Over twenty years ago, I taught this book to eight graders. It was really nice revisiting it, just to enjoy it again. And enjoy it I did! I hope Buck is still howling somewhere out there!

The short stories in here are all really good! The revenge tale twists right into madness! And two of them have a straight up horror vibe! London really has the ability to capture the outdoors and plop the reader right out there with his characters! I felt cold, I felt hungry, and I too feared ol' Diable!

“So a health to the man on trail this night; may his grub hold out; may his dogs keep their legs; may his matches never fire.”

“He was mastered by the verb to eat. He was hunger-mad.” ( )

I decided to read this because I wanted to read Christophe Chabouté's new graphic novel adaptation, To Build a Fire. As a bonus, while I have read and watched several adaptations of The Call of the Wild, I have never read the original story. Finally, it is so slim, I figured I could knock it out in a couple days.

But I did not realize how dense London's prose is, how dull it can get. At times I trudged through it like one of his many prospectors through waist-deep snow. But while they could be overwritten and overwrought, there are some pretty good stories here about man's struggle against nature and his fellow man during the Klondike Gold Rush.

Huge caveat 1: As a product of its time, this book has many racist elements. I was startled to see the N-word used casually a couple times in the name of some bush that grows in the region. Indigenous people are simply villains.

Huge caveat 2: Animal abuse is also rampant in most of the stories.

For having such a reputation as an adventure tale Call of the Wild was a bit tamer than I expected. But I couldn't keep a dry eye when Buck was hitched to that half-ton sled of flour.

"Diable - A Dog" was a rather fascinating tale of a man and dog caught in a spiral of mutual assured destruction. More like a Stephen King story than what I would have associated with London.

"An Odyssey of the North" and "To the Man on Trail" were detached tales told with framing sequences featuring a recurring character named Malamute Kid who doesn't seem to actually do much himself.

"To Build a Fire" justly earns its reputation as a classic short story. "Love of Life" falls flat as pale retread of "To Build a Fire." ( )

A romantic view of Alaska and the dogs that helped the early explorers and gold seekers open up the land to new settlers. ( )

The titular novel is undoubtedly a strong story, but the real linchpin of this collection is the weird and haunting short story, "An Odyssey of the North", which, as suggested by its name, displaces London's familiar Northern setting into the inexplicable cosmology of the ancients. ( )

I teach this book each year to my 8th graders, and love it more each time. I think it's a great story about morals. ( )