WeBuzz
Reader discussion: The call of the wild
Public reader discussion about The call of the wild in the WeRead Catalog by Jack London.
“Martin Eden”, “Call of the Wild” — Jack London
By Lantern_Reader73
I kind of fell into Jack London by accident this past week, and I’ve read the two books that are in the title. I’m still impressed, like there’s something solid and unstoppable about what he writes, but at the same time I can’t say I buy into the whole “philosophy” vibe underneath it.
In *Martin Eden*, Eden basically starts out as a rough sailor who gets swept up in this idea of love and “refinement,” and then later it turns into this mess where society finally claps for him—except it’s way too late, and he ends up killing himself. I didn’t love how the book plays with that whole “might makes right” style (it feels like it’s borrowing from Nietzsche/Spencer), especially since Eden also comes off like he sees himself as being screwed over by society. The ending felt really unclear about what it wanted him to believe in.
The writing itself is super clear, though. Also the narrator kind of feels superior to Eden a lot, and it gets even more obvious near the end when Eden realizes his success wasn’t really merit-based and that he still didn’t make anything truly meaningful. But even after that, he keeps clinging to Spencer, while also just drowning in self-doubt and pity. And there’s this repeating “reduce everything to science” thing, with Eden pushing “realism” and the grittier lower-class angle.
Then *The Call of the Wild* feels almost like the opposite energy. Buck gets taken from a California judge and shipped north to work as a sled dog in the Yukon, gets brutalized and “disciplined,” and slowly starts tapping into these older, more instinct-driven parts of himself. It’s like he’s getting pulled toward some earlier, more “primitive” connection—then eventually he just abandons humans and ends up with wolves, like instinct wins. So when you put the two together, it makes me wonder what London is doing with Darwin-ish ideas, because it seems like it veers into stuff that doesn’t feel very grounded. I can’t really call it rigorously scientific; it feels more like after the “Nietzsche immoral ethics” thing, he fills in the gap with totally weird, over-the-top ideas. And the Jung-ish part especially didn’t really land for me.
I know there’s probably more in his work, and maybe these books aren’t the whole picture. I just can’t wrap my head around how inconsistent his views feel. And honestly it makes me wonder if this kind of mix—like conservative common sense snapping together mysticism and “science” at the same time—has just been showing up again and again in modern life. Like, I’m not against being practical or a “realist,” but I keep asking: where are the people who are just real pragmatic realists and not this other weird hybrid thing?
Sorry for the rambling—I'm not really trained in literary criticism, and I don’t usually read novels. My head’s more in philosophy. But if anyone thinks I’m misunderstanding any of this, I’d genuinely like to hear it. Also, if someone can explain why I keep feeling this strange pull toward London’s writing despite all my issues, I’d appreciate that too.
Edit: One more thought—London feels to me like what Sibelius is to music: this kind of wild, restrained, mountain-man energy. Not sure if that actually helps, but it’s the best way I can describe it.
So I read the Call of the Wild by Jack London and I have thoughts.
By redFrog50
Loved this book! I’m definitely not a dog person, so I wasn’t sure I’d even be into it, but I was totally wrong—this was really good.
Jack somehow made me genuinely hate a lot of the human characters, which honestly impressed me.
And omg, I was rooting for Buck so hard. I’m really glad he ended up getting a happy ending.
Only thing I’m not sure about: I don’t really know much about Indigenous peoples of Alaska, so I can’t tell if what was shown is accurate for that time, or if it’s just the usual “white people making brown people look bad” kind of thing. That’s basically my only complaint.
The beginning felt a little slow, but once it got going, the second half was nonstop. Like every part was a hit.
I’m definitely going to read White Fang too, and I’m probably going to buy this cover.
The Call of the Wild
By stone-coral57
Does anyone know how rare this is, or have any info on it—like price? Thanks!
A map I made for my students of all the places mentioned in Jack London's "The Call of the Wild"
By rhyme1992
This totally brought back a map I saw once that had all the spots Johnny Cash talked about from “I’ve Been Everywhere, Man.”
Anyone read Jack London?
