The Call of the Wild: Annotated and Illustrated

by Jack London

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7285 ratings, 3.65 average rating, 372 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		20%
4		36%
3		32%
2		7%
1		2%

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published

June 1997 (first published 1903) by University of Oklahoma Press

binding

Paperback, 110 pages

characters

Buck, Spitz, John Thornton

isbn

0806129204 (isbn13: 9780806129204)

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The Call of the Wild analysis, themes, trivia, audio, video	1	3	26 days ago, 08:00PM
I need to pick it up for a re-read	2	11	09/27/2008 08:12PM

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brian rated it:

(review of isbn 0141321059)

03/29/08

i am a dog obsessive. i'm nuts. dogs are my moby dick. they're my opera-house in the jungle. if i had a genie in a bottle, i'd wish away all human life (including my own) so dogs could take over the world. wait. that'd be wish number two. number one would be that i had an olympic sized swimming pool filled with dogs and i could do a few laps. then i'd erase humanity. seriously. my dog is the coolest guy i've ever met, my best friend, and love of my life. if it sounds weird: fuck off. i don't wan...more i am a dog obsessive. i'm nuts. dogs are my moby dick. they're my opera-house in the jungle. if i had a genie in a bottle, i'd wish away all human life (including my own) so dogs could take over the world. wait. that'd be wish number two. number one would be that i had an olympic sized swimming pool filled with dogs and i could do a few laps. then i'd erase humanity. seriously. my dog is the coolest guy i've ever met, my best friend, and love of my life. if it sounds weird: fuck off. i don't wanna know you.

so, i kinda can't not like this book.

and it's weird that i've never read it. well, today i did. picked up this new puffin edition and read the fucker in one sitting.

good goddamn is this a great book. as an adventure story it's just incredible and then all that regression shit? wow. Buck, the main dog, goes back through his bloodline, down his ancestry... where he watches a primitive man, all hunched over and furry, peer out the mouth of a cave into the cold blackness of the UNKNOWN. there's some seriously badass jungian shit going on here. spooky and ineffable and just fucking gorgeous. masterpiece, baby, masterpiece.

and check this unfuckingbelievable passage in which Buck and the other dogs chase a rabbit through a snowy, moonlit forest:

"All that stirring of old instincts which at stated periods drives men out from the sounding cities to forest and plains to kill things by chemically propelled leaden pellets, the blood lust, the joy to kill - all this was Buck's, only it was infinitely more intimate. He was ranging at the head of the pack, running the wild thing down, the living meat, to kill with his own teeth and wash his muzzle to the eyes in warm blood.

There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive. This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad on a stricken field and refusing quarter; and it came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf-cry, straining after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the moonlight. He was sounding the deeps of his nature, and of the parts of his nature that were deeper than he, gong back into the womb of Time. he was mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint, and sinew in that it was everything that was not death, that it was aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars and over the face of dead matter that did not move."

fuck yes.

...less

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Scoobs rated it:

(review of isbn 0141321059)

04/12/08

recommended to Scoobs by: Juliet Echo Whisky

Buck did not read the newspapers...

of course he didn't. he was too busy being a badass. chasing down a big ass moose. saving john thornton's life. killing the indians who killed john thornton. running with the other wolves. winning bets. bitch slapping other dogs who got out of line.

buck's first snow experience...
"At the first step upon the cold surface, Buck's feet sank into a white mushy something very like mud. He sprang back with a snort. More of this white stuff was falling ...more Buck did not read the newspapers...

of course he didn't. he was too busy being a badass. chasing down a big ass moose. saving john thornton's life. killing the indians who killed john thornton. running with the other wolves. winning bets. bitch slapping other dogs who got out of line.

buck's first snow experience...
"At the first step upon the cold surface, Buck's feet sank into a white mushy something very like mud. He sprang back with a snort. More of this white stuff was falling through the air. He shook himself, but more of it fell upon him. He sniffed it curiously, then licked some up on his tongue. It bit like fire, and the next instant was gone. This puzzled him He tried it again, with the same result. The onlookers laughed uproariously, and he felt ashamed, he knew not why, for it was his first snow."

