A classic

Hey, guys!!

Before I start this review, I would just like to mention that I am making good progress with Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick. I'm looking forward to writing that review. But let's not jump the gun. So, I thought I would write a review for a classic.

As a kid, I was a very ambitious reader. By this, I mean that I would buy a whole bunch of books and to this day there are still a bunch that I have not read yet. There are others that I have read when I was around twelve years old. What I lacked was the attention span. So, I would get through the whole book, but I wouldn't remember anything that I had just read. But, as I get older, I try my best to read (or reread) as many of them as I can.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London was one of those books that I had read as a child and then didn't retain. But I reread it back in high school and found that it was pretty good (no, I didn't have to read it for a class . . . it was summer reading).

This is how I would summarize The Call of the Wild: it's basically Black Beauty but with a dog. If you have never read Black Beauty, don't worry, that's not the end of this review. And if you would like one for Black Beauty, I can do that.

Okay, so the dog's name is Buck and he is taken from his owner (by the gardener, I think . . . it's been a while) and sold to cruel people. This is actually what happens throughout the book: Buck is sold over and over again. He finds some cruel owners, some stupid owners, and some kind owners. Each exchange changes his views of humans.

And with each owner, he must establish his dominance over the other dogs or submit to them until he can fight his way to the top. And, during his time as a sled dog, he is surrounded by nature and feels his primitive instincts return to him.

I think that part of the reason that this book didn't really "stick" with me the first time I read it was because a) the language requires an attentive reader, b) I was a kid, and c) even on my best days, my attention span is iffy. If I'm bored with something, all bets off. But that is not a comment on the plot, because the book is pretty good. It's more a comment on my difficulty with digesting flowery language. But like I said, as long as you pay attention, you'll get it.

This book was the only Jack London book I've read, but if you have ever read any of his other books, this would be a good book for you. It's pretty short and it could be a quick read. And for that reason, this might also be a good book for you if you would like to read Jack London or just a classic in general. I can also write a review for Black Beauty since the two books are pretty similar.

Hope you guys enjoyed this blog post. Leave a comment if you would like me to read a certain book (leave the title and the author please) and I will see what I can do.

Happy reading!!