By orange2001
I’m mostly into nonfiction/essays, but I never really see anyone bringing that up. Whenever people mention London it’s usually just “to build a fire” and “The Call of the Wild” and stuff like that.
Nonfiction-wise, I’ve read *The Road*, *John Barleycorn*, *The Portable Jack London*, and a bunch of other pieces. It’s crazy how much he wrote too—like 20 books, hundreds of short stories, and a ton of nonfiction essays.
I also feel like a lot of his humor and the more “ahead of his time” vibe doesn’t really show up as much in his fiction. It hits way more in the nonfiction.
And even though he came from a family that was wildly racist—like in *John Barleycorn* where he talks about being pressured to drink at like age 7 because some Italians (?) offered him beer and he thought refusing could get him killed—somehow he ended up moving past a lot of that. His stuff seems less racist/sexist than a lot of other guys from the same era, and even compared to later writers like Orwell (especially earlier on), Steinbeck, Hemingway, etc. The inclusive way he wrote about women stands out to me a lot, especially for the 1800s. He also totally got painted as this “paragon of masculinity” type, but I think the little stuff says a lot—he really loved his wife.
He was also big on women’s rights and suffrage, prison reform and the justice system, better care/treatment for homeless people, child labor, and he wrote about alcoholism and mental illness too (and yeah he was friends with Upton Sinclair, which is also something).
I know it’s kind of dumb to judge authors morally when they’re long dead, but overall he just feels like a good dude, kind of like Twain. And maybe especially when you look at it in context.
He was also a total sponge—referencing Nietzsche and *Moby-Dick* way before people were actually into them (at least in the north America/UK mainstream). Like Nietzsche wasn’t really a thing over there pre-WW2, then it got twisted around because Hitler/some Nazis messed with it, then it finally became “Nietzsche” in the way people talk about it.
It’s pretty obvious he influenced a lot of later writers too—Orwell, Hemingway, John Muir, and a ton of the people who wrote for outside magazine (Jon Krakauer, Sebastian Junger, etc). Orwell especially seems to have loved him and quoted him a lot. And *Down and Out* always felt like it was basically taking notes from *People of the Abyss*.
Anyway, I didn’t see a place for people to talk about him, so I ended up making one /r/jacklondon just in case there are others who like him.
The Call of the Wild is Jack London's famous adventure novel. The main character is Buck, a dog, who is kidnapped and sold into sledding during the Klondike gold rush. It's one of London's most celebrated works and it secured his reputation as a popular writer.
By keeps_dreams
We had to read this in 4th or 5th grade, and honestly it’s a really great story.
The Call of the Wild Review
By Lake_Frog
I just finished this and wow—Jack London really hits hard. The whole thing feels like one of those lessons you know you should swallow, but it’s still difficult. I kept getting pulled along Buck’s whole arc, starting out as this comfortable hunting dog and ending out in the Alaskan wild, answering that call. At the beginning I was almost as lost as Buck himself, like everything happened so fast when he gets ripped from home and thrown into a world he can’t understand.
Then the whole “law” thing with club and fang—taught by the worst sort of people and animals—made Buck (and honestly me too) feel sad and scared, but he keeps going. I felt this weird mix of pride when they’re running in traces, and then the mood flips when he gets passed around and treated badly by incompetent masters. But the part that really messed with me is when John Thornton shows up and Buck finds something like real love and safety—almost like he’s saved from total ruin.
And still, I can’t shake the sadness of his first meeting where he can’t answer the call to his wild brother. Also the moment he goes back and sees the camp destroyed, with his companions stuck with arrows—man, I was furious right along with him. The “maybe his master is dead” feeling is so brutal too, especially when there’s no body or scent to prove it either way. By the time Buck slips into legend, I felt this big release like… I don’t know, something cathartic that you only get from truly good books. I’m really glad I found it.
I also ended up thinking about the bigger “message” because I’ve been reading Herbert Spencer’s On Social Evolution. He basically argues that society moving forward will wipe out the barbarous stuff we need for survival in the first place, like evil comes from people not fitting their conditions. I’m not totally buying that though. It feels kind of off to me, and I think London’s whole idea is closer—like primal nature (Nature, I guess) is always in charge no matter what rules humans make. I’ve got another feeling that Spencer might be overselling it, but London’s lesson feels more true.
