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5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful, gripping tales of nature and survival, December 15, 2001
I have to admit that I have not really given Jack London his proper due up to now. Perhaps it is because I don't by my nature like outdoor adventure type stories, or perhaps it is because I associate White Fang and "To Build a Fire" with my youth. The fact is that Jack London is a tremendously talented writer. His understanding of the basics of life matches his great knowledge of the snow-enshrouded world of the upper latitudes. The Call of the Wild, despite its relative brevity and the fact that it is (at least on its surface) a dog's story, contains as much truth and reality of man's own struggles as that which can be sifted from the life's work of many other respected authors. The story he tells is starkly real; as such, it is not pretty, and it is not elevating. As an animal lover, I found parts of this story heartbreaking: Buck's removal from the civilized Southland in which he reigned supreme among his animal kindred to the brutal cold and even more brutal machinations of hard, weathered men who literally beat him and whipped him full of lashes is supremely sad and bothersome. Even more sad are the stories of the dogs that fill the sled's traces around him. Poor good-spirited Curly never has a chance, while Dave's story is made the more unbearable by his brave, undying spirit. Even the harsh taskmaster Spitz has to be pitied, despite his harsh nature, for the reader knows full well that this harsh nature was forced upon him by man and his thirst for gold. Buck's travails are long and hard, but the nobility of his spirit makes of him a hero--this despite the fact that his primitive animal instincts and urges continually come to dominate him, pushing away the memory and reality of his younger, softer days among civilized man. Buck not only conquers all--the weather, the harshness of the men who harness his powers in turn, the other dogs and wolves he comes into contact with--he thrives. The redemption he seems to gain with the fortunate encounter with John Thornton is also dashed in the end, after which Buck finally gives in fully to "the call of the wild" and becomes a creature of nature only. While this is a sad ending of sorts, one also feels joy and satisfaction at Buck's refusal to surrender to nature's harsh trials and his ability to find his own kind of happiness in the transplanted world in which he was placed. This isn't a story to read when you are depressed. London's writing is beautiful, poignant, and powerful, but it is also somber, sometimes morose, infinitely real, and at times gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. The other stories are also powerful tales of survival (or demise) in the face of nature's harshness. I feel I am not alone in saying that I cannot recall most of the stories I had to read in school in my younger years but I distinctly recall "To Build a Fire." London's real, visceral language and description is hard to forget, as is the human pride and stupidity that characterizes the protagonist--London seems to be saying that we must respect and understand nature in order to survive and prosper. The protagonist's demise is more comical than tragic because of his lack of understanding and appreciation for the harsh realities of his environment. All of the stories bear the same general themes as the two I have mentioned. In each, man or beast is forced to battle against nature; survival is largely determined by each one's willingness or freedom to recede into primitiveness and let the blood of his ancestors rise up within his veins. Those who refuse to give in to their lowest instincts and who do not truly respect nature do not survive. I feel that London sometimes went a little overboard in "The Call of the Wild" when describing Buck's visions and instinctual memories of his ancestors among the first men, but his writing certainly remains compelling and beautiful, an important reminder to those of us today who are soft and take nature for granted that nature must be respected and that even her harshest realities are in some ways beautiful and noble, and that the law of survival applies just as much to us as it does to the beasts of the field.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
The Dog's Days, March 4, 2009
This is the first Jack London I have ever read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Call of the Wild has so much depth and intelligence to the writing that I can imagine books being written about it, and at the same time it's written in such a way that many elementary school children should be able to understand it (if standards are still up where they were when I was that age). The various stories after The Call of the Wild are also interesting. They are all similarly themed, with the protagonist suffering through the tortures of the cold wilderness, freezing and starving to death, but each is unique, and Jack London's imagination is never in question to the reader. Overall, excellent writing.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
The birth of the animal-rights movement, September 28, 2007
Long before TV, the written word was the wellstone of many political movements. This is as true in America as it is in Europe, and many modern American books are testament to this. Upton Sinclair's Jungle started the food safety movement, Nader's Unsafe at any Speed brought public and Congress's attention to car safety, and the Grapes of Wrath put white poverty into the attention of the mainstream media. This book, more than any other single work of American literature, can be argued as giving birth to the animal-rights movement; a very unique feature of American society as animals have almost no rights everywhere else in the world. This story itself is short and accessible to most elementary school students. What it does is create a parallel between human suffering and the suffering of animals; and in doing so, it puts a human face on animals. As such, it deserves to be on any list of great works of English literature, and as part of any middle school curriculum.
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