The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and Other Stories

by Jack London, Andrew Sinclair (Editor), James Dickey (Introduction by)

Librarian's note: An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

A bold mix of realism, allegory, adventure, and progressive politics, this collection features Jack London’s most profound and moving literary works

The Call of the Wild, London’s elemental masterpiece about a dog learning to survive in the wilderness, sees pampered pet Buck snatched from his home and set to work as a sled-dog during the Klondike Gold Rush. White Fang, set in the frozen tundra and boreal forests of Canada’s Yukon territory, is the story of a wolf-dog hybrid struggling to survive in a human society every bit as brutal as the natural world. This volume of London’s famed Northland novels also includes an early feminist story “The Night-Born,” and a pro-labor story “South of the Slot.” These works echo and enrich the themes of The Call of the Wild and White Fang with their unique emphases on the primordial, the instinctual, and the quest for social justice. London’s narratives in this volume focus on issues of continuing relevance to contemporary readers, including the value of the wilderness, animal rights, socioeconomic oppression, and gender inequity. This edition also includes an introduction by preeminent London scholar, Earle Labor, as well as a comprehensive biographical note on London’s life and works by scholar and executive coordinator of the Jack London Society, Kenneth K. Brandt.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Adventure, Short Stories, Animals, Nature

340 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2021

About the author

John Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.

London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.

His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".

Reviews

[eden · Rating 3 out of 5]

well, that was as difficult to get through as i feared it would be. i vaguely remember reading the call of the wild and white fang sometime in middle school— i always preferred white fang, and while this still reigns true, i found it difficult to get through this time around. jack london’s writing tends to be verbose and repetitive. his language, while flowery and expressive, can become monotonous over time. it seems to me that he used his expansive vocabulary to cover his lack of plot direction. it made the novels weak, and thus in turn, made the reading experience dreary. it was a slog to complete and even the student i was tutoring was beginning to feel fatigued. admittedly though, i do still enjoy the ending of white fang. its final chapters are what keeps my rating as a three, rather than the two i felt called to give it. i don’t foresee myself ever revisiting these works anytime soon, or ever, honestly.

[Samala Rayn (Kafka's Version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dnf at 72% because I rlly didn’t wanna continue with White Fang. The other short stories and The Call Of The Wild was amazing tho!!! I loved everything else except for the looooonnngggggggggggg story of white fang lol.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly when I wasn't reading this book I was constantly thinking about it, and now that I've finished it I think it'll be on my mind for a very long time.

Jack London captures and conveys longing in such a subtle way, that without saying it outright, you know that he really truly gets it. In Call of the Wild and White Fang, the protagonists were literally a dog and a wolf and yet London's depiction and depth of these characters made it seem like they understood these innermost human emotions while still being limited by their animal instincts.
I tried reading these stories when I was younger, but I don't think I would've finished it with such an appreciation as I do now. As a child I was always on the outside, even within my own family I wanted nothing more than to belong. This theme (and all the different variations it comes in) is very prevalent in Call of the Wild and White Fang. Each story tackles it from different directions and very different choices are made. What ties them together is one's nature, following your instincts, and what happens when you betray that especially if you have no other choice. They both convey a love and longing for the unknown and for a peace that comes from finding Your Place. And too well, on multiple occasions, does London convey a sadness and introspection that comes from facing your past in the midst of the unknown. I will never forget a certain passage in White Fang, not even a full page, where I just cried and cried and couldn't stop. It broke my heart and I honestly don't think I'll ever really recover from it.

Are some parts of this book a product of its time? Absolutely. Are some things a bit too ... colonial? Absolutely. Too be fair though these stories were written over 100 years ago, and shouldn't be faulted as much as it should be analyzed for its ways and manners of depicting certain things. I think telling these stories from the point of view of wild animals in the setting of the gold rush really helped tell the story. When certain things happen, all you can really do is chalk it up to the circle of life in the wild. It's harder to face those kinds of facts when there's the intricacies of people involved. Both stories display the cruelty of humans and life itself without explicitly describing it as such. It's just their natures, it's just the law of club and fang. Honestly these two stories have so many layers I could keep writing forever.

For my brother, if you ever read this: I finally get it.

As for the other stories in this collection, they really drive home certain ideologies that London conveys in Call of the Wild and White Fang. I think adding these two stories to this collection are like a very nice bow on a very perfect present, and I hope to read this book again very soon.