buck's first theft...
"This first theft marked Buck as fit to survive in the hostile Northland enviroment. It marked his adaptability, his capacity to adjust himself to changing conditions, the lack of which would have meant swift and terrible death. It marked further decay or going to pieces of his moral nature, a vain thing and a handicap in the ruthless struggle for existence. It was all well enough in the Southland, under the law of love and fellowship, to respect the private property and personal feeling; but in the Northland, under the law of club and fang, who so took such things into account was a fool, and in so far as he observed them he would fail to prosper."

just before buck's first kill...
"All that stirring of old instincts which at stated periods drives men out from the sounding cities to forest and plain to kill things by chemically propelled leaden pellets, the blood lust, the joy to kill - all this way Buck's, only it was infinitely more intimate. He was ranging at the head of the pack, running the wild thing down, the living meat, to kill with his own teeth and wash his muzzle to the eyes in warm blood."

after winning a bet for his best bud john thornton...
"'Gad, sir! Gad sir!' spluttered the Skookum Beach king. 'I'll give a thousand for him, sir, a thousand, sir - twelve hundred, sir.'
Thornton rose to his feet. His eyes were wet. The tears were streaming frankly down his cheeks. 'Sir,' he said to the Skookum Beach king, 'no sir. You can go to hell, sir. It's the best I can do for you, sir.'

as the man who recommended the book to me would say, "yee-haw."
this book fucking rocked.

'vaya con los lobos!'...less

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5 comments

Mark rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

10/27/08

Mark McConnell

Mrs. Ebarvia
World Lit
10/21/08
Online Book Review
The novel I chose to read was The Call of the Wild<i/> written by Jack London. Other famous books by Jack London include <i>White Fang, The Sea Wolf, and The Scarlet Plague. The Call of the Wild is about a dog named Buck who has an trouble-free life living on an estate in San Diego. However, Buck gets captured and sold as a sled dog to gold hunters. Buck is new to the sled do...more Mark McConnell

Mrs. Ebarvia
World Lit
10/21/08
Online Book Review
The novel I chose to read was The Call of the Wild<i/> written by Jack London. Other famous books by Jack London include <i>White Fang, The Sea Wolf, and The Scarlet Plague. The Call of the Wild is about a dog named Buck who has an trouble-free life living on an estate in San Diego. However, Buck gets captured and sold as a sled dog to gold hunters. Buck is new to the sled dog life, and he must learn about it quickly if he wants to survive.
In the novel, I liked the way that London used foreshadowing. At the beginning of the book, Buck is beaten with a club by a man in a red sweater. He gets stricken constantly, but he does not give up and he keeps coming back for more. This persistence gives you a hint of what may happen on later in the book. One case where it returns is when Buck battles Spitz for the coveted alpha dog spot on the dog sled team. The moment Buck and Spitz met, they were mortal enemies. After many previous scuffles between the two, Buck and Spitz have a fight to the death. Spitz gets out to an early lead and appears that he will be the victor; however, Buck is able to use his persistent ways to keep battling until he wins. Because Buck showed his restless behavior at the beginning of the story, it could be inferred that he would win the fight.
One weakness I found in the book was in the ending. I disliked the ending very much. Buck leaves the place that his dog team and masters were camping at for a brief moment and when he returns, his team and masters had been killed by the Yeehat Indian Tribe. Buck becomes furious at the Yeehats because they had just wrecked one of the only things left in life that he had to live for. Buck goes out of control and charges the Yeehats, killing some of them and scaring the rest away. After this aggressive display of emotion, Buck wanders off into the wild in search of a new life. I did not like this ending because it made me feel like the book had no point. I think London should have changed the ending or added onto the rest of the story because I feel like the story is unfinished and I think that he could have added an exciting twist onto the end while Buck was alone.
Besides the ending, The Call of the Wild was an amusing novel. Anybody that likes dogs, the wilderness, or action/suspense would find this book interesting.
...less

