Without a Map is a good place to start learning about Russian economic reform in the 1990's. It is concise and thorough, and covers a lot of ground. As a result, it tends to be somewhat general, when one might be interested in specific details of reforms, but it's a very solid overview. It is not a book for just anyone, but will fascinate anybody who has an interest in the Russian economy or in economics in general. It is a perfect complement to Privatizing Russia, also co-authored by Schleifer.

In a very readable book the authors provide an excellent account of fiscal federalism in Russia. They talk about the stagnation the Russian economy faces and provide a very valid hypothesis for its cause in Russia's taxation system - what many others have previously given scant attention to. This book will appeal to economists, political scientists, and anyone else interested in Russia today.

a cute tale of a wolf pack as they play and come to observe humans on christmas

Daniel tells a simple story; Jills illustrates it with silly wolf antics, straight from real life. This family of wolves I love. The night was fine, and they went out to spy on the humans. The end was . . . perfect. Read it and see.

The book wreck valley 2 By Daniel Berg is an excelent guide for sports divers and tech divers alike. Daniel Berg brings out and discribes the history of the ships that once sailed the long island sound and Atlantic . If anyone,. not just divers is interested in north east ship wrecks this is the book for you

I found this book very useful in gathering information about the different ship wrecks I have dove on in New Jersey. I highly recomend this book to all wreck divers and ship wreck enthusiasts alike. This book has lots of good photographs and drawings pertaining to the wrecks. You will not be disappointed in purchasing this book.

This is the most interesting anthology of Zohar literature I have seen. Though the anthology represents only 5% of the whole Zohar, it is translated in a uniquely modern style. It is translated as poetry, which is highly original, and a very comprehensive introduction and very detailed notes explain the Kabbalistic meanings to the average reader.

Most of the translations of material from the "Zohar" I have seen have been difficult reading, a kind of cross between Talmud and gnostic treatise. In this volume, Daniel Matt translates a small selection (2% of the work by his own estimate) into rhapsodic and rapturuous, truly air-borne free verse. The effect is both surprizing and exhilarating. The only comparable approaches I can think of that might put you in mind of the nature of this translation are Stanley Lombardo's Homer and Stephen McKenna's Plotinus. But lest I create the impression that this book is only pleasure, the introduction to Kabbalistic thought in general, and the Zohar in particular is quite illuminating, as are the detailed notes on each selection placed at the end of the book. In short, this is a great read and a mind-blower.

Michael Chabon is America's most gifted storyteller. Throughout his career, from his debut novel (The Mysteries of Pittsburgh) to his newest work (Summerland) he has showcased his incredible abililty to create realistically flawed characters and fascinatingly well-conceived stories.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is a detailed novelization of the history of the birth of comic books in 1930s America. Told from the perspective of two aspiring artists (Kavalier and Clay), the book magically portrays both the Jewish experience leading up to WWII and the development of an industry that would grow to involve billions of dollars and shape generations of young readers.

With his detailed research and cleverly created characters, Chabon has, indeed, written a masterpiece. Incorporating the real-life figures of comic-book legends Stan Lee and Will Eisner (among others), the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay acts as a love letter to an artform that Chabon clearly loves very much. And to have thi sstory take place in an era of such turmoil only adds volume to the overarching themes of love, war and self-discovery.

For lovers of comics, literature or just plain old good storytelling, Chabon has hit another homerun.

If it were possible to write the Great American Novel, "escape" could easily be its theme. America was, in part, founded upon escape: from persecution, famine, and class, and, for those who came to America but were denied freedom, escape from slavery. Michael Chabon's sprawling novel, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay," explores the dimensions of escape: physical and psychological, literal and metaphorical, and the complex relationship between escaping from and escaping to.

The first 100 or so pages of the book are incredibly powerful. Josef Kavalier is a trained escape artist who uses his talents to leave Nazi-occupied Prague for America. The oppression and suffering are palpable, as are the humanity and suffering of the persecuted Jews. To fool the Nazis, Kavalier shares a trick casket with a golem, a clay figure of Jewish religious significance; both are symbols of the Jewish community's near-death and faith. Chabon is at his tragicomic strongest here, exquisitely recreating the atmosphere of the survival of faith against brutality. This section alone stands as a superb novella.

