forum Call of the Wild

Started February 05, 2019 by @andrew health_and_safety flash_onAdmin

tune

Just finished reading this. Anyone read it?

I didn't read Call of the Wild, but I did read White Fang (??) which was by the same author I think.

Maybe I'll read White Fang, too. Did you like it?

From what I can see online, a lot of people either love or hate one, and do the opposite for the other. Very curious why!

Call of the Wild is really good. I quite enjoyed it apart from it being an assignment for school. What did you think of it, andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer)?

I think I read Call of the Wild a while ago, I'd have to reread it

Not sure why this thread reminded me of this, but has anybody here read Touching Spirit Bear?

Not sure why this thread reminded me of this, but has anybody here read Touching Spirit Bear?

I read this for a school assignment too!

Yeah mine was also a school assignment, but I loved it. It's one of my favorite books to this day lol

I thought it was a super interesting, mostly-good book, but had my qualms with some parts of it, ha. I had some complex connections with Island of the Blue Dolphin (which I also read recently) which, I think, helped me enjoy the book a lot more (pretending it was a bit of backstory for one of the dogs/wolves on the Blue Dolphin island). :)

I actually wrote a long review of it on Goodreads which is probably the best way to describe my thoughts – I'll paste below:

** Spoilers ahead **

My favorite thing about The Call of the Wild is how it's written. It's littered with fantastic "old-style" language and descriptions that you'd expect of a book written in 1903. It's an easy read, but occasionally terse enough that you might still want a dictionary by your side.

It was a bit weird at first reading a book from a dog's point of view, but the book found a nice balance in how much to anthropomorphize the dogs to be unexpectedly relatable, but not so much as to illustrate them as anything other than, well, dogs. The philosophical waxing of the main character as he observed others was, again, very well written and believable — a human might have the same thoughts when observing others, but it didn't seem impossible that a (smart) dog could come to some of the same conclusions.

Unfortunately, I felt like the plot was very weak. There was a vague, overarching plot of Buck's personal transformations as he underwent a series of trials and tribulations, but that was about it. That's not to say there wasn't any conflict; there definitely was, and Mr. London did a great job keeping the "plot" moving forward at a delightful action-packed pace.

However, we don't see any kind of resolution for many of the dozens of transient humans and dogs introduced throughout the book, other than some gruesome deaths. The majority of the humans are completely unrelatable, almost to the point of being flat villains bent solely on being evil to dogs, and at times comes across bluntly as an author using a book to preach against animal cruelty. When the graphic descriptions of humans beating and/or killing their dogs don't take you out of the moment and make you question "Why am I reading this book again?", they do a great job of appealing to emotion and make you feel for the dogs.

In my opinion, the second half of the book is significantly better. Rather than a heavy-handed theme of how humans are working dogs to the bone for selfish reasons, it focuses more on Buck's internal struggle and transformation while building meaningful, lasting interactions between characters. Rather than cowering in fear of humans, suddenly Buck grows as a character and understands his role in the world, and then uses that understanding to break free toward a personal freedom. I don't know if it was intentional (given the title of the book), but the pages where Buck is roaming the wild are, by far, some of the most enjoyable pages in the book. I wish they were a larger part of the book.

I'd probably recommend this book if only because it's interesting to read something from a dog's point of view, as well as its delightful linguistic styling. The plot and character development (for everyone other than the singular main character) are what drags this book down the most, but it's an easy and short read if you can get past that.

Now that it's simmered a bit, I think I can definitely agree I liked the book, but it's very much out of the genres I normally read, so it was hard to love as much as some other books. Just a little frustrating at times when I wanted things to happen that just never did, haha.

Not sure why this thread reminded me of this, but has anybody here read Touching Spirit Bear?

I read this for a school assignment too!

YES! I read it as a summer reading program thing (I needed to read a book off of a 'best for teens' list).
I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite. It was a bit too gory for me at times (I was in 7th grade when I read it) and it dragged in some spots, and I really hated Cole at times.

Maybe I'll read White Fang, too. Did you like it?

From what I can see online, a lot of people either love or hate one, and do the opposite for the other. Very curious why!

I read it in 5th or 6th grade, and I remember liking it a lot, but it ways also the 'junior classics' version, so looking back on it I think it got censored pretty heavily….

White Fang was a really good book. Very enjoyable. And the dog POV was really great even though I normally don't really like dogs.

White Fang was a really good book. Very enjoyable. And the dog POV was really great even though I normally don't really like dogs.

gasp

That I'm not a dog person? I have a few I like.

There's a Call of the Wild movie coming out starring Harrison Ford

Not sure why this thread reminded me of this, but has anybody here read Touching Spirit Bear?

I read this for a school assignment too!

YES! I read it as a summer reading program thing (I needed to read a book off of a 'best for teens' list).
I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite. It was a bit too gory for me at times (I was in 7th grade when I read it) and it dragged in some spots, and I really hated Cole at times.

I was in 6th grade and I didn't mind the gore lol. And honestly, who didn't hate Cole? But I feel like that's what made the book so intriguing, at least to me. I was reading the book told through the perspective of a really bad person.

Now that it's simmered a bit, I think I can definitely agree I liked the book, but it's very much out of the genres I normally read, so it was hard to love as much as some other books. Just a little frustrating at times when I wanted things to happen that just never did, haha.

I might go to my library and see if I can reread it now, it sounds like it might be something I'd enjoy

Not sure why this thread reminded me of this, but has anybody here read Touching Spirit Bear?

I read this for a school assignment too!

YES! I read it as a summer reading program thing (I needed to read a book off of a 'best for teens' list).
I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite. It was a bit too gory for me at times (I was in 7th grade when I read it) and it dragged in some spots, and I really hated Cole at times.

I was in 6th grade and I didn't mind the gore lol. And honestly, who didn't hate Cole? But I feel like that's what made the book so intriguing, at least to me. I was reading the book told through the perspective of a really bad person.

Yeah it was just a bit much for me. I feel like if I reread it now I'd like it more.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BUCK'S ORIGINAL FAMILY? D: