The Call of the Wild

“T’ree vair’ good dogs,” Francois told Perrault. “Dat Buck, heem pool lak hell. I tich heem queek as anyt’ing.”

Maybe you’ll instantly recognize this dialogue from the classic book, The Call of the Wild, by Jack London. The Call of the Wild is described as a short adventure novel, published in 1903. The book is about the struggles of a very large dog named Buck. His adventures in the harsh environment of Yukon, Canada during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush tell a thrilling story. This column isn’t so much a description of the book as it is the reason I’m doing this as an audiobook.

When COVID-19 hit, libraries across the U.S. closed their inhouse services but their online services continued. Librarians and their boards recognized a need to beef up the available services. The online checking out of an audiobook became one valuable service especially for people that have issues with their vision. But to make things a bit more enticing, a local library chose to present a book on its YouTube channel narrated by me.

A member of the staff at the Crystal Lake Public Library asked me whether I might be interested in narrating The Call of the Wild. I’ve been one of the many Friends of the CLPL for years, and the library board had known that during my 45 year radio career, I had read books to children at elementary schools. They figured I’d welcome an opportunity to read a good story to those not able to get out during COVID-19. Maybe a voice the public has heard and can easily recognize from the past could take their mind off their troubles for at least a little while.

I had never recorded an audiobook before. It’s much easier to produce 30-second spots (commercials) on radio or even read a 90-second newscast than read an entire book. But I was interested in doing this to help people enjoy a good story by bringing it to life through my eyes and voice. What I didn’t know was that London used quite a few big words in writing The Call of the Wild, and he scattered a few French words and dialogue into the book. French wasn’t a language I studied in high school or college. However, I felt up to the challenge and hope that I’ve not butchered too many of London’s fabulous descriptive passages and action.

It’s a stretch to say that you can identify with the dogs in the story, but you could feel for the animals because of the quality of London’s writing. You’re there in the Yukon watching Buck on trace and trail with a long mail run. You can feel the hurt as the dogs are whipped or clubbed to get them moving faster.

In the process of starting a chapter, I’d read through first and look for action sequences and difficult words that might cause problems. I’d practice the action sequences and find the pronunciation of the words I wasn’t sure I’d pronounce correctly. Then I’d go into my home studio and bring up Adobe Audition on my computer and bring in the music opening recorded by my voice over associate Joe Schmidt and I’d write an introduction before I’d start reading the entire chapter using a computer and a Sony Linear PCM Recorder-A10 with a USB port connector. When I was finished, I’d edit my mistakes out on Adobe Audition and listen to the entire reading to make sure I didn’t miss an edit. At last I’d send the finished chapter to CLPL via Dropbox. This recording process of sending the finished chapter is about a six hour marathon. The reading of a chapter typically lasts on average 40-minutes. After editing and tightening of the reading, it’s about 25-to-30 minutes per chapter.

The first few chapters are already on the Crystal Lake Public Library YouTube site. Please go to CLPL.org and view Calendar. Virtual – Stew Cohen reads The Call of the Wild Chapter(#). Visit the CLPL YouTube Channel to listen to Chapter 1. Every Sunday through July 5, I’ll read a chapter (seven chapters in total) at 7 p.m. and it’ll appear on YouTube. Join me won’t you and experience the world of Buck and the harsh realities of living in the Yukon. Take your mind off the struggles of today for 30 minutes with a good story of perseverance.

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