Once in New York City, Kavalier rooms with his cousin Samuel Clayman (a pun on the golem), whose own escapes from reality yield mixed results. The two young men create the eventually wildly successful comic "The Escapist," a costumed superhero who battles evil forces and rescues the helpless in an initially vicarious exercise for Kavalier. The book is again wondrous here, detailing the low-rent, fly-by-night "enterprises" of those A.J. Liebling once described as "The "Telephone Booth Indians" (Chabon cites Liebling in the book's acknowledgements, along with several other sources that show the scope of the author's research).

About midway through, the book begins to lose some of its focus and the force of its words. Chabon's wizardry with words begins (at times) to seem gratuitous, much like his introduction of various historical figures such as Al Smith, Salvadore Dali, Orson Welles, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Senator Estes Kefauver (I was glad to find that Chabon restrained himself from somehow including American icons Billie Holliday and Joe Dimaggio as well.) To be fair, though, I have a bias against this style; others will enjoy the inclusion of these characters as well as a glimpse into the mechanics of the 1939 World's Fair). In addition, the historical allusions and footnotes add to the book's verisimilitude.

Chabon's spiraling, cascading sentences sometimes work magic, but sometimes seem to ignore Agatha Christie's literary dictum to "kill your darlings." At worst, the prose seems self-indulgent and congratulatory, much like the showy magicians that Kavalier's Prague teacher so disdains. Chabon's voice is so distinctive, his sentences so dazzling, that at times he almost parodies himself, and one is tempted to imagine sentences with his style and diction ("effluvium," and "detritus" come immediately to mind. The unpredictable becomes predictable; the writing seems out-of-touch and wearily linear, like an overly long drum solo or a beloved but stale verbal heirloom.

The last thematic section portrays Kavalier's psychological escape, from his loved ones and from himself, as tragedy hits him. His much-criticized (among reviewers here) retreat to Antarctica is actually fairly interesting, especially if taken on a more metaphorical level, and it sets up the other theme of the book, where and how does one return after escaping. Joe Kavalier's largely unexplored 11-year absence is not as irritating when taken as a symbol of retreat after his traumatic WW11 experiences, and this last section's largesse (about reversing an escape from home to the psychological commitment journey towards belonging and reconciliation) is described with almost the same power and restraint that Chabon shows in the opening Prague scenes. (Later sections on Joe's Empire State Building escapade and the Senate hearing on comic books are somewhat superfluous.) That the characters don't develop much during this 11-year sleep is Chabon's on-target indictment of suburbia, the conformity of the 50's, and the habit-born comforts and gnawing disillusionment that equally inhabit the borders of approaching middle age. Only Joe's love interest, Rosa Saks, lacks sufficient depth here. I cannot imagine her earlier spirit so vulnerable to the effluvium of habit, a miasma pouring like ether from a culture too tired to question itself (as Chabon, though with greater skill, might put it. It must be fun to have Chabon's godlike creative productivity...so many structures and words from which to choose). Wouldn't Rosa have at least explored the new directions in arts and literature?

Because of these faults and annoyances, I dock the book a half-point, but this is a superb, imaginative book well deserving of its accolades and Pulitzer. One may like it even more if one is not familiar with his earlier works, because the literary fireworks will seem less familiar (as was my own experience with reading his beautiful, astonishingly good debut novel, "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh"). Very highly recommended!

Both an ode to comic books and a love letter to New York City, "Kavalier and Clay" will appeal to anyone who enjoys the works of Charles Dickens, John Irving, E. L. Doctorow, and (to a lesser extent) Mark Helprin. Chabon brilliantly interweaves the story of two fictional comic-book artists and their creations, showing how their lives influence their stories and how their art in turn insinuates itself into their lives (to their success as much as to their ruin). Exciting and epic, humorous and heartwarming, the novel grabbed me with its intriguing first sentence and didn't let go until--less than 48 hours later--I mournfully reached the last page.

