The Jungle

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Summary: The book that made laws chance!
Review: Can you remember the pressure that built up inside the last time you had an urge to tell someone off? If you can, you'll understand the fury that prompted Upton Sinclair to write The Jungle in 1905. Sinclair was a cheerful man; yet he loved a fight, especially whenever he felt wronged or saw others being treated unfairly. Instead of responding with physical force to injustice, however, he would reach for his favorite weapon--a pen--and dash off a book, an article, or a play to expose the wrongdoer. Or he'd deliver a speech--or run for public office (in fact, in 1934 he even came close to winning the governorship of California!). Furious about the amount of control giant industries had over people's lives at the turn of the century in the United States, Sinclair believed that the greed of the men who ran them had turned the American Dream into a nightmare for millions of workers and consumers. And so he wrote The Jungle in 1905 to alert the nation to the misery of American workers, and to sketch a solution--socialism--to their problems.

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Summary: An Intriguing, Well Writen Book!
Review: The Jungle is probably the best writen book that I have read. This is the gruesom portrayal of Jurgis Rudkus and his family who leave their homes in Lithuania to find the 'better life' in America. What they find is a awful, unfair life, full of hardships, scams, and people out for their own benifit. Though revolting and not writen for those with a weak stomach, this is a revealing and enlightening book that gets its point across! I recomend it to anyone who wants to know the truth about meatpacking during the Industrial Revolution!

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Summary: Interesting! Astonishing! Gruesome!
Review: The Jungle is a very interesting novel by Upton Sinclair. With gruesome facts about Chicago, the meatpacking town, the book makes you quiver. Lots of detail and exciting events have you on edge the whole time. Upton Sinclair writes about a young burly man from Lithuania who travels to Chicago with his soon to be wife, Ona, seeking a new and better life. When they enter Chicago you can smell the pungent odor of all the cow and pig carcasses. You learn about the plight of immigrants, the labor unions and the astonishing corruption of the families. Jurgis and his wife begin to learn the way of life in Chicago. Behind the scenes of the meat packing industries you discover the unbelievable reality of the immigrants life in the city. This revolting book has disgusted me and makes me wonder if meatpacking is any better now than it was.

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Summary: Very slow and descriptive!
Review: The Jungle

My eighth grade class recently finished The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I give this book 2 stars because it is so gruesome. It is a well-written novel and very descriptive but at the same time very disturbing. The book explained about Packing Town in Chicago at the turn of the century and the repulsive way that they slaughtered the pigs and cows. This book upset me in some parts and really got me to think about what I consume, because of the way they described how the animals were slaughtered and how unsafe it was to eat the meat. Also it is definitely a topic that I would not choose to read on my own. I think that The Jungle is a great resource to learn about the meatpacking Industry but I'll warn you not to read it if you are an animal lover.

-Bethany LoMonaco

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Summary: A very well written book.
Review: THE JUNGLE I am in eighth grade and in my language arts class we have recently finished the book, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. I give this book two stars, because it was very well written, except the topic of the book isn't one that I would have picked to read for fun.

The Jungle had a lot of description, especially about the meatpacking industry, which really disgusted me. The plight of the immigrants was really depressing; their living conditions were disgraceful. The food and working situations were also awful.

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Summary: A well written novel about the realities of Packing Town.
Review: I recently read a very well written book called "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. It was extremely descriptive and the writer used many excellent similes. This book was about a strong young immigrant, Jurgis, who journeys to America from Lithuania in hopes of a better life. Accompanying him were; his fiancé, Ona, her stepmother, Elzbieta ,Elzbieta's six children, Jurgis's father, and Ona's cousin Maria. They buy a house and hope for a new and better life in America. The book deals with the repulsive realities of the meat packing industry, the deceitful politicians, and the plight of the immigrant. Throughout Jurgis's life in America he experiences one catastrophic event after the other. Although the book was wonderfully written I probably would not have chosen to read about such a topic.

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Summary: Excellent book that opens your eyes and turns you stomach.
Review: This book is an excellent example of muckraking literature. The book is very good up unitl the point that Sinclair goes into the datails of socialism. Those details lose me about two pages into them. The book is overall well written with good character developement. Jurgis Rudkus is one of the most well written and developed characters that I have ever read. This is an excellent book.

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Summary: Great book
Review: This book was very good. I liked reading it, but the ending was not very good

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Summary: Great book until the past 50 pages
Review: Engrossing account of the life of the workingmen during the early 1900s. Too bad it had to end like it did. 28 chapters of riveting storytelling, in which we can clearly discern the social implications of early century living, followed by 50 pages of insipid socialist propaganda! At the end of the 20th century, given all we have seen over the past 75 year or so, his views seem naive and uninformed, and for me this spoiled an otherwise fantastic book. Do yourself a favor, read this book intensely for the first 28 chapters and skim the last half- save yourself some aggravation.

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Summary: Easy to read and hard to put down!
Review: I thought this book was very fascinating. I had to read it for a college history course. It was the most interesting text for the class. I was espescially intrigued at the hardships the immigrant characters had to go through. This book is very educational regarding the bad side of the Industrial Revolution. I am glad to say that the book was one that I could hardly put down. And considering I'm not a real fan of reading, that is an essential aspect of a good book. I even found myself discussing the book's plot with my friends and family because it was so thought-provoking. I recommend it highly.