It's a dog's life
IN JANUARY 1903, Jack London, a struggling American author, sent the manuscript of a story about a dog to the Saturday Evening Post. London's previous novels had not been very successful and nobody expected his latest book to be any different. But the editor bought the story, and a chapter a day was published in the newspaper.
A publisher bought the book rights and The Call Of The Wild slowly trickled into bookshops. No-one expected it to become a best-seller. It was 'just another dog story'.
But the readers saw something in London's latest novel that everyone else had missed. It was exciting, courageous and original, and suddenly everyone wanted to read it. London had a hit on his hands, and his 'just another dog story' quickly became 'the greatest dog story ever written'.
Since it was first published, The Call Of The Wild has never been out of print. The story is timeless and thrilling - a classic tale appealing to generation after generation of readers.
Buck is half St Bernard and half sheepdog. He lives on judge Miller's estate in California. He is the King of the Heap. Elmo, a huge St Bernard, had been the judge's favourite dog, but Buck has now stepped into his father's pawprints. He is Miller's inseparable companion, and all the other dogs on the estate respect his position.
He lives the life of a pampered aristocrat. He walks, hunts and goes on long trips with his master. He swims with the judge's sons, and strolls with his daughters. He carries Miller's grandchildren on his back, and when the day is over he sleeps at his master's feet. Buck is very much a part of the Miller family.
But beyond the sunshine of California, up north in the cold lands of the Klondike, gold has been discovered. The miners need work dogs to pull the sleds of earth dug from the mines. But Buck lives hundreds of miles away from this forbidding wilderness. He is safe under the comfortable blue skies of California.
One dreadful night, Buck's life is plunged into horror. He is kidnapped by a gardener on the Miller estate and sold to unscrupulous dog traders. He is viciously beaten and locked in a small cage. The cage is loaded onto a train heading north to the Klondike. Buck is confused and terrified. He cannot understand what is happening to him.
Arriving in the freezing north, he is surrounded by violence and cruelty. He is beaten into submission and watches horrified as dogs like himself are attacked and killed. Buck makes a vow to himself that he is going to survive.
During the next few months, he begins developing the instincts of his wild ancestors. He learns how to fight like a wolf, hunt for food and sleep in the snow. He is sold from one master to another. He becomes the lead dog in a team of huskies, and eventually becomes the property of a prospector called John Thornton.
Buck senses a kindness in Thornton, and he becomes devoted to his new master. He saves Thornton from drowning in a freezing river, rescues him from a near-fatal bar-room brawl, and wins him a large bet by pulling a sled piled up with a thousand-pound load.
Buck finally escapes captivity and becomes the leader of a pack of wolves. He is the Ghost Dog, living in the white shadows of the snowy icefields and frozen forests of North America.
There is nothing cute or sentimental about London's The Call Of The Wild. It is a raw story full of adventure and thrills. It begins as a nice cosy tale, then suddenly plunges into a cold nightmare. But all the way through there is a thread of strength and hope that turns it from 'just another dog story' into something very special.
The Call Of The Wild
By Jack London
Published by Penguin Classics
ISBN 0 14 130538 X
