Buck is a majestic St. Bernard/ Shepard mix that lives
the good life with a judge in Santa Clara Valley in California until the day he
is kidnapped. Long haired dogs are in
demand in the Yukon where men are traveling in the search for gold. Buck soon has to learn the “law of club and
fang” where he lives a life of abuse and also has to defend himself as top dog
to survive.
The Call of the Wild is one of those books that I
thought maybe I read back in Middle School, but it turns out, I have never read
it. It was probably a good thing that I
didn’t read it in Middle School as I was continually amazed as I read it that
it is marketed toward kids when it is very dark, violent, and full of adult
themes. Yes, a middle school kid could
read it as the vocabulary is simplistic, but they might be really sad by the
end!
I like how this book took Buck from a life to leisure
to the point where he becomes one with the wild. It was hard to read of the abuse of the
animals in the book. As Jack London
wrote it after he was in Alaska, I have to believe that sled dogs were ill-treated. I did like that Buck was able to find a human
master that he adored and he finally treated him right. I find it curious that the famous Call of the
Wild movie starring Clark Gable was focused on this character, John Thornton. John Thornton is only a small amount of this
novel, it is told from Buck’s point of view and is Buck’s story.
I picked up the Call of the Wild as it was an April book
for the Facebook Literary Classics Book Club Group. Then afterwards, I noticed it was also on the
released PBS Great American Read list. I also read it for the Classics Club.
I’ve marked it off of three lists now!
Favorite Quotes:
“They are savages, all of them; who knew no law but
the law of club and fang.”
“But love that was feverish and burning, that was
adoration, that was madness, it had taken John Thornton to arouse.”
“Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law; and
this mandate, down out the depths of Time, he obeyed.”
“But he was not alone.
When the long winter nights come on and the wolves follow their meat
into the lower valleys, he may be seen running at the head of the pack, through
the pale moonlight or glimmering borealis, leaping gigantic among his fellows,
his great throat a bellow as he sings the song of a younger world, which is the
song of a pack.”
Overall, The Call of the Wild was a fascinating look
at a tamed dog gradually changing from a pet into a wild creature.
Book Source:
The Kewaunee Public Library
