ByMarlida

THE CALL OF THE WILD
BY JACK LONDON
PUBLISHED: 1903
AVERAGE RATING: 3.80
172 PAGES
READ: NOVEMBER 6TH - NOVEMBER 9TH 2015
★★★★☆
It's a coincidence that I stumbled over this exciting adventure of a book. I can see that it's known as a typical book encountered at school, but we never had it, so it's completely new to me. I read about it online, and decided to check it out - and soon enough I was fading into the world of Buck and his beautiful adventure.

The Call of the Wild was written by Jack London and was first published in 1903. It holds the genres classics, adventure, young adult and historical fiction.

Buck is a crossbreed canine (half st. Bernhards and half shepard), a dog born into the luxury of a warm and welcoming family in California. One day, he is kidnapped and sold to be a sled dog in the Yukon territory, a freezingly cold and unknown place for a dog that never in his life has seen snow. Passed from master to master, Buck must learn the harsh rules of this new life where only the strongest survive. 

There are many reasons to why I'll remember this book. First of all is probably London's wonderfully detailed despriction of the nature. It's easy to picture exactly what it looks like up in the snowy and cold Alaskan terrain. Secondly, this is a classic story of a character developing to find itself becoming something completely different then what it was from before. It's genuinly exciting to read about all the obstacles and challenges Buck has to go through just for surviving. It's a story about a dog discovering the truth about himself, and about what the world is like. It's sad, it's funny and it warms your heart throughout the whole book.

“There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.”

London also writes brilliantly. His descpriptions of Buck's thoughts is amazing, and the way Buck sometimes just does'nt think about things because it's just instinct, but at the same time can reflect over other things makes a perfect balance when making an animal the main character.

“Deep in the forest a call was sounding, and as often as he heard this call, mysteriously thrilling and luring, he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it, and to plunge into the forest, and on and on, he knew not where or why; nor did he wonder where or why, the call sounding imperiously, deep in the forest.”

This is simply a really good story with deep character development and amazing descriptions. It's worth the few hours it takes to read it, because it's not really a long story at all.

THE LIGHTNING THIEF (#1 PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS)
BY RICK RIORDAN
PUBLISHED: 2005
AVERAGE RATING: 4.20
377 PAGES
★★★☆☆

Percy Jackson is about to kicked out of boarding school, again. Lately mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus is walking straight out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology textbook and into his life, and the worst thing is that some of them are angry with him. Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus’ stolen property and bring it to Mount Olympus. On the way he has to come to terms with his father who abandoned him, solve the riddle of the Oracle, and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

I bought these books after wanting to read them as a kid, and actually bought them from Ida Elise. I started reading, and my first impression is that it’s a lot like Harry Potter in the way it’s written - because it’s a children’s book. It’s easy to read, and it’s exciting. Here you’ll meet a heroic boy, his friends Grover and Annabeth who joins him on his journey to find Zeus’ lightning bolt.

What I love about these books is the Greek mythology, where we find centaurs, minotaurs, furies, and creatures like Graeae (three old women with one tooth and one eye among them), Chiron (Known for training Hercules), Cerberus (the three-headed giant hound guarding the gates of the Underworld), Wood nymphs(beautiful minor goddess women who lives in the forest), Gorgons (Like Medusa), Charon (a ferryman at the river Styx) and many many more.

The books have lots of action for children, and what I love about these books is that Riordan has given life to the old Greek mythology which has always interested me. Once again we meet a trio of brave children, featuring dark forces and creatures from all parts of the world, magic and heroes. This is the kind of book you read and hope that you'll one day get to be a part of this magnificent adventure yourself.

I think that it may suit children and teens from the age of 8-16, it's easy read books with meaningful morals. I think that they're fun to read, sometimes it's nice to just sit down and read something that isn't that complicated.