Call of the Wild - FULL
Audio Book - by
Jack London
The Call of the Wild is a novella by
American author Jack London published in 1903. The story takes place in the extreme conditions of the
Yukon during the
19th-century Klondike Gold Rush, where strong sled dogs were in high demand. After
Buck, a domesticated dog, is snatched from a pastoral ranch in
California, he is sold into a brutal life as a sled dog. The novella details Buck's struggle to adjust and survive the cruel treatment he receives from humans, other dogs, and nature. He eventually sheds the veneer of civilization altogether and instead relies on primordial instincts and the lessons he has learned to become a respected and feared leader in the wild.
London lived for most of a year in the Yukon and gained from that experience material for the book. The story was serialized in the
Saturday Evening Post in the summer of 1903 and released a month later in book form. The great popularity and success of the story made a reputation for London, with much of the story's appeal based on the simplicity with which he presented the themes in an almost mythical manner. As early as
1908 the story was adapted to film and has seen several more cinematic adaptations since that time.
PLOT
As the story opens, Buck, a powerful [bully dog],[
1][2] lives a comfortable life in
California's Santa Clara Valley as the pet of
Judge Miller.
Manuel, the gardener's assistant, steals Buck and sells him to pay a gambling debt.
Shipped to
Seattle, Buck is harassed in his crate and given nothing to eat or drink.
Released from the crate, he confronts and is beaten by the "man in the red sweater", and is taught to respect the club. Buck is bought by a pair of French-Canadian dispatchers from the
Canadian government named
François and Perrault, who take him to the
Klondike region of
Canada and train him as a sled dog where he quickly learns how to survive the cold winter nights and the pack society by observing his teammates. He and the vicious, quarrelsome lead dog,
Spitz, develop a rivalry. Buck eventually beats Spitz in a fight "to the death". Spitz is killed by the pack after his defeat and Buck becomes the leader of the team.
The sled dog team is sold to a "
Scottish half breed" man working in the mail service.
The dogs carry a heavy load and the journey they make is tiresome and long. After a long time with this owner, the dogs are beat down and so tired that they can no longer make the trek. Some of the dogs are shot and some are eaten by wolves
...
RECEPTION
The Call of the Wild was enormously popular from the moment it was published.
H. L. Menken wrote of
London's story, "No other popular writer of his time did any better writing than you will find in Call of the Wild".[6] A reviewer for
The New York Times wrote of it in 1903, "If nothing else makes Mr. London's book popular, it ought to be rendered so by the complete way in which it will satisfy the love of dog fights apparently inherent in every man."[40] The reviewer for
The Atlantic Monthly wrote that it was a book "untouched by bookishness", and that "The making and the achievement of such a hero [Buck] constitute, not a pretty story at all, but a very powerful one."[41]
When The Call of the Wild was published the first printing of 10,
000 copies sold out immediately and it is still one the best known stories written by an American author.[42] The book was London's first success and from it he gained a readership that stayed with him through his career.[25] The book secured London's success as a writer and furthermore secured him a place in the canon of
American literature.[34] Since its publication it has never been out of print and it continues to be read and taught in schools,[25] and has been published in 47 languages.[43]
After the success of The Call of the Wild London wrote to
Macmillan in 1904 proposing a second book (
White Fang) in which he wanted to describe a dog undergoing a process in reverse of Buck's, a dog that went from wild to tame. "I'm going to reverse the process," he wrote to his editor, "
Instead of devolution of decivilization ... I'm going to give the evolution, the civilization of a dog"
.[44]
The Call of the Wild was first adapted to film by
D. W. Griffith in 1908; a second silent film was made in 1923. The 1935 version starring
Clark Gable and
Loretta Young expanded
John Thornton's role and was the first "talkie" to feature the story. The
1972 The Call of the Wild starring
Charlton Heston as John Thornton was filmed in
Finland
-
If you enjoyed "Call of the Wild - FULL Audio Book - by Jack London" then please like,comment and subscribe to GreenAudioBooks, we really appreciate it :)
- published: 13 Jan 2013
- views: 19265