The Call of the Wild (Great Illustrated Classics)

Amazon seems to be lumping all different editions together in the reviews so it is impossible to know which edition you are reading about. Had it been clear that THIS printing was awful, i would not have purchased it. This has a brown cover with a picture of London on it. It was about $3. I received it today, and it is obviously a cheap home print job--thin, barely laminated cover, weird size (about 6x8"), very thin (entire book crammed into 45 pages). I bought it for first of three kids to read for school; this is not something I want to keep on my bookshelves for a while. It's a classic; I want a halfway decent copy. Child will continue to read it on free Kindle edition for now, and I'm ordering a new copy from a "known" publisher. Don't buy this one--

Beware...bought this because my 6th grader has to read it for school, thought he would enjoy an illustrated version. The issues...this book looks home made and for some strange reason the illustrations are all photos of artwork of naked ladies...not pictures from the story about DOGS!!!! The font for the story is literally all different sizes and and the layout is crazy. Really really surprised and disappointed!

I bought this edition to supplant my old print version, intent to read CotW with my son. However, in reading this digital version, it was immediately obvious this isn't a proper version of London's work. I have come to suspect this particular digital version was re-translated back to English by a non-English speaker from some foreign language. The language is garbled, such it is no longer true to the original writing by London, and much of it is unintelligible gibberish. There's clearly incorrect usage of tense and conjugation, and the broken grammar destroys what should be a beautiful coming of age story. I read only the first few lines to my son before realizing this translation, but I read further through the book against my old print version and a new paperback version - it's very clearly not representative of London's words, and the broken language ruins any opportunity to understand the story.It's disappointing this type of business is done on Amazon.

Beautiful story of a dog, Buck, who is a St. Bernard from his father's side a sheep dog from his mother's. Throughout the story Buck proves that he is a dog like no other. His grit and tenacity see him sail through the worst treatment that can be wrought by man on animal. (Warning:If you have a pet or if you are an animal lover it might prove extremely challenging to sail through many parts of the book). Just when Buck finally finds a master who he dearly loves and is loved, he hears a call, the 'call of the wild'. He knows that he cannot ignore the call.This is a slim volume, can perhaps be read in one sitting if you have some time. I had not imagined that such a book would keep me riveted, for it is not about mystery,suspense, adventure or action. It is about a dog! No wonder this is a classic.Update (June 2019): After reading this book, I was keen on visiting the Jack London Square at Oakland,CA and I did. A thoroughly enjoyable place that does justice to this son of Oakland. Bronze statues of Mr. London and a dog along with plaques about his life present the visitor a nice peek into his life. Sadly he died relatively young, in his forties. A must see is the log cabin he is believed to have spent some time at while in Alaska. An enthusiastic admirer of his identified the cabin in a remote part of Alaska (based on accounts in his works I think), retrieved it and had it reconstructed!(if you plan to read the book, feel free to skip the rest of this below)The Alaska Gold Rush of late 19th century (1896 or so) attracted something like 100,000 prospectors, mostly from the San Francisco/Seattle areas to the Yukon region.Well cared, healthy, powerful dogs attracted unheard of premiums. This prompted a greedy gardener to kidnap his employer's dog and sell it off to work the sleds. While being transported from sunny Santa Clara Valley, Buck changes many cruel hands, however his last tormentor is particularly vile. He clubs Buck to pulp leaving him clinging to life. The experience infuses a steely character in Buck. While anything could break his body, nothing could break his spirit.Buck has to fight many competitors to finally establish supremacy of the pack.His masters recognize his remarkable character and reward him by according him the pride of place, to lead the pack. Demands of transportation make the dogs overworked, underfed and exploited, Buck included. He, like the rest of his pack is reduced to skin and bone. He is sold to ignorant but cruel masters who continue the exploitation, but Buck would have none of it. His greatness is recognized by a camper who adopts him and then begins Buck's wonderful life. He regains everything he had lost and seems even more virile and strong than the best of past times. Buck serves his master, even helping him add to his fortunes. When everything seems hunky dory, something tells Buck his place is in the wild. When the call of the wild is received it does not go unheeded.Meanwhile his master and associates are killed by native Indians.Trust Buck to take revenge and kill them all, establishing his superiority over even man himself. After this inflection point and after having lost his beloved master, Buck is even more convinced that his place is in the Wild and he returns to it, as if he had belonged there all the time.

Bought on kindle for about £3.40 without trying a sample. While a genuine copy is a wonderful book the version i bought seemed to have been translated back into English from a foreign language and was basically unreadable. I tried a sample of another and bought it for 99p and it was perfect. In future i wil always try a sample first to check for this type of thing. Surprised Amazon allow this and will contact them.

This is so difficult to read! It seems as if it is has been translated from English into Japanese or something, and then back again! I am sure this is not how Jack London penned it! I am just abut getting the gist of the story, but it is not enjoyable. Very, very disappointed. Am going to find out if a kindle book can be returned. Do they not have any copy readers?

This elemental story imagines a dog plucked from an indolent early life as a household pet, to become part of a sledge team working in the harsh world of the Yukon during the Klondike gold rush. Struggling to survive, the former domesticated animal begins to regress through past generations to its wolf forebears. The story itself makes a similar journey back into the history, taking the form of the archetypal myth of the hero, where a youngster leaves the comfort of home and heads into the unknown. Writers such as Christopher Vogler suggest that such a story evolved back in the early history of humanity, as a teaching tool to prepare the young to go out beyond the tribe's home territory into a hostile world. In both subject and form, The Call of the Wild reaches back to the time when dog and man first came together, when they were rather similar, hairy creatures struggling for survival. This makes sense of the humanisation of the dog, even though its animal character is closely observed.I found The Call of the Wild immensely powerful and involving. By the end of it I actually felt bloodied and battered, as though I'd come through a formative experience. The Call of the Wild deserves its status as one of the best novels ever written.

Jack London's tale is well known, and well crafted. HOWEVER, the original text style is akin to the tale being told by Yoda, or having been translated electronically into English without proof-reading the result (adjectives, verbs, nouns are frequently misplaced, mis-ordered 'inversions, and it is very hard work! This should have been forewarned before purchase. Most current hard-cover or paperback versions (in good bookshops) are as those 'edited' into modern English soon after it was first published. This single factor is enough to change what should be a powerfully-good read into a sad disappointment. Shame on you, Amazon! You need to pay more attention to detail. For example: in the context of an incident on a river the term "financial Institution" is used instead of 'bank'. This is a bad joke AND I WANT MY MONEY BACK!

An amazing adventure story about a dog called Buck. Buck goes through hell in this book as a man takes him from his home and sells him to become a sled dog. He is a tough one though and never gives up on life. He takes on every challenge with amazing spirit and strength.As I read Buck's story I admired his never ending motivation to survive. Yet, I hated the brutality in the story and winced a fair few times at the tearing flesh and descriptions of death and injury. Some of the human characters are vile and callous. The sled dogs work hard for little reward or comfort. Buck made me feel grateful for my privileged life. He also showed me that the world is a tough place and you have got to fight to survive.It's a short story and takes a couple of hours to read.The Author Jack London wrote numerous other works throughout his life. I will definitely read more of his work. I will never forget the story of Buck. It's made a lasting impression.