This short novel was another book I managed to avoid throughout junior high and high school, and now that I'm firmly ensconced in middle age, I decided to give it a go- I'm so glad I did.

Buck is a half-St. Bernard, half-shepherd dog living the lazy life with a judge and his extended family. He is kidnapped and sold by one of the judge's employees, and is shipped off to the Klondike Gold Rush, where he is mercilessly beaten and broken, and turned into a work dog. London tells Buck's story from Buck's point of view, as different owners come and go, until he finds his ideal master in John Thornton. Buck learns to survive, then thrive, but he is often drawn by an (un?)imagined call to the wild, to be as free as his wolf ancestors.

All my reading life, I was led to believe this was a mild story about a man and his dog (*yawn*), and their adventures. Instead, "The Call of the Wild" is a harsh, often violent and gory, tale of Buck's survival. This might explain the failure of some recent film adaptations, which seem to be stuck in the "family-friendly" reputation of the book. I was captivated by Buck's situations, and repulsed by the harsh realities. Reading as Buck "turns wild" is both exhilarating and melancholy. London's reputation has suffered over the past few years. He was an alcoholic, free-love-practicing Socialist who was terrible with money; and has now been charged with the ultimate cancel culture crime- racism. I'm usually able to separate the author's personal life from the written work, better than I can do the same between film makers and films, and London's words quickly made me forget any Wikipedia entries and self-righteous social media protests.

I happened upon this copy in a book lot I received a long time ago, and this edition was complete and unabridged. The foreword and afterword were written by Dwight Shain, but the afterword gets John Thornton's name wrong THREE different times on one page, which is very sloppy publishing. I don't know if I'll happen on another London story, but color me pleasantly surprised at this. ( )

Although parts of this story were brutal the book was a beautiful story of nature. ( )

I remember how alive this felt when I read it as a boy but I can't recapture that feeling anymore. ( )

“He was mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint, and sinew in that it was everything that was not death, that it was aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars.”

First published in 1903 'The Call of the Wild' is set during the Klondike Gold Rush in Yukon in the 1890's. It is written from the perspective of Buck, an impressive St. Bernard and German Shepard cross stolen from his California home to be sold to gold prospectors to work the icy trails of Alaska and northern Canada.

Buck’s journey, involves beatings, a series of new masters, brawls with other sled dogs and struggles for survival but in the process he is transformed from loyal pet to uninhibited, into an, at times, aggressive animal.

“The Call of the Wild” is an adventure story and as such is great for young people to read, its language is simple and easy to follow but it can also teach children about inner strength, respect for authority and for nature albeit told from the point of view of a dog.

Buck witnesses and learns from men’s experiences. He comes to understand human nature, what makes men good or bad. He discovers and does what is necessary to gain supremacy among his peers. He realizes that to be part of and succeed in a man-made society, he must abide by men's rules. Buck experiences instinctively pulls him toward his natural primordial ways, but his love for his last human master John Thornton is the thin thread tying him to a life among humans and draws him back to camp. But when he is unwillingly separated from Thornton he gives these ties up for good.

For older readers, Buck’s story serves as a parable. Like any person, Buck struggles to find life’s meaning. He experiences the conflict of choosing between following one’s instincts and playing to society’s rules. Buck fights for his life, a life that despite its hardships, he respects and appreciates. Buck exemplifies what is good and natural, despite periods of adversity.

There is understandably little in the way of dialogue, just a few phrases from Buck’s human contacts. Yet London’s simple language flows naturally and there is little need for dialogue. The reader can easily relate with the hardships that Buck, his canine brethren and the humans' have to endure during the harsh frozen Yukon winters and the sheer burst of new life that spring and summer can bring even if they carry their own risks.

For such a short, simple book, it is profound. As Buck fights to survive his ancestral roots are awakened and he comes ever more alive. There is something in this book for everyone no matter what your age and it is rightly regarded as a classic. ( )

I felt this book kind of fizzled out at the end. The first 3/4 of it was amazing, but then it didn't have a comparable climax and denouement to balance the strength of the rising action. Still, it's an excellent book, and it's obvious why this is a classic. I'm looking forward to teaching this to middle-schoolers in a few weeks. I think they will really like it, too. ( )