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The Call of the Wild by Jack London will be a buddy read for January 2020.

Katy & Shirley will be reading. Please join us!

Here is a free online copy from The Project Gutenberg:

If you are doing the Bingo 2020 challenge you can use this book for:

G4: Banned Book
" The Call of the Wild by Jack London. London's story of a dog who lives the life of a pampered house pet until he gets a job pulling a sled was banned in Yugoslavia and Italy because of the author's socialist views. The book was also burned by the Nazis in 1933."

O4: Classic Adventure

O5: Classic of the Americas

The Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. The story opens at a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California, when Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. He becomes progressively feral in the harsh environment, where he is forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs. By the end, he sheds the veneer of civilization, and relies on primordial instinct and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild.

London spent almost a year in the Yukon, and his observations form much of the material for the book. The story was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post in the summer of 1903 and was published a month later in book form. The book's great popularity and success made a reputation for London. As early as 1923, the story was adapted to film, and it has since seen several more cinematic adaptations.

Reference:

I will be reading from this book:
by Jack London

I read this book almost 20 years ago and very much enjoyed it. Enjoy!

I have this book listed for my Bingo Challenge, so I will join in!

Terry wrote: "I read this book almost 20 years ago and very much enjoyed it. Enjoy!"

Good to know, thank you.

Angie wrote: "I have this book listed for my Bingo Challenge, so I will join in!"

Excellent. Looking forward to starting next week. My copy is less than 90 pages. So it will be a quick read.

Thank you for setting this up, Katy! I can't wait! I'll have to see what physical edition is available at my library. But as you noted, we can always read it online.

I chose this book for my Bingo "Classic of the Americas" square.

I first read this about 50 years ago and reread it 7 years ago. I have my reading pretty well planned and won't be reading with you all, but I look forward to the discussion.

I finished today. A quick read and good.

This was my favorite book as a child, at least until I read Pride and Prejudice. Excellent book and can’t wait to sink my teeth back into it!

I love this book so much. It is definitely a tear-jerker for me. I have used it twice in the classroom in the last four years. I do not think I will read it again now because I have read it four times. I really recommend it to anyone who has not read it yet.

I'm excited to be joining you for this one. I'm probably using it for the adventure square in Bingo, but I also considered it for banned book. (Apparently for London's socialist views. I read that he was twice the Socialist Party candidate for mayor of Oakland, California.)

I've read the intro in my copy, and they mention that it can be read as an allegory, and that Carl Jung was an influence (his "collective unconscious" theory). Joseph Campbell's hero's journey was also mentioned. So many ways to look at this one!

Oh, and I'll just share that I grew up near the Santa Clara Valley London mentions, a valley that I remember from early childhood used to be full of fruit trees--apricots and nuts and figs and cherries--but that is now known as Silicon Valley.

I read this about 16 months ago. It wasn’t a favorite but all my kids will have to read this in 8th grade unless the teacher changes her curriculum so I’ll follow the discussion. For those who like London, are all his stories adventures? I would be willing to read another shorter work to compare and contrast.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through The Call of the Wild, and it's making me kick myself that I haven't read this book earlier. It is SO well written, and it really tears me up to read about how these dogs were obtained and how disposable they were. Being the mom over the years of several highly-intelligent and loyal German Shepherds, it really saddens me to read how these dogs were treated. I can't help but believe that London enjoyed writing about the disposal of Charles, Mercedes and Hal.

Lynn and Brina~ I'm interested in hearing how you use this book in your classroom. Life lessons?

I’m not the teacher. I read it with my son last year because he did not enjoy the teacher’s book choices. I told him it was ok and just fudge his essays. Hard for me to argue with that when I only gave this 3 stars.

Brina wrote: "I read this about 16 months ago. It wasn’t a favorite but all my kids will have to read this in 8th grade unless the teacher changes her curriculum so I’ll follow the discussion. For those who like..."

Brina, London is a master at the short story and many aren’t adventure based. A short Novella you might try is The Game, a sports and romance combo.

Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "I'm about 3/4 of the way through The Call of the Wild, and it's making me kick myself that I haven't read this book earlier. It is SO well written, and it really tears me up to read abo..."

The realism in a lot of London’s writing can be uncomfortable. There is quite a bit of ruggedness to his writing. Some might call it to masculine and I think that may deter some folks from reading his work.

I think he is one of the best to ever pick up a pen.

I’ll try it Bob. One of my GR friends that I trust for reviews gave it 5 stars and he doesn’t even read fiction. Now I’m interested in obtaining it soon.

Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "I'm about 3/4 of the way through The Call of the Wild, and it's making me kick myself that I haven't read this book earlier. It is SO well written, and it really tears me up to read abo..."

I felt like this too! I know I read or tried to read it as a child, but probably when I was too young, I had this flashback when reading the first page--sort of a dread. I think the cruelty was too much for me back then, and I bet I never finished it.

I agree about London's writing. Has anyone read To Build a Fire? That had a major impact on me when reading it in school. He's so good at bringing the reader into the intensity of a situation.

Please use the Call of the Wild Threads to continue this discussion:

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