# Gruesome scene I read as a child **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gruesome-scene-i-read-as-a-child/779803 "2017-02-14T04:44:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gruesome-scene-i-read-as-a-child/779803/1 "2017-02-14T04:44:07Z")
It was either a book or a short story; I’m not sure which. I was about twelve years old when I read it, so about 1975ish. It was about an explorer, or perhaps a prospector, who is isolated in a frigid arctic-type environment with a dog. He is near death and his hands are almost frostbitten. So he kills his dog, slices open the dog’s belly, and inserts his hands deep into the dog’s innards to warm them up and prevent them from becoming completely frostbitten. Since to the best of my memory I’ve never read Call of the Wild, I thought maybe it was that, but I looked it up and there’s no mention anywhere of such a scene. Anybody know what I’m talking about? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gruesome-scene-i-read-as-a-child/779803/2 "2017-02-14T04:51:50Z")
In London’s _To Build a Fire_, the man tries to kill the dog but is unable to. Otherwise, it is pretty similar. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gruesome-scene-i-read-as-a-child/779803/3 "2017-02-14T04:53:22Z")
Sounds like [To Build a Fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Build_a_Fire) by Jack London ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gruesome-scene-i-read-as-a-child/779803/4 "2017-02-14T04:53:57Z")
In London’s short story [_To Build a Fire_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Build_a_Fire) a man tries to do that, but the dog eludes him. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gruesome-scene-i-read-as-a-child/779803/5 "2017-02-14T04:59:06Z")
It must have been Rio, by Duran Duran. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gruesome-scene-i-read-as-a-child/779803/6 "2017-02-14T05:08:44Z")
> [@Jack London](#): > > The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head. He remembered the story of the man, caught in a storm, who killed an animal and sheltered himself inside the dead body and thus was saved. He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until feeling returned to them. Then he could build another fire. Not even close to the way I remember it (the way I recall it, he actually carried out the deed) but that’s gotta be it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gruesome-scene-i-read-as-a-child/779803/7 "2017-02-15T01:15:51Z")
Are you sure it wasn’t The Empire Strikes Back? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gruesome-scene-i-read-as-a-child/779803/8 "2017-02-15T02:48:34Z")
ISTR that he describes the intention so well vividly that it imprints on the brain. yes, I forgot the dog survived too - until I saw the film.