The Call of the Wild
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What started your thirst for books ?
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Kenny
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Dec 20, 2011 10:37PM
30 years later I still remember how this book made me feel. Fantastic story to share with a son or maybe a daughter.
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When I was very young maybe six or seven, I couldn't get enough of Dr. Doolittle. I loved that he could communicate with animals and travel the world.
The Way Of A Dog, and Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales.
I just don't remember not reading. I guess I've always just liked to learn, and that includes about books etc. Plus, my Dad has converted the attic into a library, so I never run out of reading material!
I read Tom Sawyer when I was in the fifth grade, and it was the first novel I had read. I love it so much and it opened up a whole new world. A world I have been exploring ever since.
When I was little I fell in love with reading when I started reading American Girls books. But I fell in love with literature when I was eleven and read Northanger Abby. @Cally: you have an awesome dad! :)This is off the subject, but how do you start discussions on here, I can find where to do that.
I read a book about Evil Knievel while in the 5th grade. A few weeks later we had to read. Where the Red Fern Grows. From that point on I was hooked.
The House of The Seven Gables sparked my love of larger books. I was around 4 or 5 when I read the book on my own. I had always loved many of my children's books before and after that. Then there was the Troll, Schoolastic/Apple book orders from school. My mom allowed me to order as much as I wanted from them as long as I would read them, with the featured stickers too. I wish I could remember some of them.
David Copperfield started my love affair with reading. I was in the 4th grade and prior to that I had, mostly, read biographies of famous women written for children. They were really fun to read but I still remember how captivated I was with Dickens' story and how I didn't want to put the book down.
Books such as Dr.Doolittle and Treasure Island spurred my escapist addiction.I wish I still owned the hardcover editions of Dr. Doolittle with the beautiful full color illustrations,each one protected by onion skin. I remember reading those stories after lights out(in bed under the covers) with my trusty flash light,then struggling to stay awake at school the following day.I don't recall ever getting busted,since I knew that would mean increased parental surveillance and a likely end to my top secret nocturnal activities.
Kenny wrote: "30 years later I still remember how this book made me feel. Fantastic story to share with a son or maybe a daughter."whenI as young we couldn't afford toys but my mom took me and my little brother to the library weekly I checked out where the red fern grows and have been reading ever since. I feel like when my mom gave me a library card she gave me the world.
Valerie wrote: "The House of The Seven Gables sparked my love of larger books. I was around 4 or 5 when I read the book on my own. I had always loved many of my children's books before and after that. Then there..."
I was reading Dr. Seuss books before I went to kindergarten. He showed how fun books could be. A biography on Helen Keller sparked my love of biographies and memoirs when I was about seven.
I LOVED Call of the Wild and National Velvet--these novels about animals that are often relegated to the children's section at the library, but are actually written by major literary artists and are wise far beyond the level of most books! When I read these novels at around the fifth grade, I remember walking away stunned--they had opened up whole new worlds of insight for me, and now I knew what the power of literaure really is: the ability to open up magical gateways of the mind. Although that was years ago, the power and impact of those books has never left me : )
I remember reading "Charlotte's Web" over and over as a kid.
Diane wrote: "I LOVED Call of the Wild and National Velvet--these novels about animals that are often relegated to the children's section at the library, but are actually written by major literary artists and ar..."If you liked the Call of the Wild have you thought about reading the "The Wolves of Paris"?
There were shelves of old books in my house when I was a child (early 50's) that contained classic fairy tales, folk tales and myths. Quite a lot of them were Eastern European, from my father's side of the family. I remember Princess Vasilissa and her silver boat with the golden oars, and I remember the horse of power and his rider, one of the infamous third children characters, of which I am one. These were classic coming of age stories: ritual, elemental and ageless introductions to the stages the psyche must travel to become autonomous. I reserve the right to be childlike at any stage of my life, but these stories stand me in good stead in any situation. It's like learning to drive a standard transmission, once you learn, you don't have to think about it. And, if you think about it, it slows you down. Those readings put a compass in me that turns true. My job is to follow my own best hunches. Hunches are all we've got.
Caddie Woodlawn was an early fave, once I was reading on my own, but I also spent a great deal of time with the "Little House" series growing up. Can't remember which fairytale was the first I ever heard, but "Hansel and Gretel" were among them--also "Snow White and Rose Red."Teachers read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Harriet the Spy to me and I still love those too!
My father read poetry to us when we were young. He read Edgar Allen Poe's novels to me during storms when we lost the power. And I still remember the magic of my grandmother's home on a Sunday afternoon. She had a sunroom filled with literature.
My grandfather used to read to me, until I was able to read to myself. I remember my first trip to the library. I picked out as many of them as they would allow. Some he read to me, but most I read myself.
