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    The Call of the Wild
    The Call of the Wild
    The Call of the Wild
    Ebook119 pages2 hours

    The Call of the Wild

    By Jack London

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    American author, journalist, and social activist Jack London is best known for his stories set during the Klondike gold rush. During the late 19th century London traveled to the Klondike region of the Yukon in northwestern Canada to strike it rich. While he didn’t find a great fortune in gold he came away with the experiences that would inspire some of his greatest writing. Set in the harsh wilderness of the Yukon territory, “The Call of the Wild” is a story embodied with a realism indicative of London’s prospecting experience. The tale follows the struggle of Buck, the domesticated pet of Judge Miller and his family, who is snatched from a pampered lifestyle in California’s Santa Clara Valley. When Buck is stolen by the gardener’s assistant, Manuel, who sells him to finance his gambling addiction, he faces an arduous journey to the Yukon territory where he must adapt to the brutal reality of life as a sled dog. One of the finest examples of London’s literary talent, “The Call of the Wild” exhibits why he would become one of the most popular writers of his day. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDigireads.com Publishing
    Release dateSep 27, 2018
    ISBN9781420959345
    Author

    Jack London

    Jack London (1876-1916) was an American writer who produced two hundred short stories, more than four hundred nonfiction pieces, twenty novels, and three full-length plays in less than two decades. His best-known works include The Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, and White Fang.

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    Reviews for The Call of the Wild

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    • 5/5
      It's pretty hard to find fault with this story or the way it's told. It was particularly engaging to read while my family is in the process of rehabilitating a very fearful rescue dog. Jack London is among the go-to authors for perspective on how we think when you pare away frivolous comforts - and that's exemplified in CotW.
    • 3/5
      When I initially read this American classic, I was in either elementary or high school. It had all the elements to entice a young boy. It is an adventure which occurs during the Yukon gold rush. The story's protagonist is Buck, an 140 lb St. Bernard and Scotch Collie mix, who is abducted from an easy life as the pet in St. Clara, California, and sold to dog traders who eventually sells him to mail couriers as a sled dog in the Yukon Territory. Buck will need to tap in to his more primeval instincts if he is to survive the harsh northern conditions. The third reason I chose this book is that it was short at less than 100 pages. I had recently read Moby Dick and I needed a break!It has been good revisiting some of the classics I read as a youth. They become more enjoyable when you understand better literary themes and metaphors.
    • 2/5
      Believe it or not, I've never read The Call of the Wild (1903) by Jack London, which one would think is a requirement of being a kid in America. And I still haven't read it, although on a whim I listened to my library's audiobook copy, albeit not very carefully. Narrated in an appropriately macho fashion by Frank Muller, The Call of the Wild tells the story of Buck a farm dog who is kidnapped from Northern California and forced to pull sleds for for miners in the Yukon gold rush. A cushy pet learns to fight for food and compete for leadership of the pack through fighting and violence, and eventually becomes alpha dog in a wild wolf pack after his owner dies.Yes friends, before I read this book I knew it had something to do with Alaska and dogs, but I had no idea that the entire book is about a dog from a dog's point of view. Granted, the book is very symbolic in that we humans sit very tenuously on the edge of civilization and brutality and savageness (and London wrote this before the World Wars, the Holocaust, and all the horrors of the 20th century that tested humanity). Still, as a book about dogs it's a very good and accurate look at what may be going on in a dog's mind.
    • 5/5
      Great book. Everyone should read it.
    • 4/5
      Synopsis.......The story takes place in the extreme conditions of the Yukon during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush, where strong sled dogs were in high demand. After Buck, a domesticated dog, is snatched from a pastoral ranch in California, he is sold into a brutal life as a sled dog. The novella details Buck's struggle to adjust and survive the cruel treatment he receives from humans, other dogs, and nature. He eventually sheds the veneer of civilization altogether and instead relies on primordial instincts and the lessons he has learned to become a respected and feared leader in the wild.Published back in 1903 after the author had spent sometime in the aforementioned Yukon.I was looking for something a little bit different and quick to read after getting bogged down by another book which I wasn't enjoying. I had previously heard of this book, hasn't everyone(?) but can't recall reading it ever during my near half-century of years, not even in the dim and distant days of school. Glad I made the effort though.Gripping, exciting, moving.......a testament of an indomitable spirit, bravery, determination, loyalty, fearlessness, and probably another dozen or so admirable attributes. Sad in places, but ultimately an uplifting and rewarding read.I wouldn't put it past me finding more from London in the future.4 from 5Down-loaded free from the internet.
    • 4/5
      I read this book a few pages at a time (distracted by Facebook, Instagram & Twitter - the usual suspects). When I finally finished it I felt I had read a wonderful, though quite violent, story. Yes, despite flaws, a great tale.
    • 1/5
      Maybe it's because I'm not a dog, but I just don't find it interesting being in the mind of Buck. I was very excited to read this because so many people raved about it, but it just didn't hold my interest even as a child.
    • 4/5
      Trust, betrayal, loyalty and animal cruelty. A heart wrenching story about the life of dogs during the gold rush from an animal POV. I am not always a fan of such an approach but it worked well here. Highly engaging (worked well for an audiobook) but not black and white, as I could relate even to the most "evil" characters. I guess that's why it's a "classic" (mental note: "Read more classics"=).
    • 3/5
      It was fun to read this again, as I had only the vaguest recollection from reading it as a kid. Refreshingly unsentimental in its depiction of the natural world, it raises important questions about yearning for a life "beyond good and evil." A walk on the wild side...
    • 4/5
      There's no way in hell my dogs think like this.
    • 4/5
      Overall I liked the book even though there was a lot of blood and cruelty. In this story Buck a dog who lived the easy life at an estate was not use to the ways of the wild. The wilderness taught him to adapt or to die and he chose to adapt. This book takes you through the joys and griefs of Buck's life.
    • 5/5
      Wrong edition, but after going through 10 pages of different editions with no end in sight, I got tired. Mine is by Random House in 2009 & read by Jeff Daniels (the star of Newsroom on HBO). Daniels' reading of this story is FANTASTIC.

