3.5
The Call of the Wild & White Fang
ByPublisher Description
White Fang is a companion novel (and a thematic mirror) to London's best-known work, The Call of the Wild, which concerns a kidnapped, domesticated dog turning into a wild animal.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Call of the Wild & White Fang Reviews
3.5
“I want to start this off by saying that growing up, I was absolutely obsessed with Netflix’s animated White Fang (incredible movie btw) so I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about here.
I’m very conflicted because the first half of these two books had me a little bored, but I actually found the second half really interesting and found myself wanting to pick it up.
The Call of the Wild was a little underwhelming for me. The writing is beautiful, but the story was slightly flat. Obviously I was rooting for Buck, but not in the same way I root for White Fang. I like how the two stories compliment each other. The call of the wild is a domesticated dog returning to his wild roots and white fang is a wolf-dog slowly domesticating.
One thing I really didn’t like is how painfully obvious it is that a white man wrote these stories. When Jack London started talking about how white people are superior to indigenous in white fang I genuinely had to write the words “please just shut up” on the page. These moments aren’t necessarily on every page, that doesn’t take away from the damage they’re doing when they do pop up.
Overall, I think these stories are very beautifully written and well thought-out. They’re far from perfect, and although I liked certain parts, if you’re looking for something low-commitment, just watch the Netflix white fang movie (did I mention I love it?)
side note: I’m actually obsessed with white fang and Collie.
🐺🐾🌲”
“What a gorgeous two short stories. Jack London wrote Call of the Wild to begin with, tapping into the idea of a return to nature and the brutality of both The Wild and Man, then wrote White Fang as a less "magical", almost opposite version of the former. White Fang tells the story of a young, wolf-dog cub who finds solace, anguish, pain, suffering, and eventual kindness in the hands of "gods" - humanity.
The rage I felt while reading White Fang especially - the cowardly, disgusting character of Beauty Smith who changed the nature of White Fang to fearfully violent and a pit dog; the betrayal of Grey Beaver due to his addiction and brutality; White Fang himself refusing to escape into the Wild where he would have thrived, but instead returned endlessly to his human masters.
But, the outcome of Scott's presence, the kindness of the southland, and the domestic warmth that emanates from the home made all of that suffering worth it.
The prose itself is gorgeously romantic, almost to the level of THE QUEEN Mary Shelley, and painted the Alaskan snowscapes and forests so vividly.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a natureesque novel with a heartwarming but rage inducing story. Adored it.”
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