Language: English
Published in: 1903
Categorie(s): Fiction, Action & Adventure
Word count: 31,750 words (≈ about 2 hours)
Source: Wikisource
Copyright: This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA.
The Call of the Wild is a novel by American writer Jack London. The plot concerns a previously domesticated and even somewhat pampered dog named Buck, whose primordial instincts return after a series of events finds him serving as a sled dog in the treacherous, frigid Yukon during the days of the 19th century… (more)
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Librarything
Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:13:36 +0100
Very good book. Thoroughly holds your interest.
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:01:54 +0100
In THE CALL OF THE WILD by JACK LONDON, a family dog from California named Buck is abducted and sold as a sled dog to feed the voracious appetite for such animals created by the gold rush in Alaska. From his sunny days of quiet contentment, Buck is hurled into a dog-eat-dog world (literally) where he struggles to survive. In the process a more ancient and feral dog is awakened within him.
I recently finished reading this book to my boys and ... wow ... not a good choice for bed time reading.
First… (more)
In THE CALL OF THE WILD by JACK LONDON, a family dog from California named Buck is abducted and sold as a sled dog to feed the voracious appetite for such animals created by the gold rush in Alaska. From his sunny days of quiet contentment, Buck is hurled into a dog-eat-dog world (literally) where he struggles to survive. In the process a more ancient and feral dog is awakened within him.
I recently finished reading this book to my boys and ... wow ... not a good choice for bed time reading.
First of all, I didn't remember this book being so overwritten. The diction was bordering on ridiculous. (London would rather "flail an expired quadrupedal equine" than simply "beat a dead horse," if you catch my drift.) The long passages about the reversion of Buck to his primal doggy state were also tedious. Oh, and there was lots of violence that I had forgotten about. This was the part that my eight year old did like, by the way. Once he puzzled his way through the language, he was more than interested to hear that some dude had just gotten a spear in the guts or had been torn apart by a wolf-dog. Little boys live for this stuff. This, and poop jokes.
The story is good. Don't misunderstand me. It's a first class adventure with some poignant moments. During the reading, the hind parts of my brain were wishing it could be rewritten in simpler and more straightforward prose without violating its classic status and the author's voice. In fact, I often substituted simpler diction and skipped passages on the fly while reading it to the boys.
The best part of the story, for me, was the passage that described a dysfunctional trio, a man, his new wife, and her brother, trying to cash in on the gold rush without any knowledge of how to survive the extreme environment. Their end is sad, but only in the grand scheme of things. Empathizing with their plight is almost impossible because they are so foolish and unlikable.
It's worth a quick read, but not really for kids. (And that's a fair criticism, because it is often packaged as story for kids.)
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