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Summary: U.S. History
Review: I've recently just read this great book for my US history class and thought of it as something that Ive never read before in my life. How Upton Sinclair describes the struggles of a Lithuianian family living in Packingtown, IL. Even though tragic events happens the family (the ones that is not dead) survives. Jurgis our main character has to deal with the burden of supplying for his family and the temptations of saloons and common brothels. But overall the book is good and I reallly do recommend this book for reading
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Summary: The failures of Capitalism
Review: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is the story of an immigrant family and the conflicts they face as they try to survive in America. The main theme of The Jungle is the evil of capitalism. This novel shows many of Sinclair's personal opinions and views on various political issues such as capitalism and the corruption of a seemingly perfect system. Sinclair's tone and writing technique are very convincing in this novel. Sinclair portrays two major extremes, the blue collar worker and the government or the white collar worker. Sinclair's persuation is definatly towards the blue collar worker and the difficult life they had at the turn of the century. The Jungle is very articulately written and raises many questionable political topics.
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Summary: The Aspects of Capitalism
Review: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair depicts life during the depression and the effects and heartships that immigrants felt when entering the United States. Capitalism is one of the major themes in the novel and in my opinion demonstrates Sinclair's opinion on capitalism. Much of the events in the novel are chosen deliberately to portray a particular failure of capitalism. Sinclair very effectively draws the reader in and convinces the reader that capitalism, to say the least, is not perfect. The deconstruction of Jurgis's immigrant family makes the reader sympathetic to the working blue collar man and aware of the holes in a many times unjust government. I think that through the story of this small real immigrant family one can really get a very strong grasp of what life was like during this time for all people. The Jungle is very articulatly written novel about humanity and the exploitaion of the working class during and around the Great Depression.
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Summary: A Historical and Political Novel
Review: In order to advertise the socialist political party, Upton Sinclair wrote a book about a poor Lithuanian family that immigrates to Chicago seeking higher wages. Along with higher wages they found dangerous jobs as well as higher prices for the goods and services necessary to survive.
Obviously this book is going to contain political aspects. Through Sinclair's gruesome descriptions of the Chicago stockyards and killing beds, one will develop a feeling of disgust for the lack of governmental intervention. It leaves the reader asking questions like, What about minimum wage? and What about health inspections?
For the economic and political historian this is a must read. This novel will teach the average American to appreciate governmental laws and regulations. The Jungle is an important part of our history that affects our everyday lives unknowingly.
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Summary: Laissez-faire exposed.
Review: There are without a doubt better novels than "The Jungle". A great novel was not Sinclair's aim however. His aim was to point out the vile conditions that existed among working Americans in the early twentieth century. Conditions that were so awful that a visit to some workers in New York a few years before this book came out began to change young Theodore Roosevelt from a conservative to a progressive. Along the way Sinclair shocked the American public with the filth they were buying as quality meat. Sinclair heaps horror after horror on Jurgis and his family. Almost to the point of overkill but again this was ment to be a work that shocked America and like "Uncle Tom's Cabin" before it "The Jungle" painted a worse case picture. Unregulated capitalism was exposed as the beast it was and still to an extent is with words like, "there was no place in it where a man counted for anything against a dollar." Sinclair was not out to improve the quality of food but that is what this book is most credited with. His real intent was to promote Socialism and in that to some extent he failed. However fear of the radical change Sinclair was after prompted many progressive reforms. Better a little change than a revolution. In short, if you are looking for a great novel look elsewhere. Still, one needs to read this book for a look at where unregulated laissez-faire capitalism leads. As the calls increase to do away with government involvement in the regulation of business this book becomes more and more something that every American should read. Greed is a powerful thing and this book shows just how far some people will go in the quest for money. Powerful at times and sometimes a little off course this work by Upton Sinclair should always serve as a reminder of what was and what might be again.
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Summary: Greatly misunderstood
Review: When Upton Sinclair wrote THE JUNGLE he did not mean to bring forth reforms in food regulation. He "aimed for America's heart but hit them in the stomach". His whole point was to show the life of the working class and how terrible conditions they worked under. I noticed on a few reviews and even on Amazon's official review that he wrote the book to bring about reforms in food regulation. He wanted reforms to help the poor working class. It's a great book.
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Summary: cool book!
Review: i had to read this book, but i don't care now becuase i really liked it...it was a really aswesome book!
