The Call of the Wild

Although the book is marketed as a Young adult book, in my opinion, the message and the realities of human greed and exploitation of nature and animals were strongly portrayed, although it was written from the singular circumstances of the Yukon gold rush and general treatment of sledge dogs and guard dogsother than this I liked how realistic was London towards Buck's attachment of his old family and the new kinder master Thornton, also his instinct of getting back to his space like in the primitive nature of a beast I can see why the title suits the story so much.
But I wasn't too interested in the adventure parts especially Thronton and Buck's many adventures in the woods, they were hard to visualise for me
3. 25 stars from me.

Look at me, actually finishing an IRL book club book prior to book club night. I actually prefer the classics as book club fodder, rather than bios and more modern books. Discussing the latter with folks just doesn't hold my interest.

This was a pretty short (and free on Kindle) book. I was really diving into my pile o'mysteries but needed to get this read. Surprisingly, once I downloaded it and started reading, I was in it for the short haul. Before long I was at 30% read then 55% then 80% and hell, I might as well finish!

Buck is our main character. He's a large dog, weighing in at 140lbs, who lives a good life in Santa Clara Valley. The gardener, needing to pay some gambling debts, steals and sells Buck to folks who mistreat and starve him and ship him to Seattle. There, Buck encounters the man in the red sweater and starts shedding his domestic existence and embracing his wild side. Having to train as a sled dog in the Yukon ("train" - ie. being beaten and whipped until he does the right thing), Buck becomes more and more feral.

People can suck and Buck encounters those people in Hal, Charles and Mercedes from the US who buy Buck and his team to mush them across thousands of miles for gold. These people are so inept and cruel they deserved their fate, but taking the dogs down with them.... broke my heart. I find I usually feel more for animals than for people lately.

Buck ends up in the hands of Thornton and finally finds love of his master, which surprisingly, he realizes he didn't have in Santa Clara Valley. When a terrible and gruesome end comes, Buck is left on his own and gives over completely to his wild instincts and runs with a wolf pack for the reminder of his days.

Despite being a domesticated dog for a good portion of his years, Buck had the instincts of his foredogs and he learned to follow them and survive.

Like many, I was originally drawn to London's works due to my desire to see what drove Chris McCandless on his "Great Alaskan Adventure" as chronicled in Krakauer's Into the Wild. It also doesn't hurt that we get to meet the ambitious Jack London in the two part episode "Time's Arrow" on Star Trek: The Next Generation as he helps Lt. Commander Data attempt to return to the 24th Century.

The story follows the St. Bernard/Shepherd mix named Buck who, due to his cross breed, is a very large and sturdy dog and has been raised in a very comfortable life by his wealthy Californian masters. One day, Buck is kidnapped by a staff member and ends up sold as a sled dog in the Yukon territory of the Alaskan Wilderness. Bounced from abusive master to abusive master, Buck does settle in with a good man named Thornton for a time, who nurses Buck back to health after freeing him from the aforementioned abusive masters. Through various trips with Thornton to pan for gold, Buck begins to take up with a wolf and pack and slowly discovers... (wait for it)... the call of the wild. There are obviously quite a few more plot details, but I don't want to spoil the whole book for you.

I loved this book and I have it on my "re-read" shelf to keep on a constant rotation. Again, I highly recommend this work to anyone wanting an introduction to Jack London, as well as anyone who simply enjoys a wonderful work of fiction. Go forth and read my friends!


This and other reviews can also be found on my blog: backporchreview.weebly.com

This is a classic with good reason. Moving and captivating story with a lot of criticism about humanity.

My favorite book of all times, despite following the story of a dog, this book manages to show more character development and growth in the leading character "Buck" than any other book I've read. The story is phenomenal and id highly recommend It to anyone who likes a good read.