The prose is masterful. A "flatulent poison-green river" separates Brooklyn and Manhattan; a woman boasts an "extravagant flying buttress of a nose"; a man has "skin the color of boiled newspaper." Framing these vibrant phrases are such throwaway quips as "In the immemorial style of young men under pressure, they decided to lie down for a while and waste time." Even the most seasoned writer must envy Chabon's ability to fill the novel with such vivid description and snappy witticisms, all the while keeping the action flowing at a vigorous pace.

Any book this popular will have its detractors. The two most-often repeated complaints are the novel's length and florid style and its meandering second half and unresolved ending. I suppose in the age of MTV and factoids, the first objection is inevitable. (One amazon reader who apparently thinks literature began with Hemingway and ended with Carver gripes that Chabon's prose contains--heaven forbid--adjectives.) The second objection is a bit more understandable, but I'm glad that the author chose not to make his novel as tightly plotted as an Indiana Jones movie. Instead, "Kavalier and Clay" is as sprawling and unpredictable and fluid as life itself.

One central premise of Ishmael is that ideas are to culture what genes are to an organism--the core ideas determine the culture's growth and direction. It's sometimes called memetic's, sometimes shared vision and mental model, but you won't read those words in the book. Quinn calls it story. Quinn explores the stories of our culture, where they have led us, and why. That's either the mind-blowing part of the book, or the part you don't get and think the book is a dud.

If your mind is blown you come away with a better understanding of why we are more or less trapped in a system that compels us to destroy the world in our daily actions and why, if the world is to be saved, it won't be saved by programs like recycling, or birth control, or legislation to cut emissions--only a change in vision will work, a change in the story we are, as a culture enacting.

When the book works, you can suddenly see our cultural story everywhere, transmitted in news stories, in advertisements, lectures at school, fairy tales, religion, songs. You become tuned into the transmission of our culture. When you can do this, you can more easily change your own story.

When the book doesn't work, readers don't get the point at all. It seems a half baked noble-savage argument. They think Quinn is saying we should go back to living in the stone age, or they get caught up in Quinn's explanation of food-population dynamics, and they read into it things Quinn doesn't say. Sometimes they just can't endure the poor storyline. For all that the book is about stories, there is little storyline in this book. Quinn's storytelling improves in Ishmael's sequels Story of B, or My Ishmael. Quinn did a better job with them. Quinn particularly shines when telling parables, and you will find more of these in his latter books.

Taken individually, Quinn's ideas are not really new. Most of what he says has been said better by others. Quinn's genius isn't so much in presenting new ideas, but in drawing connections between existing ideas. It's the connections that are new. Some criticize Quinn for not covering the details of the ideas themselves, but those details can be found in his sources. Quinn keeps a list of the books he read in preparing to write his own on his web site... For those with an earnest desire to save the world, Ishmael is just a beginning.

I had read Ishmael about three years ago and I have been in debate about it with other people who discuss only the idea that the Taker culture was bound to happen eventually and the psychology of human consciouness at the time of the Taker split. Upon reading the reviews here I am not surprised in the least to many high ratings and those to don't get the intended premise.

1.)Ishmael is not a literary masterpiece and was not meant to be. Quinn peferably would rather write nonfiction but he realizes that a novel form for presenting the ideas is the best way to reach the intended audience.

2.)Ishmael is repetitive only to lay the ground work for further discussion. In the Story of B Quinn explains in detail the necessity to repeat the structure in order to form colage where pieces fall thogether at different times.

.3) Ishmael,B, My Ishamel, and Providence when read in that order give the reader the full tools to decipher Quinns arguments. Alan in Ishamel is supposed to play the role of limited inquisitor in order for the ground work to be laid. Those three novels are needed in full to lay out the premise. The questions are supposed play the role to support that objective.

.4) We aren't Humanity. I am dumbfounded that people still didn't see Quinn's point. This is not a nature good versus humanity bad scenario

.5)By the way if it is written like it was intended for third graders as some of the critics say I am glad because frankly Mother culture hasn't drifted their minds to sleep! Ishamel Rules! Rock on read Beyond Civilization it is the answer to your, but now what questions.

