The Call of the Wild (original 1903; edition 2012)

This is an excellent book that will touch your feelings. Buck is the type of character that you can see bits and pieces of him in your own dogs and parts of his relationship with Thornton in your relationship with your dog. ( )

I don't know why I didn't like this.
The author creates amazing visuals, his description of the Alaskan terrain is incredible. I have never been to Alaska but when I read this book I could picture it in my head very clearly. While reading, I was confused about what London wanted us to take from the story.
The narrator is very detached and at some points, I'm just not interested in the plot.
I was cheering for the dog but also not at the same time?
I couldn't see him as anything but a dog ( )

This is a classic I missed reading while growing up. While watching the recent movie adaptation w/ Harrison Ford, I made a note to fix this wrong and read this book soon.

( )

This is a story of how a dog who was raised on a California ranch got stolen and sold into gold-mining territory in the Yukons in the 1890s. The dog soon got used to the merciless, survival-is-the-fittest life pulling dogsleds in the Yukons. He stole food from other animals (and men) and attacked/killed other animals (and men) when necessary. And because the dog is so smart, strong, and capable, he basically climbs to the top of the food chain and succeeds at everything he wants to do. He felt a "call of the wild" that made him want to live in the wild and roam and hunt all his days. But because he loved his master, he always came back after spending some time roaming in the wild. And then his master died at the hands of a native American tribe while he was out roaming. After the dog came back, he attacked and killed many people in the tribe and drove them away. (Yes, he succeeds at everything.) Then the dog joined a pack of wolves and lived in the wild for good.

The writing of this book is very good. I got caught up and carried away by the story and the vivid description, even though the topic described (dog fights, survival in the wild....) is not something I would typically be interested in. My favorite part of the book is how the dog went to a lot of trouble and risked his life to save his master from drowning in a river.

I think the message the story is trying to communicate is that living in the civilization is not as great as you think. There are cruelties in the civilization just as in the wild. And overall, the wild is actually better. I am having doubts though, because I think the reason the wild works so great for the dog is because he succeeds in everything he tries, and he is on top of the food chain ：Ｐ ( )

I liked this book. I was sad that his friends died and he was abused. It was my favorite. We read it in homeshcool.I will read it alone after I am done with what I'm reading now. ( )