Ricky Schroder

licked it

PLOT SUMMARY

FINAL THOUGHTS

Please be aware that, while thecontains a number of, young, who starred in the movie version of the novel, willappear...Ithat would raise theof this report tolevels.Awwww www.....the classic “coming of age” story, with the nifty twister of having the main character be a pawky puppy going on doggiehood. I reallyliked it, so two paws up there.BTW, I'm not going to slow down for spoilers, except for the very end, as I assume most people reading this are pretty familiar with the story. Plus, in this case, knowing the story elements shouldn't have much of an impact on the reader's enjoyment, since it's the experience of the journey that holds the power. Of course, if you disagree, than you are welcome to go blurry-eyed over the words and just focus on the pics...that's why they're there.Our main character is Buck, a Saint Bernard. When we are first introduced to our husky headliner, the Buckster isand living a happy, carefree existence with his kindly owner.Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your opinion of how Buck’s life turns out in the end, Buck is puppynapped by an odious offalhead with a gambling problem**.Okay, now back on review.This is where things start to go really FUBAR for Buck. Our young hero is shipped to Alaska, where he's sold to a pair of French Canadians to be trained as a sled dog. Having a lot of spunky spirit, Buck doesn't take kindly to being stolen, starved and struck, and so goes into rather violent attack mode when finally released from his cage after the long journey.Sadly, Buck is quickly “beat down” and seemingly “broken” as part of his training as a sled dog. In reality (and just between you and me), Buck isn’t broken at all, but learns enough “self control” to act the part while secretly maintaining his desire to be free. You know, like this poor fella:While held by the Frenchies from North of the border, Buck is introduced to other dogs being housed there, and quickly learns the ugly reality of “survival of the fittest” by which the dogs live. Eventually, Buckers becomes a pack leader due to his size, strength and intelligence (remember we are talking a big Saint Bernard here):Later, Buck is sold to a man named Charles and his family. These people are all kinds of stupid and know exatcly zippo about sledding or surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. They are simply caught up in the fever of the Klondike Gold Rush and trying to strike it rich. Initially, Buck is, sigh, resigned to follow their lead even though he senses their overabundance of incompetence is going to lead to some fugly mishap for him. However, it soon becomes apparent that the family’s bungling stupidity and complete lack of understanding regarding everything from sledding, to the harsh Alaskan environment, to the fact that snow is cold, is leading everyone to a "DANGER Will Robinson" moment. Having no comprehension of how long or hard the journey to the Yukon will be, Charles and his family initially waste the food supply by overfeeding the dogs thinking it will make them more able to endure the long work day. Holy Moly Canolli is this a bad idea!! Anyone who owns a dog knows they will continue to eat as long as you continue to feed...even to the point of:As you might expect, the food supply soon dwindles. Charles and the other wizards begin to basically starve the dogs while expecting them to work even harder and sled longer during the day. Uh....anyone else see trouble-a-brewing.Eventually (thank the stars), the group runs into an experienced mountain man named John Thornton. I won’t give away what happens next except to say that John rescues Buck from the group and nurses him back to health. This is such sweet, tender moment in the story that I thought it deserved an equally sweet picture, thus:Buck comes to love Thornton and grows devoted to him, though he still feels a calling to be free (no marriage jokes, please....please). During his time with Thornton, Buck begins exploring the wilderness and becomes acquainted with the wolves from the area.*******MAJOR SPOILER ALERT*******MAJOR SPOILER ALERT******* MAJOR SPOILER ALERT******* MAJOR SPOILER ALERT*******Okay, for those of you still with me, one night, Buck returns from hunting to find that Thornton has been brutally killed by a group of local Indians. As you can imagine, Buck is a wee bit upset at this and decides that maybe the Indians... .......And so Buck goes absolutely BUCK WILD (yep, that's where the expression came from, how cool is that). From there, as far as the Indians are concerned, it is:You mess with Buck's friend and you are just asking for five varieties of trouble.Afterwards, Buck comes to understand that his old life is over and follows the wolves into the wild to live as a part of the pack.*******END OF MAJOR SPOILER ALERT*******END OF MAJOR SPOILER ALERT******* END OF MAJOR SPOILER ALERT******* END OF MAJOR SPOILER ALERT*******Overall, being an animal lover, I couldn't help but love Buck and his story was interesting. There were also parts that were difficult to deal with for the same reason. I loved the final resolution of the story and the contrast between puppy Buck at the beginning of the story and the doggie Buck at the end. I didn't rate this higher because I didn't love the prose as much as the puppy and the pacing, even for such a short book, was a little uneven.Still, there is much to recommend this and I would certainly support your checking this classic out.3.5 stars. RECOMMENDED.