I have read a number of the poorest reviews for this book just now. I read ishmael at 17 on a whim. I found it to be an eye-opening experience for a close minded know it all teenager (i'm only all of 20 now though). The book is written simply because everyone should be able to understand it, but not everyone has the patience or ability to understand something so simple. I find it similiar to tying one's shoe; it's easy to do, but try to explain it to someone who doesn't even know where to begin...not as easy is it? As well, this is not simply a book of man vs mother nature; not just man is bad, go hug a tree, love your neighbor and everything will be ok. People who read the book expecting to have a utopian future laid out for them in simple terms are just an example of this culture becoming accustomed to a fast-food, single-serving answer to everything. Quinn simply says that everyone on the planet engaging in totalitarian agriculture is too much of a strain. The goal as some have taken it is to revert back to "the uncivilized tribal heathen"; but Quinn is just saying that people can live all sorts of ways, that no one way is the right way for everyone to live. As for it's lack of concrete plans for the future: Quinn cannot know how it will turn out, he cannot know how things will change, the best way that he can can make a difference is to help others see the problem so that they can find their own solution. When enough people find their own solutions, then the problem will have been eradicated. Share this book with others, Quinn has said something like "even if you reach just one person, that one may reach a million".

Okay, you're probably thinking that I'm just someone complaining about having to read it in my freshman year's honors English class. No, I was not forced to read this. I read it far before it was on the reading list. Just wanted to clear that up. Back to the review. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is an intriguing autobiography of a man obsessed with tampering with the laws of nature by reversing them. This novel shows how man deals with failure and loss. Unfortunatly, Victor Frankenstein dealt with failure and loss the wrong way and... Wait, I don't want to give away the ending. Anyway, Mary Shelley creates a clever plot and adds some gruesome happenings and romance, combining the three to make one of the most famous horror stories. Unfortunatly, for those of you still hooked to video games and fast-paced action, you may have a difficult time reading this for it tends to drag out at some points. But that's how literature is, you'll just have to deal with it. Apart from that, I would definitly recommend this book to just about anyone.

Victor Frankenstein's creation had murdered members of his family and strangled to death his fiance on their wedding night fulfilling his threat to "be with you on your wedding night" and warned Victor, "You are my creator but I am your master." As Victor centered his life around creating the monster, he would later center it around hunting down and killing his creation. This manhunt would expend Victor's life and prove his efforts futile to catch an untouchable and nameless monster. This novel is full of enduring themes of ambition, friendship, and the conflict between the two, psychology, oppression and rebellion, the dangers of scientific and intellectual advancement, and societal injustice. The writing itself isn't great but it's the story and the themes that make this a great classic.

Shelley wrote this book influenced by the period of time in which she lived, the Romantic Period. This was the response to the previous time, the Age of Enlightenment. In the Enlightened Age, reasoning was deemed of utmost importance and people thought that there were natural laws and that reason plus these natural laws would equal progress. By progress, they meant not only advancement, but unlimited advancement, that society would continue to move closer and closer to perfection. In Frankenstein, we see the result of so much logic and reason- the creation of a monster. In the story there seems to be no natural laws governing the world. The Romantic Period accounted for emotion like reasoning and logic cannot. The monster as the center of the novel shows us as his direst need a companion, as does Frankenstein himself.

When I think of what natural laws would govern the world, Justice comes to mind as the most important. Throughout this whole story, justice is so dearly lacking. Injustice leads to more injustice. The monster is born into unforgiving circumstances that were not his fault. His creator rejects him immediately. Throughout his life, the monster found himself rejected by everyone for the repulsive looks his creator gave him. The monster even suffered rejection of the impoverished family he ardently and sacrificially helped. When he saved a girl from drowning, her father shot him. The monster yearned desperately for a mate of his kind, which Victor denied him for fear the two would breed an entire race of fiends or that she, too would reject him and there would be two fiends. Decide this debate between the monster and Victor for yourself. Even if Victor was right to deny him a mate, it was still an injustice for the monster. After all, the monster could not help the disadvantages he was born into and he strove mightily to be virtuous. He exercised his will and responsibility strongly, but to no avail. The poor thing begs for just one friend and he is denied this. The innocent Justine (a play on the word "Justice") is executed for the monster's crime; the monster eventually slays several innocent people he doesn't even know. Injustice is what moves the plot of Frankenstein.

Shelley's novel disputes the importance and promise of natural laws, reasoning, and the idea of progress. It introduces emotion and intuition. Frankenstein studied laboriously but failed because he left the monster emotionally neglected and rejected. When Victor first learns of the murder of an innocent member of his family, he intuitively knows it was the doing of the monster- he offers no reasoning or deduction as to how he knows. The monster hounds Victor and seems to supernatually know where he is at all times.

One of the many interpretations of Frankenstein is that it was a product of the Romantic Period, which was a response to the Age of Enlightenment. My own evaluation of reasoning vs emotion is that our logic must be in control of us always but that emotions are a part of us too and must be satisfied.

This book is a great read. The main character is not the monster, but the scientist Victor Frankenstein who creates him. The story is told from his point of view, and reads wonderfully. It's a bit like a journal, beginning with a line something like 'I was born in..', and truly can be called a 'story'. It is not what I expected, not as scary as I thought it would be, and the monster is very different to the typical image most people have of him. Although, however, the author leaves a lot about his features to the imagination. The story takes place in Switzerland, England, the Arctic, and other places around Europe. Mary Shelley paints a beautiful canvas through her descriptions of mountains, rivers, the sky and sea, the sun and the moon, castles, towns and villages, relating human emotions to them. In different parts of the story, both Victor and the monster spend days and weeks in isolation to dwell on their troubles. Nature plays a role and has an effect on their thoughts and emotions. The monster often sees the sun, the shade of the trees, and songs of the birds as his only companions.

The monster torments Victor by murdering those close to him. The author leaves you to decide on these events, and sometimes you sympathise with the monster, sometimes you cannot accept any excuse for his misdeeds. The victims are as innocent as can be and poor Victor has to bear so much grief, but the monster is alone and repulsed by the whole of mankind. Both creator and creation suffer. I won't dwell on the themes of these points as I'm sure other reviewers can do better, I'll just say the book is wonderful. Read it if you like good stories with a nice unhurried pace, and if you don't mind getting a little depressed. And, even if you do mind, read it anyway, it's such a short book.

Christopher Rice's debut novel is a real page turner. It's the story of four young friends; Stephen, Greg, Meredith, and Brandon growing up in New Orleans, and how their lives are pulled in different directions as they grow up, enter high school, and drift apart. What an imagination this author has as there is everything in this book, including murder, suicide, and an unexpected ending. I thought the character of Stephen was well written and one that many young gay men can sympathize with because he is treated as an outcast by his friends in a school that viciously mocks him and makes his life miserable. Chris has written a book that makes you care about the characters, wonder what's going to happen to them next, and draws you right to the ending, non-stop, wishing and hoping there was more to learn and read about these people. In other words, you don't want the story to end, or to say goodbye to these people you have come to know. A wonderful debut novel. I certainly look forward to more from this new author over the coming years.

I have never read an Ann Rice novel, and probably never will. I picked up a copy of Christopher Rice's novel because of the fascinating cover art and the great poem on the back cover. It was only after I finished the book and read the bio that I realized Christopher was Ann Rice's son.

Rice's descriptions of New Orleans are fantastic. He paints a vivid picture of the unique city with his poetic words. Indeed, since reading the book I am longing to visit the city once again. Throughout the book, as the mystery unfolds, I felt a connection with each one of the main characters. I saw a bit of myself in everyone of them at some point. Love, anger, frustration, longing and passion are the threads that hold this story together. I will look forward to a film version sometime in the future. I think the book lends itself well to film as long as the film makers don't lose the essence of the book in the process.

