The Call of the Wild (Collins Classics) - Softcover

London, Jack

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007420234 ISBN 13: 9780007420230

Publisher: William Collins, 2011

Synopsis

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.

‘Deep in the forest a call was sounding, and . . . he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire, and to plunge into the forest.’

Half St. Bernard, half sheepdog, Buck is stolen away from his comfortable life as a pet in California and sold to dog traders. He soon finds himself aboard a ship, on its way to Northern Canada. Surrounded by cruelty, Buck’s natural instincts and behaviour begin to emerge as he works as a mail carrying sled dog, scavenging for food, protecting himself against other dogs and sleeping out in the cold snow.

Sold to a group of American gold hunters who are inexperienced living in the wilderness, the dogs are treated badly and as misfortune besets them, Buck is saved by John Thornton. Indebted to his new master, Buck remains by Thornton’s side, saving him from drowning and protecting him with fierce loyalty throughout their time together. However, Buck can not deny the strong lure of the wilderness around him.

Exciting and action-packed, Call of the Wild explores the timeless relationship between man and dog, and the inevitable draw of primitive instincts that pull Buck away from civilization and humanity towards the lawless and harsh wilderness.

About this title

Review:

William Roberts gives a gruff backwoods urgency to the tale of Buck, a kidnapped St Bernard/collie cross who becomes the toughest sled dog in the Yukton - yet awards his final loyalty not to fickle men but to the wolf pack. --Christina Hardyment, The Times

In the great tradition of classic animal stories, Jack London's CALL OF THE WILD, read by William Roberts, is a wrenching story. From the peril Buck the sled dog faces in the Arctic to the suffering he endures under brutal masters, listening to his adventure is no tame experience. Roberts has a voice that could have belonged to one of this era's gold panners. He sounds like a grizzled man who would never display overt emotion but who, nonetheless, can tell a captivating yarn. While Roberts doesn t use great character range, he lets London s writing especially the passages about the mysterious, enchanting call of the wild ring with its startling beauty. --AudioFile

Jack London's deceptively simple direct way of writing combined with one of best dog stories ever, is why this book is such an enduring classic. And TV, film and stage actor William Roberts's reading is perfect. His robust voice, his ability to keep listeners glued, and the fond care with which he reads is spellbinding. When gold is found in the Klondike, there is a great need for sled dogs. Buck, part St. Bernard and part Scotch shepherd is stolen and moves from his happy life as king of the Santa Clara ranch where he lives a life of adventure, peril, though also often cruelty, to Alaska. There is a string of tales from his taming to the ways of sled pulling, to the inept trio who are doomed, dog fighting, survival, and finally to meeting John Thornton and their mutual love and understanding for one another. The longer he lives in Alaska, the more in tune with the ancestral ways of his dog ancestors Buck becomes, dreaming of old half clad masters and shades of all manner of dogs, half-wolves and wild wolves until he is drawn deep into the wilderness. This listener found this to be one of the best recordings I've listened to in a long time; I had to be careful while driving and listening because I got caught up in being in one of my favorite places and living the life of a dog. Any parent or librarian looking for something short and exciting for a child, young adult or family listening can't go wrong with Roberts's performance and Call of the Wild, a guaranteed hit! --Mary Purucker, SoundCommentary.com

This was the story first published in 1903 that made the struggling writer Jack London famous. Listen to William Roberts's majestic reading and you will understand why. Set in the 1890s Klondike gold rush, it tells how Buck, a huge wolfhound, is stolen from his pampered Californian home and becomes a sled dog in the arctic wastes of the Yukon. As brutal as his successive masters are, the pack of dogs he is harnessed alongside is even deadlier. How Buck survives the rule of club and fang is a classic, once misguidedly described as a children's book because it is narrated by a dog. Of course it is an allegory civilisation versus the old primordial instinct for survival at any price but for pure excitement and adventure it has no equal. --Sue Arnold, The Guardian

Any parent or librarian looking for something short and exciting for a child, young adult or family listening can't go wrong with Roberts s performance of Call of the Wild, a guaranteed hit! --Mary I. Purucker

Book Description:

A new edition of this exciting tale of the sledge dog, Buck, and his heroic adventures

About this edition

• Publisher: William Collins
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0007420234
• ISBN 13: 9780007420230
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 144