The Jungle - Upton Sinclair

The Jungle

By Upton Sinclair

  • Release Date: 1905-01-01
  • Genre: Fiction & Literature
Score: 4
4
From 1,926 Ratings
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Description

The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair (1878–1968).[1] Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities. Many readers were most concerned with his exposure of health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century, based on an investigation he did for a socialist newspaper.

Reviews

  • Great Read Until the Socialist Speech section

    4
    By RSSPANG
    Liked reading about Jurgis struggles, but became lost about two thirds through when the socialism narrative dominated. SSPANG

  • Lithuanian Family During the Industrial Age

    5
    By chepotle831
    This novel is a must read. I missed out by not reading all of it in my high school days but I am sure glad I went back to read it. The main character goes through a series of trials. Jurgis learns from death, obstacles, life and politics. I do not want to go into full detail about the story but Upton Sinclair is a brave soul for exposing the meat packing industry along with several other subjects.

  • Ode to Socialism

    3
    By Wouldyourather?
    Over-dramatized, narrow minded, full of exaggeration. It’s a ride of sorrow and woe for a fictitious immigrant family, where everything goes wrong. The last few chapters are wholly disconnected from the story as he lays out his naive arguments on what he calls socialism. Meanwhile, he viciously attacks capitalism that has been the motor behind so much wealth, industry, and technological advancement in the world. Want to know why he’s wrong? Check out Atlas Shrugged, written a couple generations after this yahoo’s ideas had actually been implemented.

  • More than a book about the meat-packing industry

    5
    By spacegoatz
    The Jungle is often brought up solely for its horrific depiction of meat-packing plant, but this novel is so much more than that. Truly an American classic, it tells the story of an immigrant trying to achieve the “American Dream,” only to be hit by hardship again and again. The Jungle should be required literature in schools.

  • It was good

    4
    By Keora_O
    The novel was very interesting in terms of plot but it was also written very much like a textbook. It was hard to understand without rereading parts or without the audiobook.

  • Socialism

    4
    By elpapop
    The history is amazing, it describes the struggles of an immigrant in America in the early 1900s. However, in the last 50 pages the author completely ignores the story of the principal character and all he does is spread socialist propaganda, and portray it as the solution for all the problem. Anyways, the book was written in 1906 and socialism wasn't tried and failed.

  • The Jungle

    4
    By lidingham
    Huge eye-opener..

  • Wow!

    5
    By Raeka Grifa
    I work at a meat processing plant in the QA department and this book really changed the way I viewed history. I had no thoughts to where USDA began or labor unions, no idea what life was like for my great great grandparents. This is a must read for anyone. The gruesome life these people lived is heartbreaking and stirred up a lot of emotions within me. I have a much deeper gratitude for the society we live in now. Our generation is spoiled compared to 4 generations before us. This book was captivating and had me hooked from the first page. It is very well written. Perhaps a little difficult to read if someone has never heard some of the words used, but the emotion of it is very easy to follow. Enjoy!

  • Propaganda???

    2
    By debtoralive
    I was dissappointed. I thought I was reading a really well written story about the struggles of immigrants in this country at the turn of the 20th century. With vivid characters I really cared about. But then, in the last 50-75 pages it transforms from novel to socialist recruiting propaganda. Too bad. Didn't one of the "S's" in U.S.S.R stand for "socialist"?

  • School

    1
    By Crunch00001
    We read this book for school and it sucked.

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