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The Call of the Wild / White Fang / The Sea-Wolf / 40 Short Stories
1983 edition, like-new, unread, unworn, unopened, unmarked except for slight, attractive yellowing to the pages, in beautiful leatherette covers & bright embossed gilt cover design and gilt edges, without a dust jacket, as issued, from Chatham River Press. By Jack London. Edited by Paul Horowitz. A nice omnibus collection of London's classic The Call of the Wild, White Fang, the Sea-Wolf, and 40 short stories. Illustrated. One of the Greenwich Unabridged Library Classics series.
763 pages, Hardcover
First published July 13, 1980
12 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Jack London
7,712 books7,708 followersJohn Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 1, 2022
3.75 stars overall
The Call of the Wild: 4 stars
White Fang: 3.75 stars
Short Stories: 3.5
The Sea Wolf: 5
Two Tales of the Klondike: 2.5
It took me forever to finish this, about 4 months, but I finally got through it. I was going to rate each short story collection individually, but at this point they've all flowed together for me, and I think the ratings would have been about the same anyway, so I've lumped them together.
I enjoyed this, or at least parts of it. I admit I have previously read The Call of the Wild and White Fang, but the rest of this was new to me. That being said, I don't think I would ever reread this collection again in its entirety, since the short stories make up the bulk of it, and I just found those to be okay. I already own the three novels as separate ebooks, so I would just read those if I wanted to reread them.
I did have some issues with the content, especially with many of the short stories and the way native peoples and women are described, as there were a lot of stereotypes involved. With descriptions of native peoples, there was a general attitude of white superiority, and it was outright stated at least once in one of the stories. I also felt that the depictions within the stories might be inaccurate, given this and the fact these stories were written by a white man who likely did no research prior to writing them. I also take issue with how women were generally portrayed. They are referred to as weakling women a few times, and Maud, a character in The Sea Wolf, is referred to as lily-frail. I understand that this was a product of the time in which this was written, but it was too pervasive throughout the stories to ignore.
Spoilers
I had thought The Call of the Wild would remain my favorite of London's works, but I was proved wrong by The Sea Wolf. It was so captivating that I'm surprised London is known more for the other two novels than this one. Wolf Larsen was an interesting and contrary character. Well-read, but had little formal education. He could be philosophical, but also cynical. He was intelligent, calculating, and cruel, especially in the incident with Leach and Johnson. The story got a bit less interesting when Humphrey and Maud escaped from the Ghost, but the excitement renewed when the Ghost reappeared. In the end, I found myself actually feeling bad for Larsen and a little teary, because it was a pretty terrible way to go, to still be "in there" and alert, but unable to interact with the world. I think this is certainly one of the stories that will stick with me, and I definitely plan on rereading it at some point.
The Call of the Wild: 4 stars
White Fang: 3.75 stars
Short Stories: 3.5
The Sea Wolf: 5
Two Tales of the Klondike: 2.5
It took me forever to finish this, about 4 months, but I finally got through it. I was going to rate each short story collection individually, but at this point they've all flowed together for me, and I think the ratings would have been about the same anyway, so I've lumped them together.
I enjoyed this, or at least parts of it. I admit I have previously read The Call of the Wild and White Fang, but the rest of this was new to me. That being said, I don't think I would ever reread this collection again in its entirety, since the short stories make up the bulk of it, and I just found those to be okay. I already own the three novels as separate ebooks, so I would just read those if I wanted to reread them.
I did have some issues with the content, especially with many of the short stories and the way native peoples and women are described, as there were a lot of stereotypes involved. With descriptions of native peoples, there was a general attitude of white superiority, and it was outright stated at least once in one of the stories. I also felt that the depictions within the stories might be inaccurate, given this and the fact these stories were written by a white man who likely did no research prior to writing them. I also take issue with how women were generally portrayed. They are referred to as weakling women a few times, and Maud, a character in The Sea Wolf, is referred to as lily-frail. I understand that this was a product of the time in which this was written, but it was too pervasive throughout the stories to ignore.
Spoilers
I had thought The Call of the Wild would remain my favorite of London's works, but I was proved wrong by The Sea Wolf. It was so captivating that I'm surprised London is known more for the other two novels than this one. Wolf Larsen was an interesting and contrary character. Well-read, but had little formal education. He could be philosophical, but also cynical. He was intelligent, calculating, and cruel, especially in the incident with Leach and Johnson. The story got a bit less interesting when Humphrey and Maud escaped from the Ghost, but the excitement renewed when the Ghost reappeared. In the end, I found myself actually feeling bad for Larsen and a little teary, because it was a pretty terrible way to go, to still be "in there" and alert, but unable to interact with the world. I think this is certainly one of the stories that will stick with me, and I definitely plan on rereading it at some point.
July 16, 2022
Read this as a kid and reread the entire volume this year. Overall rating is pretty close to a 4, my favorites being The Call of the Wild, The Son of the Wolf and The Sea-Wolf. The last 10 pages consisted of Two Tales of the Klondike and were definitely anticlimactic and not nearly the caliber of the rest of the stories included. Still a fan, though, after all these years.
March 10, 2015
Highly enjoyable... I really took to London's writing style. He is a master of description and you can tell he writes from what he knows and has experienced. The longer stories were highlights of this collection for me, but all of it was very interesting. I doubt anyone has done such an exhaustive covering of the details and depths of Northland life, or that he could be paralleled in his writings on the subject. All in all, a very satisfying read.
October 18, 2020
I'd read Call of the Wild decades ago, and had this collection since I think I was about 15. Enjoyed White Fang, but the rest of the Alaska stories seemed interminable and alike. Nearly gave up on the book then. Thoroughly enjoyed The Sea-Wolf and it rescued my feelings for the whole work
September 29, 2008
went to his cabin
Want to read
September 2, 2015The Call of the Wild -
White Fang -
The Song of the Wolf -
The God of His Fathers -
Children of the Frost -
The Faith of Men -
The Sea-Wolf -
Two Tales of the Klondike -
White Fang -
The Song of the Wolf -
The God of His Fathers -
Children of the Frost -
The Faith of Men -
The Sea-Wolf -
Two Tales of the Klondike -
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews