The Call of the Wild

Published in 1903 by MacMillan, The Call of the Wild is Jack London's most famous and most popular novel. Told from the perspective of Buck, at the start of the novel a domesticated St Bernard/ German Shepherd breed, the plot follows the dog from being snatched from a ranch in California to Alaska where he becomes part of a dog sled team. Through Buck, London examines the good and the bad of the Klondike, harsh men and the naïve, and in John Thornton, a man true and devoted to his wards, of which Buck becomes one. The writing is at times pure poetry that is linked to science and the natural world. Yet the prose can also be brutal and uncomfortable, in many respects, exactly what might be expected in a setting that repays no thought for fairness or morality. This is a book that deserves its place amongst the best of American literature.