Did you read? London was in Alaska

Today I finished reading The Call of the Wild and a few other stories by Jack London. I purchased this book at a Borders store where the 55 ends (under the label Costa Mesa in my current blog header). The store was going out of business last month so I stopped and picked this up along with Seneca's Letters from a Stoic for 40% off. Using a gift card I received for Chinese New Year many moons ago, this trip only cost three dollars and some change.

The Call of the Wild follows a dog Buck and is told from his point of view. It follows his adventures being a sled dog in Alaska and how he got there. Also included in the Signet Classic edition I read were the short stories "Diable-A Dog," "An Odyssey of the North," "To the Man on Trail," "To Build a Fire," and "Love of Life." The first line of the introduction (written by Alex Kershaw) of the collection describes the author compactly.

Jack London is perhaps the only novelist this century of whom it can be said that his own life is as dramatic as any of the suspenseful fiction he wrote.

The big literary theme of all these stories is the change a harsh natural surrounding has on life. Out in the wilderness different traits are brought out in people and animals. The values necessary for success out there are contrasted with what is praised in civilized life. There were some dark undertones to Call of the Wild and the short stories. However, they were all organic parts of the stories and not superfluous.

I enjoyed The Call of the Wild and would recommend it. I would also suggest you check out a few of London's short stories.