I don't always reread the entire book along with my students. I've no problem letting them correct me when I get a plot element wrong, but I prefer to have the story fresh in my mind when we discuss it. Since I teach middle school, the most difficult text we're usually talking about is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, so rereading along with the class is no great time sacrifice on my part.
However, I do end up rereading books more than I would otherwise, sometimes many more times than the book deserves.
Jack London's The Call of the Wild is the current case in point. I'm rereading it again this year for at least the eighth time, maybe the tenth or eleventh, I lose track. I've decided to use it with by my high and low level classes this year, so I'm actually re-reading it twice, sometimes three times a day when schedules overlap. I may end up knowing the book by heart like one of the strange villagers at the end of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.
I'm surprised to say this, but The Call of the Wild is a darn good little book. I've no illusions about it's literary quality. It's a book meant to be read by a camp fire, clenched in both fists, furiously racing through the fight scenes in a voice meant to frighten my little brother, but it's also darn well written.
For example, two of the three classes reading it have just completed chapter five when Buck is rescued from the ill-fated trio of humans Charles, Hal and Mercedes who end up dying along with what's left of their dogs when the ice breaks along the river they are crossing. (One class broke out in applause when this happened.) In the closing line of chapter five, Buck sits quietly by John Thornton who has saved his life, licking the man's hand.
This little lick probably goes un-noticed by most readers, but it's a significant gesture. Earlier in the book, when Buck suffered under the hands of the man in the red sweater, he saw many other dogs beaten into submission--some, like him, stood up to the man while others submitted right away even licking the man's hand to show their willingness to please. Buck looked upon them with disgust. He would never do such a thing.
Here, at the close of chapter five, Jack London shows so much about his characters in this simple gesture, clearly establishing that this man will be different from all the others Buck has met since leaving his home in Santa Clara, California.
I was impressed.
I thought I knew everything there was to know about The Call of the Wild--a second tier classic, lots of action, a little too much philosophizing, bits about Nietzschean supermen here and there, admittedly a problem or two with race and women but not too bad considering it was written in 1903. I didn't expect to find myself so impressed with Jack London's writing. He's really very good.
The Call of the Wild is my new favorite book.
14 comments:
I keep meaning to read this. I think I might have read some of it as a child but I'm not convinced I got very far.
Have you read Wolf: The Lives of Jack London? It's a really fascinating bio. He certainly lived an interesting life.
I love this book. I don't think I've read it eight times, but quite a few myself! And I love that every time I read it, I find something new to appreciate.
I loved that book. I did read "The Diary of Anne Frank" four times and "Little Women" when I was a child.
I remember reading and enjoying this in school, but much of the plot is now a bit vague in my head. It is lovely to hear this stands up so well to multiple re-reads. It is probably time I picked it up again.
My own experience with college professors is that they re-read everything they assigned almost every time they assigned it. Blogging professors like Rohan Maitzen seem to do the same thing.
I remember an English prof telling me he was reading The Grapes of Wrath for the - who knows, 15th time - and that he made new discoveries every time.
aw this makes me want to reread the book!
In my 20 years of teaching introductory college literature classes, I always reread the books and plays I was teaching, and as Tom says, always got something new out of it. My favorite thing to reread has always been Othello; I have parts of it memorized but other parts strike me differently at different points in my life.
At the last place I taught we had a "common book" and I used to like to discuss it differently, telling the students that they had a fair chance to teach me something about it, since I hadn't read it more times than they had.
I've never even considered reading this book but now you have me wanting to! It sounds so amazing!
I teach college, and I always reread any books I'm teaching -- I love rereading them, and I think it's one of the perks of my job. Now I really want to reread The Call of the Wild.
I sit humbled by the college teachers who've commented here. I admit that I do not always reread every book with the students and I confess that we are often talking about very easy books since I do teach 7th grade. In my defense, I always re-read at least part of the book, and some years I've had to re-read the book multiple times since we often read in class.
I really was thinking of my own college professors, the memorable ones. I focused on Victorian literature and never expected the professors to re-read Bleak House, David Copperfield, Our Mutual Friend, Tale of Two Cities and Dombey and Son every year. But maybe they did. I never thought to ask them about this. They certainly knew the material inside out.
I've never ever read this but you have me wanting to … and also thinking how soon would my son be ready for it.
I have read Charlotte's Web many times...as a child and as a mom as as a teacher. Always finding something new.
How wonderful that you've gotten so much out of rereading the books for your class. As a homeschooler, I am terrible--I don't even want to read a book with my younger son that I already read with my oldest. (Of course, if they're reading it to themselves it works out fine--but we always like to read something together as well.)
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