Erämaan kutsu (1903)

A dog leads a wolf pack... ( )

Jack London was vocal in his socialist views, and it was interesting to think of that while reading about this brutal, dog-eat-dog world of the Klondike Gold Rush, which he himself had been a part of at the tender age of 21. He created some indelible images, such as the dangerous impracticality of the inexperienced prospectors that leads to their demise out on a frozen lake, and the novella is a good read. I think he was less successful in anthropomorphizing the dogs, as to me it took away from the grim realism of the setting, and unfortunately we also get a couple of glimpses of London’s racism as well. Overall, I wish it had been fleshed out and had a perspective shift, but as a fable and a window into the past, it has some charm. ( )

Tough read for me. So much violence. But the writing is beautifully knit, and I loved it. Assigned as the D read for lit in unit 1 but not sure if she can handle the content. Might need an alternate here. ( )

A great dog's tale. Certain parts of the book which described animal abuse was hard to read. ( )

I have been wanting to read more classics and this one happened to fill a prompt for a reading challenge I'm currently doing. I really enjoyed reading about Buck and his call to the wild.

The story begins with a yard dog who kind of just hangs put with everybody, then he is dog napped and sold into the sledding business. And then you get to see his adventures until the end when he finally answers the call he's been hearing for a long time.

It's also set during the gold rush time period so there is a lot of insight into everything that went on during that time. I learned quite a few facts I didn't already know!

It was a really great story and I loved reading the dog's perspective instead of the humans. I definitely recommend this classic for anyone! ( )