You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's a classic for a reason- thought provoking and heart wrenching. Jack London captures the true spirit of the wild and those who find themselves in it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A gripping and unique story about one dog’s return to the wild.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i read a version of this story when i was younger and loved it, but found myself enjoying the original considerably less so. i found the writing to be lacklustre and somewhat antiquated - even compared to other books of its time. its also significantly more brutal than i remembered, without a single one if the 20+ dogs buck encounters surviving to the end. its still a classic story though, and i always love a good book about a good dog.
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
dark
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Call of the Wild by Jack London was released in 1903 and it shows. Read it for history.
Speaking of history, I was given this book at age 8, about fifty years ago (more or less) and it has been in my TBR pile ever since! I finally got to it!!! (Yes, the rest of my TBR, there is still hope for you yet.)
Action-packed, exotic location, and a dog's story - there is a reason why this classic is still a classic.
No good representation of women, not even as other dogs; the anti-civilization - need to "be a man" Darwin-type politics (On the Origin of Species was published in 1859 and the theory of evolution was still hotly investigated by the scientific community) mixing in with toxic masculinity; and animal abuse because they were property, not team members. All these are part of the reason why this classic is getting to the point it shouldn't be read except by those that understand cultures shift and how they shifted, or part of the discussion to teach such things.
The indigenous culture representation is horrible ... complete for bow and arrow?!? Feathered arrows everywhere??. The landscape is breathtaking and brutal. Buck's ongoing hallucination of traveling with a solitary frightened Neanderthal-like male is just weird (and part of that Darwinist type cultural mind-set of the time) doesn't match present science of dog domesticated at the absolute earliest about 26,000 years ago and Neanderthals going extinct 40,000 years ago (Homo Sapiens reared their heads about 300,000 years ago - there is lots of disagreements on where and how still).
As a snapshot of the Yukon gold-rush through the lens of a wilderness-is-best nineteen-century man's-man colonist-white-male writing from a dog's perspective, The Call of the Wild holds up over time. But you notice a lot of caveats there. Would I give this to a 21st century child with a world population of 8 billion (1.6 billion in 1900 - a population increase of 5 times) who needs a modern understanding of respect for other cultures, treatment of animals, and science? Absolutely not.
Trigger warning: Animal abuse.
Speaking of history, I was given this book at age 8, about fifty years ago (more or less) and it has been in my TBR pile ever since! I finally got to it!!! (Yes, the rest of my TBR, there is still hope for you yet.)
Action-packed, exotic location, and a dog's story - there is a reason why this classic is still a classic.
No good representation of women, not even as other dogs; the anti-civilization - need to "be a man" Darwin-type politics (On the Origin of Species was published in 1859 and the theory of evolution was still hotly investigated by the scientific community) mixing in with toxic masculinity; and animal abuse because they were property, not team members. All these are part of the reason why this classic is getting to the point it shouldn't be read except by those that understand cultures shift and how they shifted, or part of the discussion to teach such things.
The indigenous culture representation is horrible ... complete for bow and arrow?!? Feathered arrows everywhere??. The landscape is breathtaking and brutal. Buck's ongoing hallucination of traveling with a solitary frightened Neanderthal-like male is just weird (and part of that Darwinist type cultural mind-set of the time) doesn't match present science of dog domesticated at the absolute earliest about 26,000 years ago and Neanderthals going extinct 40,000 years ago (Homo Sapiens reared their heads about 300,000 years ago - there is lots of disagreements on where and how still).
As a snapshot of the Yukon gold-rush through the lens of a wilderness-is-best nineteen-century man's-man colonist-white-male writing from a dog's perspective, The Call of the Wild holds up over time. But you notice a lot of caveats there. Would I give this to a 21st century child with a world population of 8 billion (1.6 billion in 1900 - a population increase of 5 times) who needs a modern understanding of respect for other cultures, treatment of animals, and science? Absolutely not.
Trigger warning: Animal abuse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Death