"To Build a Fire" is a short story by American author Jack London. The famous version of this story was published in 1908. Jack London published an earlier and radically different version in 1902 in which the protagonist survives his ordeal, and a comparison of the two provides a dramatic illustration of the growth of his literary ability. It is widely considered as a prime example of the naturalist movement and of a Man vs. Nature conflict.
In the 21st century, fluctuations in solar radiation have caused the ice-caps to melt and the seas to rise. Global temperatures have climbed, and civilization has retreated to the Arctic and Antarctic circles. London is a city now inundated by a primeval swamp, to which an expedition travels to record the flora and fauna of this new Triassic Age. This early novel by the author of CRASH and EMPIRE OF THE SUN is at once a fast paced narrative, a stunning evocation of a flooded, tropical London of the near future and a speculative foray into the workings of the unconscious mind.
A man alone on the Yukon Trail, except for his husky dog, is planning on meeting friends on a day in which he encounters severe cold that reaches 75 degrees below zero. His troubles worsen when he falls through the snow and gets his feet and lower legs wet. His only hope of surviving is to build a fire, but his lack of ample supplies, extreme elements and his own diminishing senses prove to be an impenetrable barrier to his existence.
Most of Henry James's fiction is realistic, but, in The Turn of the Screw, he uses his brilliant powers of observation to write a strange and disturbing ghost story. A young woman goes to work as a governess in a large country house. She must take full responsibility for two children — Miles and Flora — whose parents have died and whose uncle and guardian lives in London. In this lonely situation, the governess starts to see the ghosts of the former governess and a manservant, both of whom died in mysterious circumstances