il richiamo della natura
Jack London was another 20th-century naturalist, writing about the force of nature and Man’s reaction. His most known book is The Call of the Wild (1903) which describes how a domesticated creature turns to a primitive state in order to (per) survive. The story is set (ha luogo) in the extreme conditions of the Yukon during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush (corsa all’oro). Buck – the dog protagonist – is a domesticated dog sold into a brutal life as a sled dog (cane da slitta). The novel is about his struggle (lotta) to survive, the cruel treatment he receives from human beings, other dogs, and nature. He eventually (alla fine) goes back (ritorna) to primordial instincts to become a respected and feared (temuto) leader in the wild. The book is based on J. London’s real experience in the Yukon where sled dogs were in high demand (molto richiesti). The story attracts for the simplicity with which he presents the themes in an almost mythical manner. It falls into (ricade) the genre of animal fiction in which an animal is given human traits. London was influenced by the naturalism of European novelists such as Emile Zola, in which the hero returns to nature and symbolizes a reaction against industrialization and social convention with a return to nature. The first film adaptation was directed by D. W. Griffith in 1908. Other films were shot (girati) in 1923 – another silent movie; in 1935 – the first talkie movie by William A. Wellman ; in 1972 – the version by Ken Annakin filmed in Finland.
Into the Wild – il ritorno alla natura
Other authors followed Jack London’s example. Among them, a contemporary is Jon Krakauer (1954 -). American writer and mountaineer (scalatore), well-known for outdoor and mountain-climbing writing (scritti su scalate e vita nella natura), Jon Krakauer wrote Into the Wild in 1996. The book tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young man from a wealthy (benestante) East Coast family who, after graduating from college (aver preso la laurea), gave all his money to charity (in carità), called himself (si fece chiamare) Alexander Supertramp (tramp: vagabondo), and left his family to travel in the American West. Two years and four months later, his decomposed body was found dead in the Alaska wilderness (posto selvaggio). In the book, Krakauer draws parallels (traccia un parallelo) between his own experiences and motivations and those of the protagonist of his book. Into The Wild was adapted into a film in 2007 by Sean Penn.