I finally talked myself into buying a copy of "A Density of Souls" this morning. I was planning on it being a typical gay coming of age story with all the cliques and stereotypes--boy was I wrong. I started reading the novel at 2:30p.m. and was done later that evening. I truely could not put it down. The world that Christopher Rice created captured me and refused to let me go.

His descriptions were vivid, to the point, and contained examples of witty humor which brought characters and places to life.

The work was realist and believable. Topics were neither sugar-coated nor overly exploided. The novel opened us up to views that we would often overlook on our own. Character behavior
and development was explained by examples of family life and past experiances of characters.

This novel brought joy, saddness, arousal, and anger too me all in a matter of hours.

This may not be the book that you are expecting, but it is amazing and I would encourage everyone to read it.

"It is as if Emily Bronte could tear up all that we know human beings by, and fill these unrecognizable transparencies with such a gust of life that they transcend reality." -Virginia Woolf

Damn straight, sister! I gotta tell you, read this book in the *summer time*. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, read this in the gloom of winter, as I stupidly did.

The epic story of Catherine and Heathcliff plays out against the dramatic backdrop of the wild English moors, and presents an astonishing vision of fate and obsession, passion and REVENGE.

This classic book is a bummer. Not that it's bad writing, but my oh my.. it makes you so sad! Your heart just goes out for Heathcliff and the depression he faces. But also, the um... "inter-breeding" (*blush*) is quite disturbing!! One cousin marries one other cousin and they have kids who marry their other cousins, I was just surprised that the whole lot of them weren't, "messed up".

I really wouldn't recommend this book for happy people. If you want some romance and a historical novel, read "Gone with the Wind". My favorite.

Wuthering Heights is a classic only in the sense that it was written in the 19th century. But it is a compelling story w/ dark, violent passions, and emotions of love and hate. Heathcliff's only goal in life is to seek revenge on anyone associated w/ the Earnshaws and Lintons. His love for Catherine is evident, but his hate is chillingly cruel and violent that touches everyone between the two estates. Only when he is w/ Catherine is he pacified. Catherine is torn between her true love Heathcliff, and her duties to marry someone of her station in life. But she doesn't understand her love and emotions for Heathcliff. (Which makes me believe she's too childish, spoiled, and bratty to handle her emotions rationally or she's a manic depressive). It's a dark passionate story that is compelling to read. Unfortunately it's also hard to follow in the third person narrators. The long winded descriptions makes the book drag (which explains the 300 pages). And what in heaven's name is Joseph saying? Are most uneducated people of countryside England so hard to understand? This book isn't for the light reader. If you want something easier and more light hearted, go for Charlotte Brönte's "Jane Eyre." Or books by Jane Austen.

"Wuthering Heights" is, with Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," my alltime favorite book. I've read it several times, beginning at age twelve. Even when I was too young to understand all of its complexities, I still appreciated its highly atmospheric qualities and the magic that makes it timeless.

Over the years, I've asked myself, time and time again, just what it is about "Wuthering Heights" that gives it such power. I've finally come to the conclusion that "Wuthering Heights" endures simply because its characters dare to feel things and act in ways the rest of us don't. We all have times when we're tempted by obsession and revenge, but most of us don't act on those temptations. At times, we all feel driven almost to madness and we all have a wild side (some of us more than others) that finds perfect expression in the character of Heathcliff. In this book, the characters are always threatening to break the bounds of respectibility and civility.

While some people see "Wuthering Hieghts" as the ultimate love story, I've never found much love in this book, not even between Catherine and Heathcliff. What I have found are obsession and revenge. Love would have watered this story down; obsession and revenge crank it up. Love is an acceptable (even prized) emotion; obsession and the desire for revenge, though felt my many, are definitely frowned upon. The fact that Emily Bronte allows her characters to give in to obsession, to go mad, to exact revenge, gives her novel a distinctly disturbing, unsettling power.

