This is another one I picked up from the limited audiobook selection at the Covina Public Library. I thought I had read it before in elementary or middle school, but the story did not seem familiar. I believe it’s the most famous classic book by Jack London, though after reading it I’m not sure I’d call it a classic. It has good writing, but I’ve read better non-classics. It’s probably all just a matter of personal taste. Of course, I’d heard of The Call of the Wild and White Fang. My mom told me once that she read that Jack London would always try to write for an hour every day after getting up in the morning. Chris McCandless, the subject of the book and film Into the Wild was a big fan of Jack London. Other than having lived for 13 years near the area about which he wrote, I have another personal, but also stretched connection to London. After moving to L.A. many years ago I met up with a friend from college. That first weekend we went to the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino to meet up with some of her friends from high school and check out an exhibit of woodcuts by Alberecht Durer. When we got there we also saw an exhibit of original manuscripts by Jack London including “The Cruise of the Snark” or something like that. Something else that occurred on that outing was that I met one of her friends from high school who would later become my wife.
Getting back to The Call of the Wild, the main character is a dog named Buck. Though it’s told in the third person, the story is told from Buck’s point of view. He seems very anthropomorphic, able to understand what people say and grasp human characteristics. He also interacts with other dogs. Buck is a big dog, a St. Bernard mix who weighs 140 points, as much as some adult humans. His weight actually fluctuates between 115-150 pounds depending on his living conditions. The story is about his journey from a large, rich estate in northern California to the Klondike gold fields of the Yukon during the gold rush of 1898. There’s much mention of places I’ve visited or at least heard of: Seattle, of course, a city that grew very large as a “casting off” point to Alaska and the Yukon; Skagway, the small mining town where my dad lived as a child and youth; Dyea, the former town that’s now just a campground that my family pronounces as “dye-ee” but the reader of the audiobook pronounces as “dye-eh-ah”.
London really captures the setting, the environment, and the life in the Yukon at the turn of the last century. He’s done his research on how the seasons change from icy and dead winters to gorgeous and living summers. Alaska and western Canada were like the wild west with saloons, miners from all over the contiguous U.S. (CONUS) pouring in and not knowing what they’re in for. As a dog, Buck’s life is ruled by “The Law of Club and Fang”: the fangs of the other dogs and wolves and the clubs of humans forcing the dogs into submission when necessary (or not). There are great descriptions of the terrain: the ice and snow that require breaking out dogsleds frozen to the ground; the creeks, rivers and frozen lakes that can make for easily or perilous crossing depending on the time of year, the deep forests, and the wild animals. All seem fairly accurate except the description of Indians that use bows and arrows: harpoons may be more accurate. I guess we didn’t cover native warfare when we learned about Alaska history in elementary school.
What’s very interesting are the dynamics of the sled dog team of which Buck is a part. The other dogs are mostly huskies and often have human names. One of them, called Dave, is very sullen and doesn’t associate with the others. He’s very hard working, though. There’s the struggle to be the alpha dog, the conflict between taking care of oneself and supporting the team. Though they don’t seem to speak to one another, the dogs all have different personalities and communicate through their actions.
London’s descriptions are always intense and epic: the beauty of the landscape contrasting yet coexisting with its perils; the extreme suffering, hunger and desperation, the great love of a loyal master, . . . It’s almost too extreme like some kind of bipolar disorder: great joy followed by excruciating pain followed by epic conflict and on and on. There’s no leveling off, no mundane times, or perhaps they’re just omitted. Buck seems almost too perfect: strong, enduring, adaptable, almost supernatural. He seems to have no weaknesses, is able to perform just about any feat of strength, speed or bravery and is unyielding to anyone or anything. I guess he needs to be that way to survive the whole story and the intensity keeps the story going and kept me listening.
Getting back to The Call of the Wild, the main character is a dog named Buck. Though it’s told in the third person, the story is told from Buck’s point of view. He seems very anthropomorphic, able to understand what people say and grasp human characteristics. He also interacts with other dogs. Buck is a big dog, a St. Bernard mix who weighs 140 points, as much as some adult humans. His weight actually fluctuates between 115-150 pounds depending on his living conditions. The story is about his journey from a large, rich estate in northern California to the Klondike gold fields of the Yukon during the gold rush of 1898. There’s much mention of places I’ve visited or at least heard of: Seattle, of course, a city that grew very large as a “casting off” point to Alaska and the Yukon; Skagway, the small mining town where my dad lived as a child and youth; Dyea, the former town that’s now just a campground that my family pronounces as “dye-ee” but the reader of the audiobook pronounces as “dye-eh-ah”.
London really captures the setting, the environment, and the life in the Yukon at the turn of the last century. He’s done his research on how the seasons change from icy and dead winters to gorgeous and living summers. Alaska and western Canada were like the wild west with saloons, miners from all over the contiguous U.S. (CONUS) pouring in and not knowing what they’re in for. As a dog, Buck’s life is ruled by “The Law of Club and Fang”: the fangs of the other dogs and wolves and the clubs of humans forcing the dogs into submission when necessary (or not). There are great descriptions of the terrain: the ice and snow that require breaking out dogsleds frozen to the ground; the creeks, rivers and frozen lakes that can make for easily or perilous crossing depending on the time of year, the deep forests, and the wild animals. All seem fairly accurate except the description of Indians that use bows and arrows: harpoons may be more accurate. I guess we didn’t cover native warfare when we learned about Alaska history in elementary school.
What’s very interesting are the dynamics of the sled dog team of which Buck is a part. The other dogs are mostly huskies and often have human names. One of them, called Dave, is very sullen and doesn’t associate with the others. He’s very hard working, though. There’s the struggle to be the alpha dog, the conflict between taking care of oneself and supporting the team. Though they don’t seem to speak to one another, the dogs all have different personalities and communicate through their actions.
London’s descriptions are always intense and epic: the beauty of the landscape contrasting yet coexisting with its perils; the extreme suffering, hunger and desperation, the great love of a loyal master, . . . It’s almost too extreme like some kind of bipolar disorder: great joy followed by excruciating pain followed by epic conflict and on and on. There’s no leveling off, no mundane times, or perhaps they’re just omitted. Buck seems almost too perfect: strong, enduring, adaptable, almost supernatural. He seems to have no weaknesses, is able to perform just about any feat of strength, speed or bravery and is unyielding to anyone or anything. I guess he needs to be that way to survive the whole story and the intensity keeps the story going and kept me listening.
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