The Call of the Wild
Buck, a big, comfortable dog from a California ranch, is stolen and sold as a sled dog in the Klondike gold rush. In the frozen North he learns the law of club and fang, and hears an older call. By Jack London (1903). A public-domain classic.
🎧 New: every story can be read aloud. Tap Listen to try it.
How it begins “Old longings nomadic leap, Chafing at custom’s chain; Again from its brumal sleep Wakens the ferine strain.”Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost. Keep reading →About this story
Buck is a big, comfortable dog on a ranch in California until a gardener’s helper steals him and sells him. He is shipped north to Alaska and the Yukon, where gold has been found and men need strong dogs to pull their sleds. The book follows Buck through the hard lessons the north teaches him.
Jack London, who had spent a winter in the Klondike gold rush himself, published it in 1903. It was an immediate bestseller. London tells it from the dog’s point of view without turning Buck into a person, which is what makes it more than an adventure story. Some of the scenes are harsh, including the treatment of animals.
- Themes
- Survival, instinct against civilisation, loyalty
- Good for
- Readers who like adventure and nature; a good short novel for the winter
- Worth noticing
- What Buck learns first, and what he has to unlearn.
Chapters
In these lists
All listsMore from Pagehush Classics
All storiesReaders also liked
Slice of lifeThe never ending mazeMara Solus
Bedtime storiesThe Cloud That Lost Its Wayraziq
Bedtime storiesThe Little Lanternraziq
Urban fantasyAshMike Mcmann
Children’s storiesThe Little Star Who Was Afraid to Shineraziq
SurvivalThe Tooth of the GiantNatasha