[Martin Moriarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

“He was older than the days he had seen and the breaths he had drawn. He linked the past with the present, and the eternity behind him throbbed through him in a mighty rhythm to which he swayed as the tides as seasons swayed. He sat by John Thornton’s fire, a broad-breasted dog, white-fanged and long-furred; but behind him were the shades of all manner of dogs, half-wolves and wild wolves, urgent and prompting, tasting the savor of the meat he ate; thirsting for the water he drank, scenting the wind with him, listening with him and telling him the sounds made by the wild life in the forest, dictating his moods, directing his actions, lying down to sleep with him when he lay down, and dreaming with him and beyond him and becoming themselves the stuff of his dreams.”

[Troy Tradup · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review focuses only on White Fang.

It feels like it took me about a hundred years to read this book. Part of this might have been the opening set piece — “The Trail of the Meat” — which sent my brain into immediate overload with its sheer brilliance. Up until a somewhat dopey deus ex machina of an ending, that first section of the novel is one of the best things I’ve read in ages. It was, literally, inspirational (I’m writing a new project based on it), and I have to say the remainder of the book never quite reached the same heights.

Once the story finds its titular main character (it takes a bit), it speeds along brilliantly so long as London concentrates on the animal world, on White Fang’s development from frightened, helpless pup to young wolf. It’s when London brings people back into the mix, and begins a somewhat heavy-handed examination of nature vs. nurture that ... well, I didn’t really lose interest, but I certainly lost momentum.

There’s also a weird sense of religious supplication and even a sort of colonialism in White Fang’s journey from wolf to ... well, civilized wolf. First, with his Indian master Gray Beaver — “Of his own choice, he came in to sit by man’s fire and to be ruled by him.” — and later with his “white-skinned superior god love-master,” Weedon Scott.

I swear to you, these are actual words in this book:

“It was at Fort Yukon that White Fang saw his first white men. As compared to the Indians he had known, they were to him another race of beings, a race of superior gods. ... Those white gods were strong. ... Gray Beaver was as a child-god among these white-skinned ones.”

London doesn’t help matters by having Gray Beaver speak like this: “You ketch um dog you take um all right.” Or by having Gray Beaver lose everything over his love of alcohol. I don’t think the phrase “fire-water” is ever used here, but good grief already. Was this the book that inspired all those terrible racist westerns?

I don’t want to belabor the point because, hey, different times, and the animal story here is quite lovely and moving (albeit overly long and endlessly brutal). And London brings a lot of sardonic wit to the table when he’s not being all racist:

“At front and rear, unawed and indomitable, toiled the two men who were not yet dead.”

“He became suspicious of all children. He could not tolerate them. When they came near with their ominous hands, he got up.” (Their ominous hands!)

In the final sections of the book, as Weedon Scott introduces White Fang to love and tenderness after a lifetime of beatings, the tone takes on a weird sensuality that’s both romantic and quite disconcerting:

“Weedon Scott strode half across the room toward him, at the same time calling him. White Fang came to him, not with a great bound but quickly. He was awkward from self-consciousness, but as he drew near, his eyes took on a strange expression. Something, an incommunicable vastness of feeling, rose up in his eyes as a light and shone forth. ... He suddenly thrust his head forward and nudged his way in between the master’s arm and body. And here, confined, hidden from view all except his ears, no longer growling, he continued to nudge and snuggle. ... Scott’s eyes were shining. ‘Gosh!’ said Matt in an awe-stricken voice.”

Gosh, indeed.

It’s a decent read. It’s way too long even though it’s fairly short (it’s more than double the length of The Call of the Wild). And it feels like London is searching pretty hard for the actual point he wants to make (I’m not sure he ever really finds it).

One final note: the 10-year-old in me insists I include the funniest line in the entire novel, concerning a dog with an unfortunate name that Weedon prevents White Fang from fighting:

“I mean just that. You’d have a dead Dick inside one minute.”

Gosh!

[Paul Barta · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.4/5: driving character development

Jack London writes like you're watching a nature documentary: real, zero anthropomorphic tendencies, just straight-up action. The stuff Buck and White Fang go through (along with even minor characters, like the fantastic first part of White Fang) are so well written that you can imagine every single part of Alaska, Canada, and California in movie-level detail. I was even surprised by the amount of both natural horror (a LOT of throats get slashed in this book) and morbid comedy (Hal and Charles being bad at their jobs) in these stories. You can tell London has dealt with the north before.

