Is The Call of the Wild hard to read? Its reading level from A1 to C2
How many words in every 100 you will probably not know, at each level from A1 to C2. Estimated over the whole book with Solaread’s own word-difficulty model.
- Author
- Jack London
- First published
- 1903
- Length
- About 30,600 words
- Copyright
- Public domain
Short answer
Just right only at C2: 4.2 new words in every 100. At B1 it is too hard, 13.1 in 100. It is the hardest of the 20 English classics we measured.
New words per 100, by level
Estimated over all 30,578 running words. Character names are left out. The labels follow Solaread’s difficulty scale: Easy means knowing 98 of every 100 words, Just right 95, A little hard 90, and below that Too hard.
The Call of the Wild vocabulary by level
At A2
- sled65×
- dog170×
- trail42×
- trace35×
- camp56×
- tooth30×
- foot57×
- leap27×
- hundred38×
- cry32×
- snow34×
- wolf26×
The 12 words an A2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 5% of the new words at this level.
At B1
- sled65×
- leap27×
- howl18×
- huskies18×
- harness19×
- snarl17×
- toil17×
- tooth30×
- bristle15×
- whip23×
- yelp14×
- trace35×
The 12 words a B1 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 6% of the new words at this level.
At B2
- sled65×
- snarl17×
- howl18×
- huskies18×
- toil17×
- bristle15×
- yelp14×
- growl13×
- half-breed11×
- husky12×
- fang12×
- limp13×
The 12 words a B2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 8% of the new words at this level.
The opening lines
Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost.
Buck lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller’s place, it was called.
Open the free EPUB in Solaread and the words it marks follow your own level, with glosses in the language you choose.
Books with a similar level
- Wuthering Heights12.1 new words per 100 at B1
- Heart of Darkness12.2 at B1
- Frankenstein12.7 at B1
Questions
Is The Call of the Wild hard to read?
At B1 it is too hard, with 13.1 new words in every 100 (about one in 8). It is just right only at C2.
What is the reading level of The Call of the Wild?
On Solaread’s scale it is just right only at C2, and the hardest of the 20 English classics we measured. At B2, 8.6 in every 100 words are new.
Where can I get The Call of the Wild for free?
It is in the public domain. Project Gutenberg has a free EPUB you can import into Solaread.
Read it with help only where you need it
Import the free EPUB. Solaread marks the words you probably don’t know, at your level.