The Call of the Wild

Just a Shaggy Dog Story?

I always remember reading this and White Fang while still at school, which is quite a feat of memory in my case! To me these tales seemed remarkably fresh despite their age, this was after all first published in 1903. It's the tale of Buck, a domestic dog just coming of age who is dognapped and taken from the warm South to the frozen Yukon territory to serve new masters in the Klondike Gold Rush.

It's a classic animal coming of age tale but it's not a soft children's story. There is a lot of violence and some animal cruelty, it's a real tale of survival, betrayal and it even channels a christian message as Buck shows his more noble instincts.

This is an old story, but for me it was infused with the nostalgia of my schoolboy enjoyment so Pablo Schreiber's reading was a real pleasure. It really isn't just as shaggy dog story, it's much more than that, but it is also more classic than contemporary. Whether you enjoy it or not will depend on how you take to those characteristics and maybe whether or not you share my warm sense of nostalgia for it!

6 people found this helpful

bok u are amazing and awesome

lovely 😍 book 📖 😍 ❤ 👌 😊 💕
book ain't a normal dog amazing

Brilliant

Brutal and heartbreaking, but heartwarming at the same time. This book takes you through a range of emotions, or it did for me as a big dog lover! From anger, sadness and hurt for the characters/animals, to happiness and relief - plus a few mixed feelings in between.

It's well written and is superbly narrated. It isn't necessarily believable in terms of how dogs behave and process thoughts, but it is a story after all. A short but often intense one that I highly recommend giving a listen!

Anthropomorphic poetry

A short and sweet and very well written exercise in anthropomorphism.

I think perhaps I expected a little more, so large loom the Call of the Wild and White Fang as titans of the American Story, depictions of the old West, and the harsh life of the Klondike gold rush. At 230 pages it's barely more than a novella.

Does it matter that, however intelligent we believe other mammals to be, Jack London is essentially speculating about the contents of consciousness of this Saint Bernard/ Scotch-Shepherd cross?

Probably not. Certainly what stays with you are the depictions of the severity of conditions when travelling over ice in the far north of North America and the consequent brutality inflicted by man on dog and by dog on fellow dog. Is the super human strength of Buck entirely believable? Again, probably not. But clearly there are outliers in any species, creatures who fight just a little harder than most for survival. This is the story of one such; an animal who eventually find his way back to his wolf ancestors, leaving the world of men far behind.

Beautiful

The voice actor for this was a brilliant choice and the story is wonderful. 10/10 would recommend

Loved it!

It's sad but happy but sad, I downloaded it without looking at what it was about and I really enjoyed it and the narrator was perfect for reading this book.

best book in a long time

loved it was sad at times but it finished fantastic, will be looking for others like these

simple and enjoyable

I can see why this is a classic. highly enjoyable and with a few nice insights into the wild side of love.

A really good emotional read for the love of dogs.

A gentle journey told by the dog. Good Narrator & very enjoyable. Really good change

Easy listening

I got this book after seeing the film. It is very different, more harsh, but enjoyable.