Character development was the driving force, though. London lays out, in perfect (sometimes over-the-top, admittedly) detail, the feelings/laws/motivations behind what both Buck and White Fang do, to the point where you understand every motivation and every theme. It even works for the main character behind the "South of the Slot" story, which manages to turn him into a fascinating person in just 15 pages. Extra credit to that story for being an actual well-written convincing socialist story. Socialists are usually garbage at narratives - Upton Sinclair's The Jungle is narrative garbage and I'll die on that hill - but this one's actually, surprisingly, legitimately good.

I guess the thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is the underlying theme to all these stories: animalistic, horny-for-Thoreau freedom. There's a reason these stories are the favorites of those guys who schlepp off into the woods, and there's a reason those schleppers usually have their pieces picked up by park rangers later. It's a good call to nature that everyone has, but for all the death and destruction in these stories, it somehow kills the feeling of difficulty the wild makes. There's also the "superior gods" part of White Fang (...and a bit in the Nightborn) you have to force yourself through, really hitting social darwinist territory that doesn't really fit with the rest of the stories.

[Nathan Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay this is gonna be a lot because there’s four separate stories in this one book but basically The Call of the Wild and White Fang were both very engaging stories about dogs and the changes go through over their lives. The stories, acting as antitheses of each other, illustrate how equally easy it is to return to the “primordial” as it is to grow comfortable with the “civilised”. South of the slot, a story that feels very out of place to the others, also deals with this “return to primordial” but in a more human way, depicting the struggle that upper class Freddie Drummond has with his proletariat alter ego Bill Totts and the women that both personas come to love. The Night-Born is also a story of returning to the primordial but from a woman’s perspective, showing her breaking free from men’s control to live out her days in the wild, the way she always felt called to do.

Found in all these stories is a profound connection between purpose and love. In Call of the Wild, Buck finds purpose in the north as he becomes a world renowned sled dog, which leads him to the love of wild things and eventually becoming wild himself. White Fang, on the other hand, learns of his purpose to protect and serve “the gods” which eventually leads him to learn to love his masters (when they are kind to him). This love gives him new purpose by the end of the story. South of the slot shows how love can define a new purpose in life, as Freddie Drummond shirks his high society life to become Bill Totts, union president. The Night-Born, although questionably done, shows that shirking your purpose in society can lead to a loss of love and a greater desire for it, but not at the expense of happiness.

[Ani · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't exactly like the book, and my main issue with it is the random slurs that pop up in sentences that don't even need them. And for specific ratings for each story, I didn't like Call of the Wild, kind of became tedious and I didn't know what a character was (like a dog or a human) and how characters get introduced to get killed off so quickly as if it was nothing. White Fang is a very long story, (25 chapters/192 pages) but it makes sense why to have White Fang go through everything that he did. I don't exactly understand what was the reasoning for the first 3 chapters to be of two humans with sled dogs, and then encountering the she-wolf, and after the perspective gets changed to the she-wolf, then One Eye, and then finally White Fang in chapter 6 onward. Otherwise, I did like how Call of the Wild and White Fang are opposites storywise. Call of the Wild is about a domesticated dog that eventually becomes the leader of a wolf pack, and White Fang is about a wolf-dog hybrid originally being born in the wild, and then being domesticated by humans. For the last two short stories, I wasn't exactly paying attention to South of the Slot or The Night-Born, but after reading White Fang I mostly just wanted the book to be over.

[Jerri Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for The Call of the Wild only. I picked this up not having any idea of Jack London's style of writing, which, although beautiful, is also graphic. This was a difficult read for me given all of the animal abuse and death, but Mr. London could not have told this story any other way. Told through the voice of Buck, the half German Shepherd/ half St. Bernard dog who was taken from his easy life on a ranch in California and thrust through physical violence into the brutal life of a sled dog in the gold country of the Yukon at the turn of the century.

Buck has many adventures including several fights (with both animals and humans) to the death. He also seems to have an uncanny empathy, and compassion for both his fellow dog sled team members, and the humans who deserve that from him. In the end, he slowly transforms back to the animal for which nature intended him to be.

[Clarence Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was deeply moved by both The Call of the Wild and White Fang. When I purchased this book, I had never read a Jack London story. His writing style cast me into the untamed, harsh and snowy Northlands of Canada, from the perspective of animals. That part was new and interesting. One could almost feel the sting of chill winds, grapple with the pains of near starvation, hear the cries of the distant creatures of the woods and mountains, as well as the gruff conversations of men. Such beautiful sensations from reading! So it came as a surprise upon learning the author of this prose was an Atheist. That discovery made me sad but didn't take away from my enjoyment of these wonderful stories. Thank you, Jack London.