I know that I could read even before I entered school. I distinctly remember lying on the living room floor reading a book about the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Also my parents had a great huge hardcover volume of Ripley's "Believe it or Not"; must have been 500 pages, just loaded with illustrations of guys with 15" finger nails, shrunken heads and other oddities. loved that book, spent hours going through it
Oh my, that brought back memories--we had Ripley's Believe it or Not as well! So peculiar and engrossing for a child (perhaps all children are intrigued by the quirky and absurd, which authors like Roald Dahl capitalized on so well).
It must of been those Little Golden books and the beautiful illustrations of Elouise Wilkins in the early 1950s even before I was a competent reader.
I really enjoyed the Call of the Wild.What started my thirst to read? Twilight
Now my taste for "absurdities" is satisfied with the likes of Carl Hiaasen or Elmore Leonard. Glad I was able to create a flashback! lol
Our parents always read to us and all three of us children could read by the age of 4. They instilled a love of reading that continues to this day.
Back in the late fifties, when I was about six or seven, my dad gave me a beautifully bound book of "Little Women."It was very challenging for me, but I loved it, and it was my favorite book for many years.
well, the earliest thing I remember reading would also be the little golden books that cate mentioned. but, after progressing beyond those, I remember loving the little house on the prarie and the anne of green gables series. call of the wild, white fang, black beauty, and julie of the wolves were also around that same time, I believe.
Carla wrote: "I remember Princess Vasilissa and her silver boat with the golden oars..."I've never heard of that one- would you be able to summarize it relatively easily? my curiosity is piqued...
I wouldn't say it was a particular book, but instead a kind of longing for something I was missing in my daily life. An intelligence and a philosophical view of life, the intimacy of a good author's voice.
I think the intimacy you mentioned in reading is a big thing. There's a part in each of us that longs to connect, and reading provides that. Also, we get to step inside someone else's reality for a while, try it on, if you will, and so the reading becomes an adventure as well. Intimacy and adventure--I never put those two together until I read your post. : )
Kyle wrote: "I read Call Of the Wild in grade school. It still remains one of my favorite books to this day.“Old longings nomadic leap,
Chafing at custom’s chain;
Again from its brumal sleep
Wakens the fer..."
I remeber reading ya hitchcocks three investigators
My mother read to me and I'd follow along as best as I could, eventually being able to read those Golden Books and others she would get from the Library. Both my parents were readers, so there were always books & magazines about. Oddly, neither of my younger sisters became big readers.
I really don't know I loved them from the start. It never got old and borning.
I'm sure being read to as a child was the greatest influence. I was brought up in an extended family and there was always a reader willing and available. However, when I was in my early teens, I read of Mice and Men, Gone With The Wind and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. These books introduced me to adult literature and "sold" me on reading for life.
Yeah i started reading when i was way to young or at least i looked at the pictures
In the third grade I began loveing to read with Edith Hamiltons Greek Myths, John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, the Red Pony, and Ernest Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea.
I can't quite remember the first really great book, but Wild Brother by Mary Patchett, The Silver Brumby, and dragon books by Anne McCaffrey made me read like crazy :)
I second everyone mentioning Jack London books and Where the Red Fern Grows, those were the books that sucked me in the most... I also read the Anne of Greengables series, The Little House on the Prairie series and the VC Andrews series (I read VCA when I was 11, I'm still shocked they had that in the grade school library, hehe).
In my little mind, I knew "boy" also meant me!The Reading Mother by Strickland Gillilan
I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea,
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,
"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.
I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.
I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness blent with his final breath.
I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings--
Stories that stir with an upward touch,
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be--
I had a Mother who read to me.
This poem is in the public domain.
This is a wonderful poem. Thanks for sharing.
When I was in 5th grade, and I took out a book called song of sorrow or something like tht. I finished it then moved on to the Harry potter series and soon, I started reading like crazy. ^.^
I have had (and still do) an absolute love for animals. My wonderful father was an English teacher and when I was just a boy, he gave this book to me. Told me he thought I might like it. If greater words were ever spoken, it is unkown to me. I fell in love instantly and my desire to read was kindled. My Dad gave me things to read and read to me. I would spend hours on a Saturday at the library just reading. I guess I can really now say, "Thanks, Dad!".
Nice post Carroll, my dad gave me the same book when I was ten. I feel the same way about animals. As the twig is bent...
I've heard and read so many people talking about reading The Call of the Wild when they were children. I didn't read it until a year ago. I found it very difficult to read because I felt so awful for the dog all the time.
I suppose it's twisted, but I can read true crime, murder mysteries, etc. and I'm fine. Can't stand to read about cruelty to animals.
Beth, the things that happened to Buck were horrendous, but he wins in the end. Not only is he free from his bondage, but he truly gains his freedom by returning to the wild. Your feelings for Buck show that you get it.
Karen, the poem above just killed me! I read it before I had to go to a board meeting and evidently my eyes were still filled with tears when I got there. Everyone wanted to know what was wrong. I just told them that I read something that touched me. Thanks so much for that.
It is not what started my thrist for books, but who. The who was my mother. She read to me before I could read, taught me to read and then made sure books were always available at home or took me to the library. What a gal!
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