      I let far too many years go by between reads of this story. London paints a wonderfully brutal picture of the Klondike gold rush as seen in relation to Buck. He doesn't anthropomorphize terribly, but I found the hereditary memories of the primitive man a bit much. Still, the point of the title was well made.

      I found Buck's breeding to be especially pleasing. One of my best dogs was a Great Dane/mostly Shepard cross. Maverick looked like a really big, relatively short haired German Shepard & had more personality than most people. He was sweet as could be to 'his' people & animals, while he was pure death to any predator or other varmint. He would literally lay next to a lost chick & howl in despair. He carried an orphaned kitten in his mouth around the house for weeks until it was big enough to get around by itself, but killed many racoons, groundhogs, possums, & a weasel with one snap. (Oh, this is supposed to be about the book. Sorry, but Mav deserves to be remembered.

      I got it wrong in my review of "The Sea Wolf" where I said London didn't think of wolves as a social animal. He did, in their own society. It's just that they were at odds with ours.

      Anyway, this was obviously a classic that really hit home. It's not a terribly happy story. In fact, it's brutal, but fantastic. I can't recommend it highly enough, especially this particular version.
    • 4/5
      London, Jack The Call of the Wild. Illust. by Pablo Marcos Studio. Waldman, 1989; original story, 1903. 239p. Intermediate/Middle schoolIn 1897, Buck, a dog from California, is kidnapped from his home and taken to the Klondike where he is made into a sled dog. After loss and abuse, he answers the call of the wild and runs away to become the leader of a wolf pack. Narrative point of view telling a fast-paced , descriptive tale. The tone of the story is often dark and frightening but moving. The theme is survival.AK: Sled dogs, wolves, snow and ice, SkagwayActivity: Ask children if they have seen a sled dog team. If so, where? What was it like? If they haven’t, would they like to? Would they want to ride on a dog sled?
    • 4/5
      Buck's journey from domestic dog, to sled dog, to wolf. Aspects of nobility in returning to nature and civilisation as superior to 'wildness' mixed in a way that I found a little hard to reconcile, maybe colonialism?
    • 4/5
      Decided to read this when I saw it on the Guardian's best 100 books list - thought I had read it when I was younger but realised that was White Fang. Follows Buck the domestic dog stolen from the south and brought north to be a sled dog. Absorbing quick read.
    • 4/5
      A terrific dog story, though hard to read at times because of all that Buck endures. I read it in the Library of America edition. Had never read it as a child as far as I recall; I note that some film versions are geared towards children and I can only assume (hope?) they have been bowdlerized; I wouldn't recommend this for children under 10 or 11 no matter their reading level.
    • 3/5
      It's hard to believe, that with 82 years of reading all sorts of books, this the first American Classic from an American Classic author that I''ve read. I'll try more of the classics but this work is no where near the top of my list of books. Yes, it is quite an adventure for this dog and he certainly had very many experiences but I can't get to the level of classical literature.
    • 4/5
      A sad, wonderful tale.
    • 5/5
      My third book by the author, and a possible reread (I remember some parts but not sure if I ever finished it).Basically the tale tells the life of Buck ( a Saint Bernard-Scotch shepherd dog) and the life he leads. At times harrowing, we follow Buck as he is stolen from a comfortable life and sold as a sledge dog. He rediscovers the primordial instinct for survival and endures all hardships put upon him. This includes being beaten by humans, driven to near death on the sledge and still having to fight for mastery over his fellows canines.Not exactly a light-hearted read with death on nearly every page, but an excellent representation of the attitudes of the early 20th century and the will to survive.Would I recommend it? Everytime.Would I reread it? One day.Am I glad I read it? Definitely
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars.This is the story of Buck, a dog who lives with a family, but is then taken and sold and trained to work alongside sled-dogs in the Yukon during the gold rush. Buck is sold a few times to masters who all treat him differently, some kindly, some not-so-kindly. The story is told from Buck’s point of view. The edition I read has a foreword by Jean Craighead George, who wrote the Julie of the Wolves trilogy. There is an “About the author” at the end as well. It took me a little bit to get into the book, but once I did I quite enjoyed it. I like reading the dog’s perspective. The information about Jack London I also enjoyed – it seems he had an interesting life.
    • 5/5
      Definitely better than "White Fang".
    • 3/5
      The Call of the Wild centers around a dog named Buck and his survival in the human world. The book grapples with themes such as violences and nurture vs. nature. Students who enjoy reading about the struggle to survive harsh conditions will enjoy this book.
    • 4/5
      Very fast-paced and action-packed. London writes like a natural, and I really enjoyed the story's embodiment of Darwin's ideas/theories. Its eloquent narration of Buck's return to nature appeals to my own instincts, having grown up somewhat removed from typical "civilization" myself ... but I have to admit, his emphasis on THE fittest, Buck, feels rather aloof and elitist for me. But in that sense, I suppose London is staying true to the story's central theme: only the fittest DO and CAN survive.
    • 3/5
      My father gave this book to me as "one every man should read". I have to agree. There is something about the primal nature of this story, which follows the journey of a dog,that made me want to travel and become one with the earth. Although I enjoyed reading this novel, I would have liked to know more about the human characters rather than the dogs. Indeed the writing from the dog's perspective is great, but I usually find it easier to relate to humans.
    • 5/5
      This novel is one of my favorite pieces of American literature. Set in the rugged and bitterly cold Yukon, London weaves a tale of adventure through the eyes of Buck, a St. Bernard/Retriever mix, as he is abducted from a relative dog life of luxury and made a beast of burden on a sled team during the Alaskan gold rush. As the book follows the owners in Buck's life, one sees how the environment of the Yukon makes survival of the fittest a physical as well as mentally challenging game. This is a great read for dog lovers, and adventurers young and old---a time worn classic.
    • 4/5