[Nikita]

Gave up after finishing The Call of the Wild.

London's prose is extremely wearisome, and the personification of the feral world is way too much industrialized (I would even say americanized). I would have expected a true "call from the wild" where the wolf would connect again to the nature with beautiful bucolic paintings despite the harshness encountered. What a nicer way to personify this natural rebirth! But no, it is all throughout oriented towards social hierarchy and some "philsophical" resurgence. At some parts, the author tries to convey poetic images of the "call of the wild" but it just seems so forced and not natural.

Well, when I read the introductory material, I immediatly knew I would not like it since London, apparently, despised literature and only saw it as a way of gaining money to fulfil his own wishes.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have set myself a challenge to read more classics - and have previously read one of Jack London’s short stories (which I loved).

I this book, I enjoyed the writing, but not the stories. I acknowledge these stories were written in the early 1900s so times were different, but it was quite jarring to read of the animal cruelty and words describing people from other cultures.

Jack London sure knows how to write though. White Fang was easily the more enjoyable story out of the collection, but it was still a relief to finish it.

[Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read White Fang in this edition.

Both White Fang and The Call of the Wild were revelations to me. I suppose they are companion pieces as the latter describes the return to the wild roots of a dog, and the former describes the civilizing of another.

In both books, the astounding thing is the psychological description of Buck in Call of the Wild and the eponymous White Fang. They are the protagonists of the books and their growing consciousness of the Wild and of Civilization are psychoanalyzing worthy of Shakespeare, and I am no being hyperbolic

I'm glad I read these as an adult.

[Ben Hayward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not even the biggest dog person, and these short novels still made me feel all of the emotions. I can highly recommend them. The "other stories" refers to two with pro-labor and feminist themes, which are decent if a bit lacking by comparison. If I have one criticism of London's works, it is the recurring themes of deference to power and atavism, or "returning to tradition," which is a bit odd to see coming from a socialist.

[Kem White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book just by chance came into my collection, and I only picked it up in passing. But what a lucky surprise this book is. "Call of the Wild" is an easy 5-stars with its lyrical final chapter. The 2 London short stories included in the collection were both excellent. "White Fang" was a mixed bag for me. At times it was brutal to read. At others, the lengthy discourse on White Fang's interactions with humans tried my patience. But overall, "White Fang" is moving as it compellingly describes the animal's experiences living in the Yukon. Highly recommended.

[Kevin Leong · Rating 3 out of 5]

gonna be 💯w/ yall. I didn’t read the last two short stories. Call of the Wild is great but White Fang was so damn long and by the time I got through that I was so tired of furry stuff and his other two shorts just… yeah… tough. But I recommend CoTW and WF! It’s fun reading non-human protagonists every once in a blue moon *howls*

[Aengus Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad! London's a great writer and has an amazing handle on pacing; none of the stories are action, but they are all exciting. My main issue came from his depictions of Native Americans, which are of course stereotyped and discriminatory. But setting that aside, this was a light, fun read.

[Rosa Pateraki · Rating 2 out of 5]

We get it, Jack. You love dogs.

[Dylan Rock · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven collection but the majority of it are comprised by "Call of the Wild " & "White Fang" which are excellent

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good old famous stories.

[McKey Morrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and visionary. London is the best choice to introduce anyone into classics.
Lost many perfect attendence marks by being too invested in this book I keep losing track of time.

[Emma Toner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slayyyy
Call of the wild 4.5⭐️
South of the slot 4⭐️
White Fang 5⭐️

[Paco · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Marieke · Rating 3 out of 5]

White Fang 4 ☆/ Overall 3.5☆

[Allstarpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cried

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

All short stories should be written in this raw, wild, yet thoughtful way - putting you immediately in the shoes or paws of another being.

[Tristan Lenin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buck is my fursona

[Kyle Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard for a young man not to like these books. Hard to write multiple compelling stories from the POV of a dog, but he conveys their thoughts, emotions, and actions with compelling prose

[Caryn Reveling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Call of the Wild. Loved this story growing up and still love it today

[Carlos Marques · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eu li o livro no seu original inglês e adorei a experiência. Recomendo fortemente essa escolha.