There are many criticisms of this novel that attempt to analyze what Emily Bronte was trying to say. Many compare the domesticity of Thrushcross Grange to the isolation and wildness of Wuthering Heights. These ctiticisms don't interest me in the slightest. No matter how educated Emily Bronte was or wasn't, she certainly didn't study psychoanalysis and she certainly didn't write her novel keeping the finer points of analysis in mind. Emily Bronte was, by all accounts, a highly imaginative girl who cared more for the world of fantasy than for reality. Approach her book as literature; enjoy it and don't attempt to "pull it apart."

Many people have said that the "second generation" in this book redeems the one that preceded it; i.e., Cathy and Hareton redeem Catherine and Heathcliff. I can't agree with that assessment. All of the characters in "Wuthering Heights" show themselves to be capable of violence and obsession (even Edgar). I think, in seeing the "second generation" as restorative, we deny many of the passions inherent in this book. Catherine and Heathcliff are the characters most given to wild emotions but they are not the only ones; all of the characters can and do resort to violence when it suits their needs.

"Wuthering Heights" is one of those rare books: a truly inspired masterpiece. It has a very unsettling, disturbing, even fascinating quality about it because it touches the darkest regions of our soul. Heathcliff is the dark side in all of us; the side we don't enjoy even acknowledging and Catherine's failure to deal with her obsesion reminds us that we, too, can fail, we all are vulnerable to Catherine's fate.

"Wuthering Heights" is a stormy, unsettling, often violent book that explores the darkest side of human nature. Its beauty is raw and savage; its emotions spill over the constraints of civility and common sense. It's a powerful book (one of the most powerful in all of literature). It's a work of genius that's truly unforgettable.

I have to admit that I have not really given Jack London his proper due up to now. Perhaps it is because I don't by my nature like outdoor adventure type stories, or perhaps it is because I associate White Fang and "To Build a Fire" with my youth. The fact is that Jack London is a tremendously talented writer. His understanding of the basics of life matches his great knowledge of the snow-enshrouded world of the upper latitudes. The Call of the Wild, despite its relative brevity and the fact that it is (at least on its surface) a dog's story, contains as much truth and reality of man's own struggles as that which can be sifted from the life's work of many another respected author. The story London tells is starkly real; as such, it is not pretty, and it is not elevating. As an animal lover, I found parts of this story heartbreaking: Buck's removal from the civilized Southland in which he reigned supreme among his animal kindred to the brutal cold and even more brutal machinations of hard, weathered men who literally beat him and whipped him full of lashes is supremely sad and bothersome. Even sadder are the stories of the dogs that fill the sled's traces around him. Poor good-spirited Curly never has a chance, while Dave's story is made the more unbearable by his brave, undying spirit. Even the harsh taskmaster Spitz has to be pitied, despite his harsh nature, for the reader knows full well that this harsh nature was forced upon him by man and his thirst for gold. Buck's travails are long and hard, but the nobility of his spirit makes of him a hero--this despite the fact that his primitive animal instincts and urges continually come to dominate him, pushing away the memory and reality of his younger, softer days among civilized man. Buck not only conquers all--the weather, the harshness of the men who harness his powers in turn, the other dogs and wolves he comes into contact with--he thrives. This isn't a story to read when you are depressed. London's writing is beautiful, poignant, and powerful, but it is also somber, sometimes morose, infinitely real, and at times gut-wrenching and heartbreaking.

The two rivals circle the ring, probing for any point of weakness. The duel has lasted longer than either competitor had anticipated. Weakened by fatigue, the challenger feints high and goes for a crippling blow. No, this is not a boxing title match in Las Vegas. This is a life-and-death struggle of one domestic dog for survival in the cold, icy, barren regions of the Alaskan plains. This is a clash between the civilized and the primordial. This is the conflict between domestication and liberation. This is the Call of the Wild.

