Jack London and Robert Louis Stevenson Author Comparison

These two authors, Jack London and Robert Louis Stevenson both have their differences and similarities in their writing styles. Both of them though, wrote fantastic books. The two books that I like from them are Treasure Island (by Robert Louis Stevenson) and White Fang (by Jack London). The way both of the authors wrote both of these books is completely different. Robert, he added a lot of dialogue to the story. Jack on the other hand, narrated most of it to show the story as if we are just observing what is happening. Of course, no dialogue was really needed because it had a lot to do with the wolves. But very few times when there were people in the story he added dialogue. Robert wrote his book in the mind of Jim Hawkins and mostly followed him around the story since he was the main character. Jack London did the same thing but differently. There was no dialogue but the way he was explaining the scene made you feel like you weren’t in the mind of the main character but mostly right there watching the main character. Very similar, but different.

When I recently read White Fang I noticed the author made the main character grow and change its character rapidly through the book. I think the main character in Treasure Island grew, but his character didn’t really change that drastically. When I see a character growing and changing through the book it gets me excited to want to know what the ending is going to be like since the character changed so much. But, the characters don’t have to change in a bad way, they can also change in a good way. Like White Fang, he changed but towards the end of the book it was a good change.

I loved both of these books because the authors put in life lessons into the story. The life lessons were different in each of the books but I think that’s good. I love learning something while I’m reading a story. I also like seeing what the characters are emotionally going through because it makes me get really into the book. When authors really go into detail with their characters, it makes me happy. That’s because when you’re reading the story, you want to understand the character’s personality and their perspective.

I noticed that Jack London really described the setting a little more than Robert. It’s been a little while since I read Treasure Island, but I don’t exactly remember that much setting descriptions as much as I do with White Fang. But I think authors should go to a certain extend to explain the setting. There was this one book I was reading (I won’t mention a name) and the author would not stop explaining every little detail to the setting. That’s a great thing to do but when it gets to a few pages long it gets the reader yawning. People want to know what is going on with the characters more than the setting. That’s my opinion. But when I read White Fang, it was an equal amount of explaining the setting, and following the character’s story. That is the type of writing style that I like. Robert Louis Stevenson didn’t really go into that much detail with the setting so it kind of got me working with my imagination on what the setting could look like because there were a lot of possibilities. I like that writing style as well. It gives you enough information to the point where not everything is laid out for you and you can use your imagination.

Overall, I love both of the authors and I love both of those books. They are different, but they are a good different. I think it’s a good idea to open yourself up to new and different authors so that you can read different writing styles. Sometimes, I tend to stick to my favorite authors but in my English class, it kind of forces me to read outside of my little bubble of authors. Yes, you might not like some of the books and writing styles (trust me I’ve been there) but it’s a good thing to experience.