      I was quite impressed by this book. I expected a simple, canine adventure story. I did get an adventure story, but the most interesting part was the inner journey. As you read it, keep in mind that Mr. London sets up Buck as a person. It's easy to identify with him, and more difficult to identify with most of the humans in the story. It's definitely food for thought.
    • 4/5
      The call of the wild, a fantastic book which strokes every reader’s vanity and pride, is about a southern dog, Buck who is taken from his farm and sold up north to draw sledges in the Arctic. The story is about his struggles with the new conditions and new masters.The book beautifully describes the transformation of a domesticated dog to wildness. A very powerful book.and a must read.
    • 3/5
      This is one of those books that I might have read before and forgotten about it. This was a pretty good book, I think my favorite part was that I picked up a new vocabulary word because the author over used it... "virility."
    • 5/5
      Jack London's classic story tells the intense story of Buck, a dog who is kidnapped for money during the Gold Rush. The Call of the Wild is not always easy to read because not only is the language somewhat different than modern writing, it also explicitly tells of the abuse Buck suffers from the hands of his various masters and fellow dogs. Even though Buck's story is at times violent, it is also a great adventure that is ultimately hopeful. London's novel provides great opportunity to discuss the difficult issues it raises, and gives readers an opportunity to enter the consciousness of a dog. While reading, it is a good idea to have discussions to explain tough language and tough episodes. Ages 10-14.
    • 4/5
      This story is about a dog, named Buck. At first, he lived in Mr.Miller's house in Santa Clara Valley, but he was stolen by someone who wanted money. After he was stolen, he was bought by another man with a lot of money because he was very clever and strong dog which could work in the cold and snow of the north.But why he had to work in such place? Because men wanted to find gold and become rich!Buck confront a lot of danger..I felt I had to be more strong! Buck was very strong not only physically, but also mentally. And I also thought that animals love wild, and they have feelings like human. For example, if they were attacked by human, they feel bad and give them back biting or barking. I have a dog now, so I would like to cherish him more than before.

    Book preview

    The Call of the Wild - Jack London

    cover.jpg

    THE CALL OF THE WILD

    By JACK LONDON

    The Call of the Wild

    By Jack London

    Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-5933-8

    eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-5934-5

    This edition copyright © 2018. Digireads.com Publishing.

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

    Cover Image: a detail of The Call of the Wild, by Barrie Linklater, (b. 1931), an illustration based on the novel by Jack London / Private Collection / © Look and Learn / Bridgeman Images.

    Please visit www.digireads.com

    CONTENTS

    Chapter I. Into the Primitive

    Chapter II. The Law of Club and Fang.

    Chapter III. The Dominant Primordial Beast.

    Chapter IV. Who Has Won to Mastership.

    Chapter V. The Toil of Trace and Trail.

    Chapter VI. For the Love of a Man.

    Chapter VII. The Sounding of the Call.

    Biographical Afterword

    Chapter I. Into the Primitive

    "Old longings nomadic leap,

    Chafing at custom’s chain;

    Again from its brumal sleep

    Wakens the ferine strain."

    Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost.

    Buck lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller’s place, it was called. It stood back from the road, half hidden among the trees, through which glimpses could be caught of the wide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was approached by gravelled driveways which wound about through wide-spreading lawns and under the interlacing boughs of tall poplars. At the rear things were on even a more spacious scale than at the front. There were great stables, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants’ cottages, an endless and orderly array of outhouses, long grape arbors, green pastures, orchards, and berry patches. Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well, and the big cement tank where Judge Miller’s boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon.

    And over this great demesne Buck ruled. Here he was born, and here he had lived the four years of his life. It was true, there were other dogs, There could not but be other dogs on so vast a place, but they did not count. They came and went, resided in the populous kennels, or lived obscurely in the recesses of the house after the fashion of Toots, the Japanese pug, or Ysabel, the Mexican hairless,—strange creatures that rarely put nose out of doors or set foot to ground. On the other hand, there were the fox terriers, a score of them at least, who yelped fearful promises at Toots and Ysabel looking out of the windows at them and protected by a legion of housemaids armed with brooms and mops.

    But Buck was neither house-dog nor kennel-dog. The whole realm was his. He plunged into the swimming tank or went hunting with the Judge’s sons; he escorted Mollie and Alice, the Judge’s daughters, on long twilight or early morning rambles; on wintry nights he lay at the Judge’s feet before the roaring library fire; he carried the Judge’s grandsons on his back, or rolled them in the grass, and guarded their footsteps through wild adventures down to the fountain in the stable yard, and even beyond, where the paddocks were, and the berry patches. Among the terriers he stalked imperiously, and Toots and Ysabel he utterly ignored, for he was king,—king over all creeping, crawling, flying things of Judge Miller’s place, humans included.

    His father, Elmo, a huge St. Bernard, had been the Judge’s inseparable companion, and Buck bid fair to follow in the way of his father. He was not so large,—he weighed only one hundred and forty pounds,—for his mother, Shep, had been a Scotch shepherd dog. Nevertheless, one hundred and forty pounds, to which was added the dignity that comes of good living and universal respect, enabled him to carry himself in right royal fashion. During the four years since his puppyhood he had lived the life of a sated aristocrat; he had a fine pride in himself, was even a trifle egotistical, as country gentlemen sometimes become because of their insular situation. But he had saved himself by not becoming a mere pampered house-dog. Hunting and kindred outdoor delights had kept down the fat and hardened his muscles; and to him, as to the cold-tubbing races, the love of water had been a tonic and a health preserver.

    And this was the manner of dog Buck was in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike strike dragged men from all the world into the frozen North. But Buck did not read the newspapers, and he did not know that Manuel, one of the gardener’s helpers, was an undesirable acquaintance. Manuel had one besetting sin. He loved to play Chinese lottery. Also, in his gambling, he had one besetting weakness—faith in a system; and this made his damnation certain. For to play a system requires money, while the wages of a gardener’s helper do not lap over the needs of a wife and numerous progeny.

    The Judge was at a meeting of the Raisin Growers’ Association, and the boys were busy organizing an athletic club, on the memorable night of Manuel’s treachery. No one saw him and Buck go off through the orchard on what Buck imagined was merely a stroll. And with the exception of a solitary man, no one saw them arrive at the little flag station known as College Park. This man talked with Manuel, and money chinked between them.

    You might wrap up the goods before you deliver ’m, the stranger said gruffly, and Manuel doubled a piece of stout rope around Buck’s neck under the collar.

    Twist it, an’ you’ll choke ’m plentee, said Manuel, and the stranger grunted a ready affirmative.

    Buck had accepted the rope with quiet dignity. To be sure, it was an unwonted performance: but he had learned to trust in men he knew, and to give them credit for a wisdom that outreached his own. But when the ends of the rope were placed in the stranger’s hands, he growled menacingly. He had merely intimated his displeasure, in his pride believing that to intimate was to command. But to his surprise the rope tightened around his neck, shutting off his breath. In quick rage he sprang at the man, who met him halfway, grappled him close by the throat, and with a deft twist threw him over on his back. Then the rope tightened mercilessly, while Buck struggled in a fury, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his great chest panting futilely. Never in all his life had he been so vilely treated, and never in all his life had he been so angry. But his strength ebbed, his eyes glazed, and he knew nothing when the train was flagged and the two men threw him into the baggage car.

    The next he knew, he was dimly aware that his tongue was hurting and that he was being jolted along in some kind of a conveyance. The hoarse shriek of a locomotive whistling a crossing told him where he was. He had travelled too often with the Judge not to know the sensation of riding in a baggage car. He opened his eyes, and into them came the unbridled anger of a kidnapped king. The man sprang for his throat, but Buck was too quick for him. His jaws closed on the hand, nor did they relax till his senses were choked out of him once more.

    Yep, has fits, the man said, hiding his mangled hand from the baggageman, who had been attracted by the sounds of struggle. I’m takin’ ’m up for the boss to ’Frisco. A crack dog-doctor there thinks that he can cure ’m.

    Concerning that night’s ride, the man spoke most eloquently for himself, in a little shed back of a saloon on the San Francisco water front.

    All I get is fifty for it, he grumbled; an’ I wouldn’t do it over for a thousand, cold cash.

    His hand was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief, and the right trouser leg was ripped from knee to ankle.

    How much did the other mug get? the saloon-keeper demanded.

    A hundred, was the reply. Wouldn’t take a sou less, so help me.

    That makes a hundred and fifty, the saloon-keeper calculated; and he’s worth it, or I’m a squarehead.

    The kidnapper undid the bloody wrappings and looked at his lacerated hand. If I don’t get the hydrophoby—

    It’ll be because you was born to hang, laughed the saloon-keeper. Here, lend me a hand before you pull your freight, he added.

    Dazed, suffering intolerable pain from throat and tongue, with the life half throttled out of him, Buck attempted to face his tormentors. But he was thrown down and choked repeatedly, till they succeeded in filing the heavy brass collar from off his neck. Then the rope was removed, and he was flung into a cagelike crate.

    There he lay for the remainder of the weary night, nursing his wrath and wounded pride. He could not understand what it all meant. What did they want with him, these strange men? Why were they keeping him pent up in this narrow crate? He did not know why, but he felt oppressed by the vague sense of impending calamity. Several times during the night he sprang to his feet when the shed

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