Call of the Wild Paperback - 2006
by Jack London
This action-packed novel tells the remarkable story of one of the most feared and admired dogs in the north. This graphic novel captures all of the excitement and adventure of Jack London's classic novel.
About this book
Jack London’s The Call of the Wild is an anthropomorphic canine’s unforgettable tale of survival. Set during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, the novel’s main character, Buck, a large and powerful St. Bernard-Scotch Shepherd, is stolen from his ranch home in Santa Clara Valley, California, and sold into service as a sled dog. At first, Buck experiences violence and struggles for survival, becoming progressively feral in the harsh environment. By the end, Buck relies on his instinct and learned experience to emerge as the proven leader of the pack.
In The Call of the Wild, author Jack London blends his experience as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness with his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, influenced by the work of Darwin and Nietzsche. Thus, although the novel is first and foremost a story about a dog, it displays a philosophical depth absent in most animal adventures.
In the summer of 1903, the story was first serialized in four installments in The Saturday Evening Post, which paid $750 for it. Soon after, London sold all rights to The Call of the Wild to Macmillan, which published the story in book format in August of that same year. As the first printing of 10,000 copies sold out immediately, it is safe to say the novel was enormously popular from the moment it was published. It has since secured its place in the canon of American literature. Today, The Call of the Wild is still one of the best-known stories written by an American author and has been published in almost 50 languages. The Call of the Wild is ranked 35th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels and 88th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.
Summary
Part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd, Buck is a sturdy crossbreed canine accustomed to a comfortable life as a family dog -- until he's seized from his pampered surroundings and shipped to Alaska to be a sled dog. There, the forbidding landscape is as harsh as life itself during the gold rush of the 1890s. Forced to function in a climate where every day is a savage struggle for survival, Buck adapts quickly. Traces of his earlier existence are obliterated and he reverts to his dormant primeval instincts, encountering danger and adventure as he becomes the leader of a wolf pack and undertakes a journey of nearly mythical proportions. Superb details, taken from Jack London's firsthand knowledge of Alaskan frontier life, make this classic tale of endurance as gripping today as it was over a century ago. One of literature's most popular and exciting adventure stories, The Call of the Wild will enrich the reading experience of youngsters, and rekindle fond memories of a favorite among older generations.
First line
MEN, GROPING IN THE ARCTIC DARKNESS, HAD DISCOVERED GOLD ALONG THE WHITE NORTH.
First Edition Identification
Macmillan first published The Call of the Wild in August 1903. Produced in a print run of 10,000 copies, first editions state "Set up electrotyped, and published July, 1903" on the copyright page and contain 10 tipped-in color plates by illustrators Philip R. Goodwin and Charles Livingston Bull as well as a color frontispiece by Charles Edward Hooper. The first printing of The Call of the Wild sold for $1.50. Nowadays, signed copies have sold for upwards of $20,000.
Details
- Title Call of the Wild
- Author Jack London
- Binding Paperback
- Pages 176
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Puffin Books
- Date March 2, 2006
- Illustrated Yes
- Features Illustrated
- ISBN 9780142405710 / 014240571X
- Weight 0.39 lbs (0.18 kg)
- Dimensions 7.98 x 5.22 x 0.56 in (20.27 x 13.26 x 1.42 cm)
- Ages 08 to 12 years
- Grade levels 3 - 7
- Reading level 530
-
Themes
- Chronological Period: 1851-1899
- Cultural Region: Canadian
- Geographic Orientation: Yukon
- Library of Congress subjects Dogs, Adventure and adventurers
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
Media reviews
Citations
- Booklist, 04/01/2006, Page 36
- Publishers Weekly, 02/13/2006, Page 69
- School Library Journal, 03/01/2006, Page 251
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The Call of the Wild
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Call of the Wild (Puffin Graphics)
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