Jack London centers his story on a dog by the name of Buck. Buck is a big, strong dog, his father being a St. Bernard and his mother being a Scottish shepherd dog. At one hundred and forty pounds, Buck was no mere house pet. Kept physically strong with a love of rigorous swimming and constant outdoor exercise, Buck was a lean, formidable dog. Undoubtedly, his great condition was part of the reason that the gardener's helper dog-napped and sold him to dog traders, who in turn sold him to Canadian government mail couriers. The gold rush in Alaska had created a huge demand for good dogs, which eventually led to the "disappearances" of many dogs on the West Coast. Buck was no exception. He was sold into a hostile environment, which was unforgiving and harsh. Although civilization domesticated him from birth, Buck soon begins almost involuntarily to rediscover himself, revealing a "primordial urge", a natural instinct, which London refers to as the Call of the Wild.

This book is set in the Klondike, a region in Alaska that was literally stormed by thousands of men looking to get rich quick via the gold rush. Transportation was increasingly important, but horses were near useless in winter, prone to slip and fall on snow and ice. Dogs were by far the best means of transportation in Alaska at the time, somewhere near the end of the 19th century. As the demand for dogs grew, the prices for good dogs skyrocketed. This price hike inevitably created a black-market- style selling of dogs, and the gardener's helper Manuel did what many men did; they sold the dogs for a good price.

A recurring theme in London's novel is the clash between natural instinct and domesticated obedience. Soon after the dog traders captured Buck, a man broke him with a club. Buck is thoroughly humiliated, but learned an all-important truth of the wild: The law of club and fang. Kill or be killed. Survival is above all. Buck resolved to himself to give way to men with clubs. In the beginning, Buck had problems with this new restriction, but learned that when his masters' hands hold whips or clubs, he must concede. However, that did not keep Buck from doing little deeds like stealing a chunk of bacon behind his masters' backs. However, as London says, "He did not steal for joy of it, but because of the clamor of his stomach . In short, the things he did were done because it was easier to do them than not to do them." In this way Buck learns the way of the wild but also acknowledges his inferiority to men with clubs or whips. Eventually in this novel, Buck throws away his old life completely and replaces it with his natural urge, the primordial version of himself, the Call of the Wild.

Another underlying theme is the relationship between dog and master. In the beginning, Buck is acquainted with the Judge with a dignified friendship, his sons with hunting partnership, his grandsons with protective guardianship, the mail couriers Francois and Perrault with a mutual respect. Against the man with a club he despised but gave respect. However, when Buck met John Thornton, he loved his master for the first time ever. There wasn't anything Buck wouldn't do for his master. Twice Buck saved Thornton's life, and pulled a thousand pounds of weight for Thornton's sake. Even after Buck routinely left his master's camp to flirt with nature, Buck always came back to appreciate his kind master. However, even after Thornton was gone and Buck had released all memories of his former life, Buck never forgot the kind hands of his master, even after answering the Call of the Wild.

Jack London truly brings Buck to life. Using a limited 3rd person view, the reader is told of Buck's thoughts and actions. Obviously, London gave several ideal human qualities to Buck, including a sharp wit, rational reasoning, quick thinking, and grounded common sense. However, he does not over-exaggerate the humanity in Buck, which would have given an almost cartoon-like feeling for a reader. Rather, being a good observer, London saw how dogs acted and worked backwards, trying to infer what the dogs think. The result is a masterful blend of human qualities and animal instinct that is entirely believable. It is obvious that Buck's experience was similar to many other dogs' experiences.

The Call of the Wild focuses on a house pet named Buck who is stolen from his comfortable life and inserted into a harsh life working as a husky dog in Alaska. Buck becomes acquainted with some vicious animals and begins slowly to de-evolve. He reverts back to a wolf like his ancestors were before him. The Call of the Wild is useful as an historic tribute to the Alaskan Gold Rush. It tells of the hardship up in Alaska through the eyes of a dog but it's about more than a search for a metal. It's about an animal de-evolving. He is removed from domesticated life and finds the life of a working dog difficult at first but he eventually grows to love it. A man saves him from his turmoil and he becomes domesticated again but he can't silence the wolf inside him. On the death of his new master he reverts to the wild where he stays forever. How can this be classified as a children's book? This is one of the most adult stories I have ever read and I don't think any child will get the books qualities. This can only be appreciated by very mature adults but if you can appreciate you're life will be better for it. This is a great read - an all time classic.