I picked up my copy at a local used book store. Mine says copyright 1931, and it’s printed by Grasser and Dunlap with copyright via The Macmillan Company. It was part of some kids’ favorite series, which is funny/surprising considering how much violence is in it. The book is almost 100 years old now, so the pages are super fragile—every time I read it, I’d end up with little bits of paper on my shirt. I had to be careful just turning pages without tearing stuff. Still, I kinda loved the old print and the modest look, and there are a few nice illustrations that pop in here and there.
I mostly read Cormac McCarthy, and I couldn’t help wondering if he was a fan of London. One thing that stood out to me with Call of the Wild is how tightly written it is—like it’s efficient, but still somehow deep. The language can handle emotions and even abstract ideas, describe the landscape really well, and still keep moving. That balance surprised me, and I definitely want to carry that lesson forward.
Before Adam, Jack London, New English Library, 1974. Cover uncredited. Author best known for Call of the Wild and White Fang.
By spring-copper1982
I’m not totally sure, but it kind of has that Rousseau feel, so I guess I don’t hate it.
The Call of the Wild Folio Society
By spring-copper1982
I’ve been reading The Call of the Wild by Jack London for the past week or so and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’d definitely recommend it—really liked it. Also, shoutout to the Folio Society, they did a great job with it!!!
A quick review of: The Call of The Wild
By comfortCreek
For some reason I never picked this up back in school, so I figured I’d read it now as an adult. I’d probably rate it an 8/10.
I really liked how Jack London kind of mixes things together—like it feels epic and adventurous, but there’s also this weird surreal vibe running through it. And honestly, the writing still works even after all these years in print. I didn’t feel like I was constantly getting stuck or needing to look up words to figure out what was going on.
One thing though: it kinda ends in a way that doesn’t fully match the rest. I think it’s because it was originally serialized, so when you read it all at once the last parts feel a little disconnected. It’s also the kind of story that’s told in episodes, so you just have to be okay with that.
At times it also felt a bit self-serious, like in a few spots it could’ve basically been lifted from a philosophy lecture. But even when it goes there, the writing is still good.
Overall, I liked it. Not flawless, and it’s not my absolute favorite thing I’ve ever read, but I’d say it’s worth giving a shot and seeing what you think.
TIL Jack London, author "The Call of the Wild" and "White Fang," had referred to his first wife as "mother-girl" and to his second wife as "mate-woman."
By GrandSignal956
Lmao his first wife apparently called him “daddy-boy” and they’re saying they only got married so they could “produce sturdy children” or something like that 🤣
Jack London “Call of the Wild” and “Scarlet Plague”
By DawnBookworm2
My mom dumped a bunch of old books on me, and a lot of them were Jack London. I grabbed this one—green cover, no dust jacket, and the spine/binding is basically impossible to read.
It starts out with Call of the Wild vibes, but then it switches over into The Scarlet Plague.
The copyright info on the cover looks like 1914, but when I looked it up online it seems like The Scarlet Plague wasn’t a first edition until 1915, so I don’t know what’s going on. Kind of weird, honestly.
Does anyone know anything about editions like this? I’m not trying to sell it—I just really love Jack London. He’s the reason I got into reading as a kid, so that’s why I was so excited to get these from my mom.
Jack London's call of the wild audiobook
By solar_heron
Hey! I just finished the audiobook of “White Fang” read by Norman Dietz and I really liked it, so I was curious—did he also do “The Call of the Wild”? If not, who would you recommend as a good narrator? Thanks!
TIL about Jack London. Oyster pirate, Socialist, and rail rider. Berkeley attendee, trekked the Yukon and Chilkoot Pass, took a rowboat 1500 miles down the Yukon River to the Bering Sea. Built his own yacht and mansion and wrote 23 novels, 7 plays, short stories, and poems. Died of alcoholism age 40
By cosmosharbor41
Those achievements feel even more impressive, assuming he was probably drunk.
The Sea Wolf by Jack London
By Patient_Mirror
Seriously, I have no idea how to put into words what this book did to me. I finished it this summer and it still sticks in my head (like, in the best way). I’m kind of going crazy that I don’t have anyone to talk to about it, especially the villain—Wolf Larsen—who honestly might be one of my favorite characters. Has anyone else read it? I’d love to hear what you think about Wolf.
Recommending the "wrong" Jack London book
By moonafeared
I went and skimmed a bunch of those “top 100 classics” lists, and I was pretty shocked that the only Jack London book that shows up on almost all of them is *The Call of the Wild*. It really feels like everyone is treating it like his best work, like the lists all agree on that one thing for a reason.
I’m not saying it’s bad—I’ve read it and I liked it a lot. The whole dog POV thing is fun, and it’s an enjoyable story. But to me it comes off more like a YA-ish coming-of-age adventure: breaking free, fairly simple plot, that kind of vibe. Jack London is an incredible writer, though, and in my opinion *TCOTW* doesn’t hit the same level as stuff like *The Sea-Wolf*, and especially *Martin Eden* (which I think is really special).
It’s kind of like picking “Let It Be” as the song that best represents the Beatles. Sure, it’s catchy and popular, but they’ve got a ton of other songs that are better. Or “Creep” for Radiohead. And honestly I’ve heard a similar complaint about Hemingway’s *For Whom the Bell Tolls* too—it always shows up in these lists.
So now I’m wondering… are these “top” lists actually useful for anything, or are they just kind of misleading and should be ignored most of the time? Am I just being a hipster about it?
[Found] The Call of the Wild (1923)
By snowwater
This feels like one of those cases where the print exists, but it’s basically locked away from normal people. I don’t think it’s “lost” exactly, but it never actually came out on VHS/DVD/Blu-ray or any streaming service, and I can’t find anything that says it was digitized. The last public screening I can find mentioned is from 1984, which is why I tossed “found” on there—like, it’s not gone, just only a small number of people can see it.
It’s the 1923 version of *The Call of the Wild* (Jack London). I guess Wikipedia and IMDb fill in the plot details, but I really like that Buck is played by a St. Bernard here. A lot of the other versions make him a husky, so this one stands out to me. This wasn’t even the first adaptation (there’s one from 1908), but it seems like the 1923 one was the one that got the best reactions back then.
And yeah, for something that seems so beloved, it’s wild that it still hasn’t really been released at home in the last 101 years. It doesn’t even seem like it ran on TV much either. One Letterboxd user says it was never digitized, and I’m not sure how true that is, but it kind of matches everything else I’m seeing. The good news is there’s at least one print sitting in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. IMDb says “a print,” but the Silent Film Survival Database uses “prints,” so maybe there’s more than one.
But here’s the part that’s gotten me excited: Martin Scorsese is involved with The Film Foundation, and they’ve restored a bunch of movies that were at risk. Their whole thing is saving/restoring films and then making them available when possible, and you can apparently find *Call of the Wild* on their list. The AFI site also backs that up, so it’s not just a random rumor.
I can’t find when the restoration happened, though, so I’m a bit unsure on timing. Still, it sounds like it hasn’t been released for viewing yet—so it’s not like you can just watch it online or buy a copy. MoMA also doesn’t seem to be screening it right now, and I get it if they’re being careful with the master(s). But the fact that TFF got involved makes me feel like there’s a real chance something will come out eventually, maybe even through Criterion.
So I posted this basically to try and build some hype. TFF has a ton of projects, so they probably only push release for stuff people actually want. I feel like I’m one of the few who’s really hoping for *this* movie specifically. But if enough people show interest, maybe whoever controls the rights will greenlight a release. And even if it turns out to be kind of “meh,” I still think every dog should get his day.
How Disney’s Call of the Wild Movie Compares to Jack London’s Novel
By orangemirror1990
Kind of a fun thing: in the original book they straight-up describe the dog as this super gross CGI mess and also weirdly human-looking, like it’s in that uncanny valley. The adaptation honestly did a great job, though—I’m pretty impressed.