Este livro é uma coletânea de contos e novelas curtas pelo escritor Norte-Americano Jack London. Não vou escrever um biografia aqui mas para dar uma ideia sobre o tipo de pessoas e a sua personalidade basta disser que ele era um aventureiro, um homem que se mandava para o desconhecido e que dai extraia o material para a sua escrita. Penso nele como um Hemingway antes de Hemingway.

Não vou fazer review total dos 4 textos mas vou deixar aqui a minha opinião rápida sobre cada um. Ou seja, os pensamentos que me marcaram mais e que ficaram comigo de cada um.

BÂTARD- Ótimo inicio para o livro, mandado nos para o mundo animalístico de Jack London. Uma incrível exploração da relação entre amor e ódio e sobre quem se encontra numa relação a volta dessas emoções. Cruel na sua expressão desses temas mas sempre com um humor seco e matter-of-fact. 4/5

THE CALL OF THE WILD- O melhor desta coleção. London cria uma personagem tão poderosa em Buck, o cão, que nos faz sentir animalescos, tira nos da nossa percepção humana e nos força a reconhecer o quanto, por mais que queríamos ser civilizados, toda essa civilização nos pesa como obrigações e prisão. Pelos olhos deles vemos o selvagem pelo que é: Belo na sua crueldade e cruel na sua beleza. E não lhe conseguimos resistir. A viagem de Buck de civilidade inconsciente e preguiçosa para selvajaria (que não leiam esta palavra como crueldade) é a nossa e arrisco me a disser que sai deste livro mais humano que entrei. 5/5

LOVE OF LIFE- O mais fraco de todos. O protagonista humano não é tão interessante como os protagonistas animais dos outros e a história que acredito que queria passar desespero na sua repetição da luta do protagonista acaba por ser apenas isso: repetitiva. 3/5

WHITE FANG- Escrita para servir de contraponto a "Call of the Wild". Onde vimos Buck a ir da cidade e do conforto para o selvagem aqui vemos White Fang, o lobo protagonista, a fazer o caminho contrario e a acabar onde Buck começou: São Francisco. A viagem de White Fang em certa medida é mais interessante que a de Buck mas as causas disso são em si uma falha para o livro. O que quero disser com isto? Fácil de explicar. White Fang sofre mais e pior que Buck. Isto leva nos a sentir mais quando finalmente ele fica bem. Mas torna o livro mais cruel do que o "Call of the Wild". E torna o livro mais longo do que o que deveria ser. O quarto capitulo "The superior Gods" poderia ser eliminado e não se veria tanta diferença. Sendo o capitulo mais sádico do livro ficamos com um sabor mau na boca que London pode quer só nos ter mostrado White Fang a sofrer. E tenho uma teoria que sim, é exatamente isso. London foi um dos primeiros defensores dos animais, principalmente de estimação, e este conto serviria para mostrar as pessoas do seu tempo o seu sofrimento. Mas mesmo assim há um certo prazer no sofrimento de White Fang e não perdoa o facto de ser em quase todos os aspetos um capitulo desnecessário. Além desse capitulo há também várias repetições que passado um tempos ficam chatas. Contudo a historia em si é maravilhosa e todos os personagens são bem construídos ajudando a perdoar estas ofensas. 4/5

O que carrega este livro a um patamar alto é a escrita de London que é viva, energética, deixa nos presos e torna tudo real. É uma escrita poderosa aliado a uma personalidade que não só se faz notar como chama atenção para si. Engraçado, dramático, um pouco sádico mas apreciador das coisas mais banais da vida assim é Jack London e assim é a sua escrita. Ao mesmo tempo comum e dignificada, épica e banal. É um escrita perfeita para uma escrita natural pois capta tanto a força e invulgaridade da natureza e da sua relação como o homem como capta a banalidade do dia a dia e da criação do Ser no seu ambiente.

E são exatamente esses os seus temas. Há nele um essencialismo sobre o Ser na sua visão que a vida só é vivida realmente quando está faz o que foi feita para fazer. Ele era defensor do darwinismo social e notasse em parte mas sendo os seus protagonistas são animais há uma permissão disso. Não quero disser que ele nega o papel da sociedade na construção do ser. Pelo contrário. Em vários ele chama atenção para esse papel mas é sempre como guia nunca como fundamento. A relação entre o homem e a natureza é sempre um ponto fulcral. Para London esta devia ser muito mais direta sendo a melhor relação possível entre os dois uma em que estes existem lado a lado, o homem a lutar pela sua sobrevivência com uma união da sua inteligência e da sua força animal.
Nada estranho para um homem que viajou tanto e que teve de o fazer.