‘There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise…’
It’s surprising it has taken me this long to read The Call of the Wild. As a child, my dad used to encourage me to read the occasional classic, and it is from him that I discovered Catch-22 and Three Men in a Boat. He also came home with The Call of the Wild one winter’s evening, but for some reason, it didn’t stick. And so, it was returned to him after I’d abandoned the damn thing a few pages in. Looking back on that now, I am surprised that it didn’t take first time round. This is not an especially difficult novella (particularly once you get past the fact that the narrator is a dog), but it is an adventure story imbued with heart, passion and excitement. Reading it again as an adult… I loved it.
The Call of the Wild tells the story of Buck – a powerful 140-pound St. Bernard–Scotch Shepherd mix, happily living in California’s Santa Clara Valley. When Buck is stolen under the cover of darkness to pay off a gambling debt, he begins an epic journey that will take him across Alaska and the Klondike region of Canada. Whilst taking immense pride in his work, and ruling the roost over the other dogs, Buck experiences strange visions and an unexplained primal yearning for a different kind of life.
Beloved of Hemingway, and admired the world over, Jack London came from humble beginnings and this is reflected in his clipped, no nonsense writing style. This doesn’t mean that his writing isn’t emotionally affecting though, and there are moments within The Call of the Wild to match anything across the annuls of American literature. Buck himself is a character for the ages, beautifully realised and instantly recognisable to anyone that has owned or been around a truly exceptional dog. I want to sit with him around a fire while a storm crashes outside… Alas. I cannot forsake my beautiful cat George.
London’s third novel is not a long book, the copy I read was just over 100 hundred pages, but it is genuinely the kind of novel that I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying. One of those you-should-read-this-before-you-die books. A genuine masterpiece.