This seems to have started off right where Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (published two years earlier) left off. In the first third, there is way too much ranting and lecturing about socialism to be an engage-able plot. It honestly seems like London read The Jungle and really wanted to write something similar/in support so he cranked this out and slapped his name on it. I was shocked in the differences in writing style, depth of characterization, plot structure and pacing in this compared to London's The Sea Wolf - one of my favorite books.

The premise is essentially how the two male mains are abused by capitalism, revolt despite that abuse and the results of said revolt. The characterization is unfortunately so cliche that the emotional appeal was lost on me. It's hyperbolic to the point of nearly humorous. In classic London fashion there's some terrific one-liners. The last couple chapters and the ending itself were decent, sadly it wasn't enough to save the first 80%.

I really enjoyed Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, Frank Norris' The Octopus, and up until the last couple chapters that detached from the plot, The Jungle; point is it's not the socialism aspect that's causing the poor rating, it's my perception of poor delivery and plot structure.