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Summary: Lackluster... completely breaks down
Review: It's an unfortunate fact about reviewing books at Amazon, but when one gives books negative reviews, they most likely will get negative votes towards their reviewer ranking from people who disagree with their opinion of the book. But after reading some of the reviews here, I felt it necessary to give mine for those of you thinking about purchasing this book. The Jungle begins with a compelling storyline about a Lithuanian family struggling to survive in the brutal world that was turn-of-the-20th Century Chicago. It is clear from the beginning that Sinclair, a very politically active Socialist, wrote the book for more than just the sake of telling a story. The motive was to give an inside look at the ugly scene that were most early 20th Century slaughterhouses. This book sparked outrage and led to increased protections of workers' rights as well as the creation of some very necessary food regulations and inspection requirements. For that reason, Sinclair's work should be appreciated, but as for the novel itself... it's a dud. While the first part of the book compels the reader to sympathize with its main character, Jurgis Rudkus, and his family, Sinclair's exaggerations of the evils of the upperclass bosses, coupled with the excessive victimization of Rudkus and his family become tiresome. Long after the reader has been given the general picture (unforgiving system, unfair bosses, etc.), Sinclair piles tragedy after tragedy on top of the Rudkus family as the story spins its wheels. Finally fed up with it all, Rudkus abandons his loved ones, in search of himself and a better life in the rural American countryside. Begging and stealing to survive, Rudkus is nevertheless painted as the unfortunate hero in Sinclair's story. Eventually, after a year of wandering, Rudkus returns to Chicago to try his luck in the system again (I still don't know why), but finds that very little has changed. Finally he meets his calling after learning of the joys of socialism and joining the glorious Brotherhood. At this point the reader is treated to numerous pages of Sinclair's praises of socialism, given through a worker that takes Rudkus under his wing. Read some of the other reviews here, and it's not hard to see they are in praise of the book not as much for its literary aspects but for its far-left, anti-corporate (my, how things change) political stance. In all fairness to Sinclair, the book sparked some necessary legislation, and it was also written a few years prior to the Russian Revolution which, along with others in the 20th Century, would eventually demonstrate the inevitable outcome of socialism and its ideological friend, communism. So if you are one of those that is still trying to find a way to make these systems work on a large-nation scale and you don't mind a monotonous storyline, then this is the book for you and you'll be back here soon after reading it with your own 5-star review. If you've spent any time on Earth in the last few decades and 375-page, thinly-veiled manifestos aren't your thing, this one will bore you to tears.
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Summary: Great story, but seemingly endless.
Review: The jungle tells a wonderful tale of the struggles of an immigrant family at the dawn of the twentieth century. The mood of the plot is like a long roller-coaster, as everything will be going good, and then everything goes terribly bad, then things are good, then things are bad again, and so on. A really good book that I would recommend anyone to read as it is informative and interesting, but very long towards the end, as it seems Upton Sinclair is trying to convert the reader to Socialism. Thumbs up anyways.
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Summary: What a sad story--written in support of Socialism
Review: Goodness, what a depressing book this is. Upton Sinclair does an excellent job of presenting the characters, especially Jurgis and Ona in a way as to make the reader like them. Who couldn't admire a strong, hard-working, optimistic man whose goal is simply to support his wife and family by doing an honest day's work for an honest day's wage? Sinclair gets the reader to "root" for Jurgis, the underdog. That's exactly the reason the reader will become greatly depressed as the forces of a capitalist society (as Sinclair sees it) slowly, slowly grinds Jurgis and his family down. As Sinclair has Jurgis work in the meat-packing factories, live as a hobo, live as a beggar, work as part of the graft-generating maching, work behind the scenes during elections and finally work as a scab while the workers strike, Sinclair unveils more and more levels of corruption that was so characteristic of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Sinclair's obvious goal is to make the reader wonder, "how can any honest, hard working man survive when so many forces have an interest in surpressing such men?" The answer, according to Siclair is Socialism/Communism. Towards the end of the book, when Sinclair presents this option, the entire book becomes more of a political pamphlet or piece of propaganda. Such a novel deserved more of an ending. Sinclair never tells the reader what ever becomes of Jurgis and the remaining members of his family--it is rather a call to arms for working people to join the Socialist movement in America and vote for the Socialist ticket. A disappointing ending to an otherwise compelling and stirring book.
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