no pensé que me fuera a gustar tanto

I remembered discovering either Call of the Wild or Whitefang when I was a boy and really liking it, so on finding this on our shelves I read it to Celyn (12 but too disabled to read).

I found myself translating on the hoof as the book was written in 1903 and much of the language is quite Dickensian. Celyn's vocabulary, whilst largely unknown to me, must be derived from books and conversations, and neither of those would have supplied her with many of the words in Call of the Wild.

I found myself having to find more comprehensible substitutions for sentences in the style of: "His primeval perspicuity endured the ardor of robust toil." as I read them. I also took time to precis what had happened every few pages.

The book wasn't written for children. It was first published in sections in a national newspaper and satisfied the readers' curiosity about life in the Alaskan wilds during the recent (ongoing?) gold rush. Jack London spent a lot of time out in the wilds with the men, sleds, and dogs, researching for the story, so the technical detail is accurate and serves as reportage.

It's a pretty grim tale told with as little anthropomorphism as can be achieved without destroying comprehension. Our hero, the dog Buck, is stolen from a loving home to satisfy the need for sled dogs in the gold rush. We meet a whole succession of some 20+ dogs and  every single one of them dies a gruesome death  . Some of the dogs meet very moving ends. The human cast changes swiftly and many of them fare little better.

The story structure is unusual and the whole book very short (somewhere in the 30-40,000 word range). It is, however, (or perhaps because) engaging and 'educational'. I thought it was a good read, though now it's reaching for 4* whereas the boy-Mark would have given 5* without a second thought ... though perhaps he read Whitefang instead...



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Why did I not read this book earlier? Such a great short story and a needed respite from some hard core mysteries and thrillers. A must read for dog lovers who don't mind a little tear-jerker.

A word or two on animal cruelty: I almost departed early from this one. Jack London’s depiction of a sled dog’s life in the Canadian Yukon (circa 1890) is graphic and gut-wrenchingly brutal. Call of the Wild has no shortage of cruel, sadistic, heartless assholes. If you’re going to journey into London’s universe you should prepare yourself to be appalled .

Now that I’ve warned you about the darkness, we can attempt to cast a little light. Call of the Wild isn’t really about dogs—well, no more so than Watership Down is about rabbits or Animal Farm is about hogs. The gist and heart of this novel is to be found in its connotations.

There are several schools of thought on London’s subtext. One is that Call of the Wild is an exposition of “Christian virtues,” specifically work ethic and ‘sacred redemption.’ I call complete BS on that one. Too many of the so-called Christians here are wielding clubs and whips and dolling out concussions and cracked ribs. “Spare the rod and spoil the dog” is a liability, not a virtue.

It seems to me that that London’s anthropomorphic canines lean more Darwinian than Lutheran. Buck, our Saint Bernard-Shepherd mutt-hero, is in a near constant state of de-evolution. His reversion back to his wolf heritage is key to his survival. At one point he even dreams of an alliance with an arboreal “hairy man,” an obvious archetypal reference.

The cruelty and harsh exploitation of animals, something that personally sickens me, is key to Buck’s progression as a character. It wasn’t until I was able to reconcile that in my mind that I could begin to appreciate what Jack London penned here. This concluded better than it began and it was, in the end, well worth the price of admission. 5 stars.

’’وهكذا كانت الحياة. لا مكان للعب مشروع. ولو سقط مرة واحدة فستكون السقطة النهائية له’’


رواية نداء البرية وهي تعد الرواية الأشهر لجاك لندن التي كُتبت عام 1903، وبالمصادفة أكتشفت اليوم بعد انتهائي منها إنها تحولت إلى فيلم سينيمائي انتاج العام - عام 2020- . وأعتقد إنه سيكون من الأفلام الناجحة جداً



هذه الرواية رغم أن يعتبرها البعض قصة للأطفال لكن الحقيقة هي لا تعد كذلك، يمكن أن نقول إنها ملائمة للأطفال لكن لا توصفها بأنها مخصصة للأطفال فهناك فرق،كانت الرمزية سلاح الكثير من الكتاب، وجاك لندن عُرف بهذه الرمزية في رواياته رغم إنها رواية تحكي قصة حياة كلب تحول من النعيم والرخاء في جنوب أمريكا، إلى أقصى الشمال في آلاسكا باحثاً عن الذهب حيث البرية والحياة القاسية والقتال الدائم، لكنها تحمل في ثنياتها معاني أكثر بكثير تحدث عنها كثير من النقاد من قبل حول هذه الرواية


باك - الكلب - كان يحمل بين روحه نداء البرية، يحمل روح الأسلاف الذين عاشوا من ملايين السنين من قبله، كان يرى بشكل دائم صورة الرجل المتشعر المنحني أمام النار - يمكن أن يكون هذا هو رجل الكهف - باك كان يلبي نداء البرية عندما احتاجته وعاد إليها مرة أخرى حيث إنه ينتمى إليها من الأساس فنحن نتمي لأسلافنا.
من الواضح جداً تأثر جاك لندن وكعادة جميع كتاب عصره بنظريات داروين الشهيرة حول التطور والتكيف وغيره، التأثر بعلم داروين كان موضة هذا العصر بشكل خاص
فيمكن أن نصف هذه القصة بأنها صورة للتكيف الذي عاش بداخله الإنسان القديم والأسلاف من الحيوانات والكلاب، وبرغم التنوع الرهيب الأن في عددهم وأشكالهم وألوانهم بل وأحجامهم أيضاً ، إلا إنهم جميعاً سلفهم واحد وجميعنا نحمل نداء البرية بداخلنا.

ملحوظة، هناك نسخ كثيرة جدا مترجمة منها على النت، معظمهم سيء جداً وبعيد تماماً عن روح الرواية ومختصرين لأقصى درجة، أنا قرأت نسخة مكتبة الأسرة المصرية كان الكتاب انتاج عام 2002، لكنها نسخة جيدة جداً وترجمة كاملة ووافيه دون أختصار لأي شيء في الرواية. هناك نسخة قرأتها بالفعل من على الانترنت أظهرت القصة كأنها قصة أطفال ساذجة جداً ولكن جاك لندن أبدع فيها بلا شك

’ لم يكن يسرق للمتعة ولكن لأنه كان جائعاً، لم يكن يسرق صراحة، لكن سراً لأنه كان يحترم القانون البراري’
والأشياء التي كان يفعلها كان لابد أن يعفلها لأن فعلها أسهل من عدم فعلها’

IL VALORE DELLA LIBERTÀ


Buck è figlio di un maschio sanbernardo e di una madre pastore scozzese, e ha l'aspetto di un lupo.

Nonostante l’ambientazione sia principalmente all’aria aperta, questo romanzo è è un capostipite del genere ‘carcerario’, autentica discesa agli inferi: perché Buck viene strappato alla sua vita di cane domestico, fatta di ozio riposo coccole e sicurezza, e sbattuto in un attimo in un mondo di cattività, violenza, repressione, prevaricazione – da un’esistenza protetta, da pari a pari, scagliato nell’inferno dove domina la legge del più forte – dal sole della California ai ghiacci dell’Alaska.

E dovrà imparare in fretta, se vorrà sopravvivere.


Charlton Heston nel film omonimo del 1972, diretto da Ken Annakin. Accanto a Heston, Michèle Mercier.

Ma è una strada senza vero ritorno: perché alla fine del viaggio, il cerchio si chiude portandolo a un luogo molto ma molto più lontano della California: è il ritorno al branco, all’istinto primordiale, alla natura selvaggia.


White Fang-Zanna Bianca.

Nel cuore della foresta risuonava un richiamo emozionante, misterioso e attraente; tutte le volte che lo udiva si sentiva costretto a voltare le spalle al fuoco e alla terra battuta che lo circondava per addentrarsi nella foresta, sempre più avanti…


Il documentario del 2007 diretto da Rom Lamothe che ha lo stesso titolo del romanzo di London, ‘The Call of the Wind’, indaga la morte di Christopher McCandless, giungendo a conclusioni diverse dal libro di Jon Krakauer e dal film di Sean Penn.

È un libro che mi porto dietro da sempre, letto e riletto a ogni passaggio d'età, in originale o tradotto. Un puro evergreen.
Ho sempre preferito Buck a Zanna Bianca: ma entrambi dimostrano che Jack London è scrittore grande grande grande.


Klondike, Alaska, 1897: un cercatore d’oro in cui alcuni hanno riconosciuto Jack London.

Don't kill me, please.

This was okay, I promise. It's just...

The subject matter was very boring to me. I did like some of the themes--especially this concept that this will to survive in all of us can make us endure all sorts of stuff.

But... despite how short it was, it feels like it should have been much shorter.

I do think a lot of people will enjoy this (if they can stomach the animal abuse), and will get a lot more out of it than I did. But it was not really my thing.

It was sort of like The Road for me--like, I get it. This is deep and stuff. But the reading experience was... subpar.

Wow, what a cruel and sad story. I didn't know where I got myself into when I started this book, thought it was just a book about a dog. If you are sensitive about animal cruelty this might not be the book for you. Human beings can be so cruel. However, I loved the adventure in this story. This book could have been longer in pages, sometimes it felt rushed. Still, it gets 4 points and a must read in life.



This book is in the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up challenge I am doing.

Call of the wild is as as close to a full immersion experience as I have encountered. like many I read this book in adolescence and it left a impression on me.

There is something special about the protagonist being a dog often times I find myself really feeling what a character is experiencing but with a little bit of reservation. not with this story I was Buck I felt the cold, pain, pride, anger, ect. and truly experienced it. that's why this book is one of my favorites. that's why I read to experience something I normally can't. to be more than a simple butcher from Georgia. as for the story itself I was surprised how violent is was and even a little to direct. not very complex for a great classic. but it's only 172 pages long. R.R Martin takes more time describing someone taking a crap. I expected there to be more hidden meaning and parallels between "the wild" and man's suppressed nature. that's London's stick after all. there was some of that but I remember that naturism being the main theme of the book as a child. I picked up little of that this time. but mostly I experienced the wild. and that was unexpected.

One draw back was the violence and cruelty. I was ok with it as a whole. that was the way of things back then I can't change it now. I can only adapt my behavior in the present. despite my profession I am a huge animal lover. I would never hurt a animal (I don't do the killing). I just try to make sure there is no waste like my native American ancestors. I have serval cats and two dogs. my wife is a vegetarian. alright, that more about myself than I wanted to put into cyberspace. moving on.

I could not recommend this book to everyone because it's savagery towards animals. views have changed since the early 1900s. my wife in particular would not like it. but if your looking for a immersion tale this is as good as any!

Call of the Wild by Jack London was a book about a domesticated dog returning to the wild. I enjoyed it. I don’t remember reading as a child. It is a great book for all ages but geared more towards children. Basically shows how human pride and money tried to overtake nature but cannot win

Not sure why I've never read this one, but picking it up now, I was worried about the potential to be broken hearted.

Buck is kidnapped from his comfy farm life with the judge and is thrown on a train. He finds himself enslaved with some terrible men until he ends up sold to the government as part of a courier service in Alaska. He quickly has to learn to adapt to the harsh environment and the pecking order between the existing dogs. He barely gets anything to eat and is constantly abused into submission. Finally, he is auctioned off after completing three legs of an impossible journey to a small group of inexperienced mushers. Forced to carry ultra heavy loads and getting even less food leaves Buck wondering if there's something more for him. Then he meets John Thornton and my heart expanded three sizes.

While this book was hard to read at times, it was a beautifully told story of a dog and his life. I will never look at my small furball the same way. I felt a sense of admiration towards Buck and all that he accomplishes. I rooted for him to survive and to find his true calling in the wild.

The Call of the Wild offers a peek into the lives of people and, more importantly, their dogs in Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush. I appreciated that it was so openly against the animal cruelty it portrayed - in a pretty faithful way I'd say since the author himself joined the gold rush - as well as the questions it raised about the (im)morality of domestication.

There were, however, quite a few things I disliked. Namely that we didn't get to know the other dogs much (and instead got a weird rivalry between Buck and Spitz), the frequent anthropomorphism of these animals, and some things that just didn’t make sense (Buck is larger than any wolf even though he's a St Shepherd? He can hold his own against a whole pack of wolves??).

My edition also included the short stories To Build a Fire (which I loved), Bâtard (which was meh) and Love of Life (which was pretty good and had an unexpected ending - especially after reading the other two).