• The Call of the Wild

  • By: Jack London
  • Narrated by: Mike Boris
  • Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (399 ratings)

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The Call of the Wild  By  cover art

The Call of the Wild

By: Jack London
Narrated by: Mike Boris
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Publisher's summary

Jack London's masterpiece tells the gripping tale of a dog named Buck who is wrenched out of his life of ease and luxury to become a sled dog in Alaska. Drawing on his wolf heritage, Buck must fight for survival in an alien environment.

Public Domain (P)2009 Trout Lake Media

What listeners say about The Call of the Wild

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Great Adventure Story

The opening sentence is a classic, foreshadowing the entire tale. Some anthropomorphism here, but it doesn't destroy a great adventure story, a look into the past, the Gold Rush in Alaska. The relationship between Buck and Thornton reminds us of how close man and dog can be, and the story never flags until the satisfying ending when Buck, too powerful a force to remain in civilization, returns to the wild.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

America is a dog obsessed nation. Jack London, in “Call of the Wild”, sets the pace for hundreds, if not thousands, of well-trodden stories about dogs.

London’s story is set in the time of Alaska’s gold rush. Dog sledding and the value of dogs increased in proportion to a ballooning Alaskan population. Buck, after being dog-napped, is sold to various owners in Alaska to serve the burgeoning demand for improved transportation. Buck is described as a big, growing fierce, intelligent dog. He learns how to deal with sub-zero temperatures by observing and copying the habits of other dogs. London describes how Buck learns to dig a hole in sub-zero temperatures and curl into a ball to protect himself.

London shows humans to be ethnocentric users of the animal kingdom. (This is not a surprise based on sentient beings’ history of abuse and slavery.) On a literal plane, Buck is a dog that is exploited by humans to drive sleds across the snow and ice of Alaska. Buck competes in the animal kingdom for supremacy by defeating or cowering other dogs to become a pack leader. However, Buck is chained to a life of toil by man’s domination of the non-human animal kingdom. These two forms of existence meld into one when Buck is saved by a human from abuse by his last owner; i.e. Buck becomes free to choose; free to return to the wild or stay with his human savior, not as a subject of domination but as a companion. Buck chooses to stay until his savior is murdered by a fictional tribe of Alaskan Indians. The “Call of the Wild” tears Buck away from humans because the wild is ironically more predictable than human civilization.

London’s story is about a dog but it is also a story about the best and worst of human beings. Whether dogs have human feelings, or humans project their feelings on dogs, or dogs are just other sentient beings is not important but freedom to choose is shown by London to be a preeminent condition of all sentient life.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful for anyone gender and any age!

What made the experience of listening to The Call of the Wild the most enjoyable?

The story moved along at a steady pace. Always gripping intriguing!

What did you like best about this story?

Honesty about human nature and our relationship to "Man's Best Friend," our dogs.
Even though I do not have a dog myself - I have total respect for what dogs can do for people. It is amazing!!

What about Mike Boris’s performance did you like?

He kept me captivated as he related the story. Great Book!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I certainly never laughed but no, no tears. Some parts touched the heart strings. I loved the earthy honesty of Jack London's story.

Any additional comments?

I would listen to anything Jack London writes after "The Call of the Wild"

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best Book!

Best Book!
I love this book so much!
Its makes me cry every time!
Hope everyone who reads this listens to it!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but...

It is more violent than I expected. It was a good story. Better than I thought

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

How cool are the animals in nature

I love books about animals and how they live and survive. Done are meant fir the wild while others are not

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

the book was a bit boring

The book was kinda boring but the person who is reading it did a good job

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

classic novel very well done!!

loved the writing and the narrator was fabulous. I have read the novel and what a totally different experience listening was. added a depth that I was. not expecting.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Does not accommodate immersive reading.

Sadly, this recording does not include immersive reading. 'The Call Of The Wild" is a great story, so it's very disappointing that immersive reading is not a feature.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting book

I remembered this title from school and with the new movie coming out, I wanted to hear the story. It also made my long drive go by way quicker. I didn’t realize how much that poor dog had to endure. It was one heck of a life change that dog went through.

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