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Mallory rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

01/15/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2005

What if you were torn away from your home, your life, your family, and everything that was ever familiar to you, and got thrown into harsh, life threatening situations? In Jack London’s book “Call of the Wild”, it shows that anyone or thing can be taken from its surroundings and thrown into a world where it has to learn to survive. Buck, a domestic dog from Santa Clara Valley is forced into the Yukon because of mans need for money, gold and sled dogs . His life starts to change in a hurry ...more

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erik rated it:

(review of isbn 0451523903)

11/21/08

bookshelves: literature

Read in June, 1962

recommended to erik by: no one
recommends it for: kids & dog lovers

In 1962 my mother arranged to travel by the HMS Milora, a freighter, from Duluth/Superior at the western tip of Lake Superior to Bremenhaven, Germany with me and my little brother, Fin. The trip through the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the Atlantic took weeks as we collected grain en route and were held up off Germany by a dock strike. It was wonderful. I saw icebergs, whales, porpoises, flying fish, luminescent planktons, mid-sea oil rigs and nightly adult movies in incomprehen...more

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Emily rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

08/08/08

bookshelves: classics

Oh, such wonderful language! I wanted to drink this book up! "And when, on the still cold nights, he pointed his nose at a star and howled long and wolflike, it was his ancestors, dead and dust, pointing nose at star and howling down through the centuries and through him. And his cadences were their cadences, the cadences which voiced their woe and what to them was the meaning of the stillness, and the cold, and dark." Gives me SHIVERS!

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2 comments

Tess rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

02/01/08

Read in December, 2007

I am such an animal hugger, and many people love this book. From my perspective though, it is shakespeare with puppies. No offence to those shakespeare lovers. All of the dogs die and there is no happy ending. Half of the book also consists of words that mean something very simple, but are confusing and long and sound smart. I thought the book was boring, and It made me sad to hear about the dogs treatment. I give this book 2 stars.

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Nathan rated it:

(review of isbn 0027594556)

07/20/07

Read in July, 2007

The Call of the Wild surprised me with its simple eloquence. The story moves swiftly but somehow remains rich in detail. The tale is deep, rather than long, and though it's a quick read, I often found myself pausing after certain paragraphs to appreciate the full depth of the passage. And of course, the story will speak volumes to anyone--especially, perhaps, to men--who has ever felt "the call of the wild" in one way or another.

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Maya rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

09/26/07

Read in January, 1989

I got Call of The Wild and White Fang in one volume from my father. I remember being very daunted at the prospect of reading these books. I remember Call of The Wild was much more accessible than White Fang because...geez I can barely remember why. I think maybe because the dog in Call of the Wild was not half-wolf so I found him easier to identify with? Ha.

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Emma rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

09/09/07

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: animal lovers

I read this a while ago, but couldn't remember it very well.
This book provided a good descriptive story of a dog named Buck who began as a pampered family pet,was stolen and sold to dog sledders, and developed into quite the alpha male of the pack. An interesting read from a dog's point of view. This story was kind of sad for me...

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Shelly rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

01/22/08

I read this in college a year after my niece read it in junior high. When I told her she was like "that's what you read in college?!". I was like "Yeah,but..did you discuss this book in terms of it's views on atheism, isolation, and the representation of man's world without women?"

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Pamela rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

10/29/07

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: everyone

Does anybody give this book to kids to read anymore? Does anyone read it him/herself? I was blown away. It capture something so primitive and so fierce in both human and animal nature, and it's powerfully written. Clean, mean, and true. Without judgement and yet never cold.

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Sarah rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

06/29/08

eww...i hated this book, cause i was FORCED to read it..but if I wasn't forced to read it, it might have been ok

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Katie rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

04/23/08

ewwww... i hated this book. it was really uninteresting 2 me. i only finished it cuz it was a skool assignment.

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Charles rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

07/17/08

bookshelves: classics

Definitely not just for young adults. I really enjoyed this book.

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Tawnya rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

06/19/08

FOrget the movie. Read the book.

