The Call of the Wild
What books should everyone read before they die?Add Book
Not Available
The Call of the Wild
Jack London
Children’s
James Mustich
Aug 20, 2018
Like Buck, the big dog that is this book’s protagonist, the reader of The Call of the Wild is swiftly and irrevocably swept from the “sun-kissed” world of its opening pages into a realm of elemental and unsparing experience. A favorite of his owner, Buck has known a placid, even pampered life in California’s Santa Clara Valley—until the day this “sated aristocrat” is dog-napped and finds himself “jerked from the heart of civilization and flung into the heart of things primordial.” Sold first to a man supplying sled dogs to those caught up in the Klondike gold rush of the late 1890s, and then to a pair of Canadian government couriers, Buck soon learns that, in order to survive in the harsh Northland, he must submit to “the law of club and fang.” Instincts long dormant begin to reawaken in him, and London thrillingly depicts the process of Buck’s “decivilization” as he acclimates himself to his alluring, impulsive new life. Even as he develops bonds of loyalty and love with one master, John Thornton, Buck is remade by the wild into a fierce and merciless creature, eventually abandoning the world of men altogether. That, in brief, is the story of The Call of the Wild, a book that—despite the way its subject and style contrasted with the gentility of contemporary popular fiction—was an immediate sensation, earning Jack London’s place in the public eye as the most celebrated author of his day. A hundred years later, readers are still falling under its spell.
0
Add Reply
Steve Jump
Dec 2, 2018
Read and loved this as a boy. Would I like it today?
0
Add Reply
Mr. Griebel
Mar 27, 2019
Naturalism and the primitive told from the wolf's point of view (without being campy). This is a wonderful novel.
0
Add Reply
Arch Stanton
Oct 3, 2019
Read it as a boy, and loved it.
0
Add Reply
Abu Julius
Aug 17, 2020
Best.Book.Ever. I lived in Korea for many years. One year I took my G2 class on a field trip to the Incheon Metropolitan City Museum for a field trip. To my amazement they a massive enlargement of a picture Jack London had taken of Incheon's Chinatown in 1904. He was at the time a war correspondent for the San Francisco Examiner covering the Russo-Japanese War. A very, very significant conflict on many levels. A conflict that would set the stage for Japan's imperial march across Asia in the decades to come and therefore which still impacts Korea-Japan relations to this day. Mind.Blown.
0
Add Reply
Abu Julius
Aug 17, 2020
Best.Book.Ever. I lived in Korea for many years. One year I took my G2 class on a field trip to the Incheon Metropolitan City Museum. To my amazement they had a massive enlargement of a picture Jack London had taken of Incheon's Chinatown in 1904. He was at the time a war correspondent for the San Francisco Examiner covering the Russo-Japanese War. A very, very significant conflict on many levels. A conflict that would set the stage for Japan's imperial march across Asia in the decades to come and therefore which still impacts Korea-Japan relations to this day. Mind.Blown.
0
Add Reply
Jane Huttner
Nov 16, 2020
Loved this book.
0
Add Reply
Tim Krahn
Nov 21, 2022
A wild adventure is every boys dream to pursue and this book portrays it perfectly through the adventures of a dog.
0
Add Reply
Agree (113)
Life's too short (6)
Want to read
Post Comment
"1,000 Books To Read Before You Die" is a registered trademark of Workman Publishing, Inc. Based on the book: 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die by James Mustich, (Workman Publishing Co., Inc.: © 2018 James Mustich)
All other website content © 2018-2024 The Company of Books LLC.