The Call of the Wild Review

Forced to survive in the harsh, frozen Arctic, Buck, in Call of the Wild by Jack London, has to change from a pampered Southern dog to a wild beast. Buck was kidnapped from his easy life at the home of Judge Miller and is sold to become a sled dog for adventurers seeking gold in the grit of Alaska. He faces many hardships along the way and has to learn the heartless lessons of survival.

The plot of Call of the Wild is very well thought out. Jack London did an exceptional job in writing this book. The storyline flows well and the book is much easier to read than some of the other classics. Call of the Wild kept me entranced up until the very end. There is a lot of description which makes it easy for me to be there in the Arctic with Buck watching the story unfold. Buck has to make life or death decisions at every turn. He has a rivalry against the leader Spitz that comes down to a battle to the death. And when Buck finally has a chance at a good life with a man he loves, will it all be ripped away from him in the end?

The characters of Call of the Wild are refreshing. Buck is a strong, defiant dog always looking for his chance to escape. He makes a great leader and is good at heart. The other dogs all have different personalities that come into play later in the story and make the story all the more interesting. The travelers that own Buck never stay for to long with the dogs, but they always bring a certain spin on the story. None of the owners handle the issues of the dogs and challenges that the team faces the same way.

I would recommend this book for anyone that enjoys a good story. Call of the Wild is an adventure story and a wonderful book. The book is one of the easier classics to read which makes it all the better for younger readers, although I would not recommend this book to anyone under the age of ten due to some improper language and use of challenging words.