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Ryan rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

10/08/08

Quite unexpectedly, I finished this book within a matter of a day and a half. Yee-haw for me.

I think the time in which I finished this piece is important to note in comparison to Katherine Dunn's Geek Love. There are enough differences between both works that I could type page after page pointing them out. However, the one thing that I want to bring attention to is the simplicity of London's work compared to Dunn's.

Dunn's piece actual writing was not complicated (i.e. the language and o...more

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TJ rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

09/14/08

Just reread this recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. While not necessarily enjoying the ongoing theme of Survival of the Fittest, the comparison of nature between animal and man is not entirely deniable. I enjoyed pondering the question of whether we as humans have certain natural instincts passed down through genetics that call out to each of us. One thought that continued to fester in my brain, which I believe still remains unanswered is if listening to those instincts makes us more human a...more Just reread this recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. While not necessarily enjoying the ongoing theme of Survival of the Fittest, the comparison of nature between animal and man is not entirely deniable. I enjoyed pondering the question of whether we as humans have certain natural instincts passed down through genetics that call out to each of us. One thought that continued to fester in my brain, which I believe still remains unanswered is if listening to those instincts makes us more human and closer to divinity or if it brings us to our neanderthal roots and we become as natural men focused solely on the pleasures and pains of life.

I also enjoyed watching Buck go throughout the book with an evolving sense of loyalty. In the beginning it seems a novel concept or principle but unchallenged Buck did not seem to truly grasp the concept. Later, in the team mentality, self preservation reigned supreme while loyalty to the team was a close second. When Spitz attacks Buck during an attack on the group from the Huskies, it was his betrayal of the team that ultimately allowed Buck, who had put team loyalty first, to rise to the respected position of leader.

The lessons of companionship also resonate throughout the book. Buck experiences varied types of companions and creates working relations with all but not until John Thornton does he experience friendship and love. Interesting enough though, even in this relationship Buck seemed to lack something and wanted more.

Lastly, what rings true and ultimately triumphs? Does humanity possess measures of virtue or does the concept of survival of the fittest dominate humanity as well as the animal kingdom. While I do not share London's gloomy outlook, I believe this is his rebuke of humanity. Those London portrays as the "civilized" of humanity act the most selfishly and cruelly. When Buck meets Thornton, he does begin to perform unselfish acts but not because he has attained a measure of humanity...he has found love.

London proposes that humans are no more likely to be genuinely kind or genuinely careful of others than animals are, they are simply more likely to try to disguise their own selfish desires and actions. I have a slightly more optimistic outlook on humanity and believe we have the dual instincts buried within us of divinity and humanity. The seedlings of Divinity lift us to overcome the natural man and place the things of the Spirit in priority while the flesh of humanity pulls us down to require the pleasures and pains of life experience.
...less

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Christina rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

09/04/08

bookshelves: young-adult

Read in September, 2008

I never read this book as a kid, but my brother wrote reports on it in every English class from 5th to 9th grade. It was probably the only book he’s ever analyzed so thoroughly, and knowing my brother’s apathy towards reading, I figured it must be something.

But while “The Call of the Wild” is a true epic adventure, I personally also found it rather painful to get through at times. For an animal-lover, the scenes of abuse are very powerful and disturbing. I know sled dogs are loyal...more

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Jamie rated it:

(review of isbn 0439227143)

08/05/08

Read in May, 2007

I kept reading this book by Jack London thinking that I'd read it before in grade school, and that any minute now some guy would need to start a fire to stay alive while his dog just sat there thinking he was an idiot for coming out in the cold like this. But apparently, that was a different story. Part of the confusion probably comes from the fact that The Call of the Wild also features a dog and the perils of the frozen North, but this book is much more focussed on the canine part of the cast....more

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In Jack London's The Call Of The Wild, which of the following pairs are brothers?
a. Dave and Joe
b. Billee and Joe
c. Billee and Dave
d. Sol-leks and Spitz
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The Call of the Wild: Annotated and Illustrated

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