Western London, Jack: The Call of the Wild. V1. 20 January 2013

[ghostyjack]

The Call of the Wild is a novella by American author Jack London published in 1903. The story takes place in the extreme conditions of the Yukon during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush, where strong sled dogs were in high demand. After Buck, a domesticated dog, is snatched from a pastoral ranch in California, he is sold into a brutal life as a sled dog. The novella details Buck's struggle to adjust and survive the cruel treatment he receives from humans, other dogs, and nature. He eventually sheds the veneer of civilization altogether and instead relies on primordial instincts and the lessons he has learned to become a respected and feared leader in the wild.

London lived for most of a year in the Yukon and gained from that experience material for the book. The story was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post in the summer of 1903 and released a month later in book form. The great popularity and success of the story made a reputation for London, with much of the story's appeal based on the simplicity with which he presented the themes in an almost mythical manner. As early as 1908 the story was adapted to film and has seen several more cinematic adaptations since that time.

(From Wikipedia)


This is my second Jack London book - after White Fang - and I hope to find the time to complete them all.

This book has been thoroughly proof-read against a 1903 Macmillan edition of the novel. I went word-by-word through the entire book, so hopefully I've not missed anything. I will note that the language of the book matches that of the book I proofed it again, so there may be occasions of mixed American- and British-English, but that is what is in the book, so that is what I produced. This is as close to the original source that I have been able to find, if a more accurate version becomes available, I'll re-proof the book.

I've included the image plates in the book as well, as I've found no evidence they are still copyrighted. I'll remove them if evidence appears that they are not in the public domain.

The images could do with a bit of work, but for the most part are legible. A few of the images may seem a bit oldly placed (example; image opening Chapter 1), this is due to the original image had text within the blank space of the image. I'm going to attempt to do the same in the near future, but thought it was good to get the book out there first, and fix them later.


Enjoy.

Ver. 1 - 20th January 2013
Initial release

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[DiapDealer]

Very nice! Thanks for the work.

[ghostyjack]

Thanks.

It still needs some work but the text is about as good as I can make it, which I think is the most important part.

[Gudy]

Thank you very much for your work, which is very much appreciated. (And yes, I also hope that you'll find the time to complete all London stories as e-books.)

[ghostyjack]

I'm hoping that this year I'll have more time to get them done, not sure which one next to work on, might do another of my favourites - "The Sea-Wolf". Or possibly a collection of his short stories, haven't decided yet.

I've got to get my Lovecraft corrections out first, but that should only take about another week to do. I'll see then what to tackle next.

[GrannyGrump]

Lovely!
I haven't read this since I was a child, I'm anticipating the re-read.

Thank you.

[ghostyjack]

Well I hope it is as good as you remember it.

[radius]

This edition, and your White Fang blow away the Gutenberg versions. I'm looking forward to The Sea Wolf and Tales of the Klondike

[faltradl]

Why only looking forward, but not using the searching function?

The sea wolf

Tales of the Klondike

OK, poor qualitity of pictures and no epub. So convert ist with calibre oder use google.

[radius]

Oh I've read those, and have the Gutenberg versions stashed away somewhere. I meant I am looking forward to ghostyjack editions specifically!

[faltradl]

Many books of Jack you find there: Jack London in gutenberg.org

The books aren't nice, but you find them in different fileformats. So you mustn' convert them by yourself. When mobilread hasn't it gutenberg.org ist the next adress to look in.

[ghostyjack]

Thanks for the support Radius. I've had a hectic year and have got to get some revisions out for my Lovecraft books first. After that I'll be back on Jack - I think The Sea Wolf.

I've changed jobs at the start of this year, and my commute has gone from 20 minutes to 2 hours, so don't get any time in the week to look at these (didn't in the old job either due to working longer hours), but I've gained time on the weekends as can't work over the weekend for my new job (unlike the old one where it seemed I was always working the weekend).

Hopefully I'll complete the Lovecraft revisions in the next couple of weeks, so it may be possible to get The Sea Wolf ready by Easter. Don't quote me on it, but that's my target.