Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: I was required to read "The Jungle" for one of my college courses. Under normal circumstances, I would not have read a book like this. History is not my bag. However, once the slow beginning comes to an end, the plot really picks up momentum. Sinclair writes of a poor family of immigrants who come to America with pipe dreams of fortune and glory. The protagonist, Jurgis, scrounges for work in the Chicago stockyards, and finally lands at the meat-packing factory, where Sinclair turns your stomach with the horrors of what actually went into the sausage grinders. Jurgis eventually loses everything, his wife, his children, his brother, and sets out on a journey to mend his broken life and shattered dreams. The plot becomes very character-oriented, and though the writing is not very smooth, the description is very imaginative and real. The ending was rather disappointing, but if you have to read this book for school, don't sweat it. You might enjoy it. I did.
Rating:
Summary: long narrative resulting in didactic socialist pitch
Review: though the pick is as inspiring as any speech, next to some of Rand's character's, that i have ever read. if you don't mind waiting for it, read away, read away. warning: 12 pages of accurate, acute descriptions of what you eat when eating meat might diswayed you from eating the next meal. reminder: the meat industry hasn't got any better either.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the edition of the Jungle that you want.
Review: There are many editions of "The Jungle" on the market, but this one is the best. This version is edited by a history professor named James Barrett who has done extensive research into the very same Chicago Packingtown that Sinclair writes about. As a result, Barrett provides invaluable explanatory notes that let the reader in on what would otherwise be strange references in the text. Barrett also provides an excellent introduction to the book that places it in the proper historical perspective. Yes, this edition is more expensive than the mass-market versions, but if you really want to understand "The Jungle", its well worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: Superb book (even if you were assigned to read it).
Review: I'm the type of guy that can't stand many literary classics. I'm sorry, but I read a book for entertainment, not for metephors, meaning or symbolism. This is why it seems strange that I highly recommend this book.This book chronicles the life of immigrants from Lithuania who settle in Chicago in hopes of obtaining the American Dream. The way Sinclair describes the hardships of this family, it almost feels like you're the one who's suffering. Though depressing, the amount of detail engulfs the reader. Though the book is famous for exposing the meat packing industry's unsanitary conditions, it really is just a minor part of this book. The worker's rights, the racism, the corruption, and the poverty is what this book is all about. Though I'm a firm believer of Adam Smith and his invisible hand, half way through the book, I was searching for the local Socialist recruiter. Well, not really, but it will open anyone's mind. Except for the end, where it was just pure Socialist propoganda, this book is fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Not a great novel - But absolutely GREAT reporting
Review: The simple truth is that this book is not great literature, the characters are flat, there is no story that you will remember for long. But it presents scenes and facts that should never be forgotten. It was written to make facts public, and to make a political statement. The facts presented have been independently verified, the political statement should not be ignored. It illustrates its message like few others ever have. In a world that should worry about food safety, and that needs to remember the fight it took to achieve any workers rights and imporve working conditions, this book should be read again. Forget that you had to read it in high school (and skipped as much as you could get away with). Read it again as an adult... and think.
Rating:
Summary: A jungle of Chicago: 1900s
Review: The Jungle. A book about a Lithuanian family immigrating to America to make a fortune. Jurgis and his family arrive in America to find such hardships as no place to live and finding work. Everytime they get enough money to try and get a little extra, something pulls them back preventing them from escaping The Jungle. I thought it was a well-written book, though amybe a little too much detail in how the meat was prepared. I like it, but not a lot, I thought that Upton Sinclair spent a little too much time on some of the little things like how exactly Jurgis begged for money. When I first started reading the book I had no idea why Upton Sinclair titled it The Jungle. As I got more into it, i found out is was because Chicago was a lot like a jungle at the turn of the century. Sinclair was describing how Chicago was in the 1900s, a jungle, it seemed so great and full of prosperity, like a jungle luring in some innocent person. Once they got to America they found out they had to overcome a lot of hardships before they could get out of it, like in ajungle you would have to get beyond all the traps and animals to survive it.
Rating:
Summary: Forced socialism, but well-written
Review: It's pretty well-known that Sinclair was attempting to convert America's capitalistic society to socialism with this muckraking book, but he made the mistake of playing up the meat-packing horrors a little too heavily and ended up doing nothing but helping get the Pure Food and Drug Act passed. "I aimed for America's heart and hit it in the stomach," famously quoted Sinclair. Still, what he HAS given us here is an entertainingly bleak book that features a Lithuanian Everyman, Jurgis Rudkus, that seemingly goes through every situation and downfall that could possibly happen in the city of Chicago. I did find the book depressing but not boring, and it kept my interest until Sinclair went blatantly over the edge in the last chapter, having a Socialist lecturer go on for fifteen boring pages about the oppression of the worker by the evil capitalist. The other 335 pages of the novel are entertaining enough to earn this a grade of 5 stars, and seriously, this is one well-written historical document.
Rating: 
Summary: What a chore to read!
Review: Wow this book was a marathon to get through. When Upton Sinclair wrote it he meant it to be an example of how capitalism will corrupt and that socialism should be the preferred social setting. It was a complete misfire though and it only served to expose the disgusting conditions in the meat packing industry which eventually led to the creation of the FDA. Upton Sinclair considered the book a failure. I would have to agree with the reaction at the time. the meat packing scenes were the most memorable the rest was a complete chore to read.
Rating:
Summary: A social impact with a literary weakness
Review: some see this book, THE JUNGLE, as an amazing portrayal of life in Chicago (or any town of the sort) in the early 1900's. So far, so good, it does accurately depict what went on, but it leaves so much to the imagnination of the reader. this book was written in a narrative summary format. There was very little real interaction between the characters that was not summarized outside of the brothel incident and the socialist rally. It is strange that as a novel, there is no dialogue between the characters except for here, and when there is, more attention is given to the socialist rally than the possible breakdown of the marrige of the main characters. At this point i found the book rediculous and resorted to purchasing a copy of the Cliffs Notes to supplement what i did not seem to find in the novel. It was truly the only way that i could tolerate the monotany of such a weak and uninteresting novel. The author seemed to try to interest us with gore and filth, but did nothing as far as making the format interesting. at two paragraphs a page, i likened it to reading a text book written for the sole purpose of informing the reader with as little fluff as possible. this is really ironic since the book is 340 pages long. Upton Sinclair could have just as easily said what he wanted to say in an essay or a short book, take a hint buddy, people dont like reading 340 pages of propaganda for socialism when they can get the same information from a flyer. Maybe i am a little hard on this book, but for good reason. I have heard so much about it yet when i actually sat down and read it it was dry, boring, and although it seemed as though he (the author) tried to covertly slip socialism into it, he gave up after a chapter and laid it on the line saying thingsd like "Jesus was the first socialist". it simply didnt live up to what people built it up to be, i guess maybe i expected too much. I dont mean to attack the novel, if you can call it that, everyone should read it, but purchase the Cliffs Notes too, they help a lot with diescting the plot. Read it for the history, not for the family aspect of it because what there is is very impersonal and really not that special. If you want a book with social impact, read The Catcher In The Rye. If you want to read a historic book that had impact on industry, government, and welfare of workers, read this. sounds fun, eh? well, hope you like it more than i did. plan to spend about 6 hours or more with this one if you really want to understand it. 'NUFF SAID.
Rating:
Summary: Capitalism revealed
Review: This may be the best book I've read illustrating the hardships immigrants and paupers suffer under capitalism, a long term problem. The story draws you in with the problems of the workers at that time, but immigrant workers today face comparable hardships too, so the book is timeless so far
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