** spoiler alert ** 
 I had forgotten how brutal this story was. Men beating dogs, dogs fighting with each other, and dogs sometimes starving were all part of Buck's life after he was kidnapped from his home in California. He was a big dog who was sold by and to disreputable men and shuttled off to Alaska at the time of the gold rush. Poor Buck was whipped and clubbed (literally and figuratively) into submission. Fortunately he did find happiness, both with a man (and his friends and other dogs) and then with a wolf pack. 
 The book anthropomorphized its depiction of Buck, attributing an almost human quality to him. He was smart, loyal, friendly and hard-working ... unless you crossed him. He could also be vicious and vengeful. Although I loved the "humanness" when I read this the first time, this time I felt it went a little too far. I certainly believe that animals can (and do) feel all of those things but Buck was almost superhuman-esque! He could do anything, achieve anything - he was better, smarter, faster than anyone or anything. 
 It is a good story, though was hard to read. The treatment of the dogs by some of the men was just terrible. I'm not a violent person, but there was a team of husband, wife and her brother who bought 14 dogs, had no idea what they were doing, overfed the dogs and ran out of food halfway through the journey, didn't seem to realize that dogs needed to rest - they beat the dogs mercilessly. More than half of the dogs died of hunger and fatigue. The few left, including Buck, could barely move. Buck was saved when someone on the trail intervened on his behalf, but the three people and the remaining dogs pushed on when they shouldn't have - they fell through the ice. I grieved for the poor half-dead dogs who drowned but cheered that those hideous people died! Perhaps another good things about books ... allowing us to express emotions we wouldn't ordinarily express! 
 Anyway, London's writing is really beautiful - I could see and feel the story. I enjoyed it and, of course, the end is fun and Buck is amazing.