A Book Review of The

Here is a book review of The Call of the Wild written by Jack London in 1903. The medium-length novel has been transformed into many languages and gained popularity around the world. It tells an adventure of a dog, Buck, who used to be fed by humans and enjoyed a comfortable life. However, Buck was stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska, where people were crazy about panning for gold and sled dogs were in a great demand. The harsh environment forced Buck to fight to survive and dominate other fierce dogs. In the end, Buck lost his beloved master and eventually returned to the woods. The inspiration of the story comes form a long journey of Jack. In 1897, Jack London left San Francisco and spent time in the Klondike, Canada, during the Gold Rush. He did many different jobs including an oyster pirate, a seaman, a sealer, and a hobo. All his extraordinary experiences made Jack a writer who always praised the original form of life: survival. In his books, it’s common to see the main character fights with the nature and finally achieves himself. The Call of the Wild is no exception. The leading role in the book is a dog named Buck. He used to relied on human and was proud of his noble blood. But civilization isn’t applicable to the cruel competition of the wild. Buck must follow the law of club and fang to survive. He started to steal food, and made his own groups to compete for the seat of leader. Gradually Buck became a dominant primordial beast. The only connection between Buck and human is a man called John Thornton, who took good care of Buck. After Thornton’s death, Buck joined the wolves and was transformed into a total wild beast. The plot in The Call of the Wild is very fast-paced, focusing on the change of Buck. It seems that the author didn’t want his characters to rest. Conflicts and accidents were following with Buck, and he must rise to all challenges. Jack London used a restrained and clam tone to show violent scenes, and paid much attention to describe the inner world of Buck. Through Jack’s words, the strong will to survive in the wild is a treasure, and freedom is worthier than ease. Since the story is about a dog, The Call of the Wild is sometimes classified as a child literature. On one hand, readers can surely learn something from Buck, such as his toughness, wisdom, bravery and adaptive faculty. On the other hand, Buck learned how to lie and defeat his competitors in a bloody way, which makes the tale more realistic. From my perspective, maybe teenagers are more suitable to this book, because they are going to the adult world and a tough fighting is waiting for them. At last, this review will end with a short poem on the front page of the book: Old longings nomadic leap, Chafing at custom's chain; Again form its brumal sleep, Wakens the ferine strain.