Finished: The Call of the Wild (London). Short, but very sweet. :-) At first I thought it would break my heart too much to read....especially when Buck, the dog, is stolen from his owners in California to be taken and turned into a sled dog in Alaska. However, the book being from the dog's point of view quickly shows his strength, courage and adaptability. He suffers terrible hardships, but finally finds that true love between man and dog when John Thornton rescues him from his last sled master, a stupid and cruel man. The wild calls to Buck, in the form of his semi-brethren, the wolves...yet Buck doesn't want to leave Thornton. When John Thornton perishes, then Buck is finally free to answer the "call of the wild". I'm pretty sure I read this book years ago, but I'm not sure if I did. In any event, I liked it and loved Buck!

Here Buck finally realizes what it is to be truly loved by a human, and to love back:

For the most part, however, Buck's love was expressed in adoration. While he went wild with happiness when Thornton touched him or spoke to him, he did not seek these tokens. Unlike Skeet, who was wont to shove her nose under Thornton's hand and nudge and nudge till petted, or Nig, who would stalk up and rest his great head on Thornton's knee, Buck was content to adore at a distance. He would lie by the hour, eager, alert, at Thornton's feet, looking up into his face, dwelling upon it, studying it, following with keenest interest each fleeting expression, every movement or change of feature. Or, as chance might have it, he would lie farther away, to the side or rear, watching the outlines of the man and the occasional movements of his body. And often, such was the communion in which they lived, the strength of Buck's gaze would draw John Thornton's head around, and he would return the gaze, without speech, his heart shining out of his eyes as Buck's heart shone out.

And at the end, after Thornton is gone and Buck has proven his superiority to the wolf pack, he goes to the wild with his wolf brothers:

Then an old wolf, gaunt and battle-scarred, came forward. Buck writhed his lips into the preliminary of a snarl, but sniffed noses with him, Whereupon the old wolf sat down, pointed nose at the moon, and broke out the long wolf howl. The others sat down and howled. And now the call came to Buck in unmistakable accents. He, too, sat down and howled. This over, he came out of his angle and the pack crowded around him, sniffing in half-friendly, half-savage manner. The leaders lifted the yelp of the pack and sprang away into the woods. The wolves swung in behind, yelping in chorus. And Buck ran with them, side by side with the wild brother, yelping as he ran.