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The Jungle
For nearly a century, the original version of Upton Sinclair's classic novel has remained almost entirely unknown.
When it was published in serial form in 1905, it was a full third longer than the censored, commercial edition published in book form the following year. That expurgated commercial edition edited out much of the ethnic flavor of the original, as well as some of the goriest descriptions of the meat-packing industry and much of Sinclair's most pointed social and political commentary.
The text of this new edition is as it appeared in the original uncensored edition of 1905.
It contains the full 36 chapters as originally published, rather than the 31 of the expurgated edition.
A new foreword describes the discovery in the 1980s of the original edition and its subsequent suppression, and a new introduction places the novel in historical context by explaining the pattern of censorship in the shorter commercial edition.
When it was published in serial form in 1905, it was a full third longer than the censored, commercial edition published in book form the following year. That expurgated commercial edition edited out much of the ethnic flavor of the original, as well as some of the goriest descriptions of the meat-packing industry and much of Sinclair's most pointed social and political commentary.
The text of this new edition is as it appeared in the original uncensored edition of 1905.
It contains the full 36 chapters as originally published, rather than the 31 of the expurgated edition.
A new foreword describes the discovery in the 1980s of the original edition and its subsequent suppression, and a new introduction places the novel in historical context by explaining the pattern of censorship in the shorter commercial edition.
335 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1906
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136k people want to read
About the author
Upton Sinclair
623听books1,128听followersUpton Beall Sinclair, Jr. was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle (1906). To gather information for the novel, Sinclair spent seven weeks undercover working in the meat packing plants of Chicago. These direct experiences exposed the horrific conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. The Jungle has remained continuously in print since its initial publication. In 1919, he published The Brass Check, a muckraking expos茅 of American journalism that publicized the issue of yellow journalism and the limitations of the 鈥渇ree press鈥� in the United States. Four years after the initial publication of The Brass Check, the first code of ethics for journalists was created. Time magazine called him "a man with every gift except humor and silence." In 1943, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Sinclair also ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Socialist, and was the Democratic Party nominee for Governor of California in 1934, though his highly progressive campaign was defeated.
Sinclair also ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Socialist, and was the Democratic Party nominee for Governor of California in 1934, though his highly progressive campaign was defeated.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 7,761 reviews
June 16, 2008
Whenever I've asked someone if they have read The Jungle, and if they have not read it, they always respond, "isn't that about the meat packing industry?". I think that response is exactly what the author was trying to point out is wrong with his society at the time.
It is true that the main character of the book at one point goes to work in a meat packing plant, and its disgusting, and when the book was published apparently the FDA was created as a result, or something. The problem is, though, that this book is not about the meat packing industry- the book is about the plight of a poor immigrant family in Chicago, and about the plight of poor people in the country in general at that time. Sinclair is trying to bring light to the disgusting ways in which people in his time were forced to live, the way they were manipulated, ripped off, neglected and sometime even killed by the very community that profited from their cheap labor. Its an incredible book, and if you read it keep in mind that the atrocities that really occur in this book surround the way that these people were held down no matter what they did. I think that Upton Sinclair would be saddened to know, and maybe he did know, that the only thing that changed as a result of this beautifully written pro-socialist novel is that the middle class now has healthy meat products.
It is true that the main character of the book at one point goes to work in a meat packing plant, and its disgusting, and when the book was published apparently the FDA was created as a result, or something. The problem is, though, that this book is not about the meat packing industry- the book is about the plight of a poor immigrant family in Chicago, and about the plight of poor people in the country in general at that time. Sinclair is trying to bring light to the disgusting ways in which people in his time were forced to live, the way they were manipulated, ripped off, neglected and sometime even killed by the very community that profited from their cheap labor. Its an incredible book, and if you read it keep in mind that the atrocities that really occur in this book surround the way that these people were held down no matter what they did. I think that Upton Sinclair would be saddened to know, and maybe he did know, that the only thing that changed as a result of this beautifully written pro-socialist novel is that the middle class now has healthy meat products.
November 12, 2008
Naturally, my high school English teacher felt it necessary to assign "The Jungle" to read over Thanksgiving break. As my Dad carved the turkey, the conversation went something like this:
MOM: Could you pass the turkey?
ME: Oh, yeah, great, why don't we pass the meat that untold numbers of Slavik immigrants had to die to process? Why don't we just spit in the face of the proleteriat and laugh, knowing that he's too malnourished to fight back.
DAD: Are you okay?
ME: Oh, sure, I'm great. And you know why? Because my comfort is based on an oligarchic pyramid, where we feast while others starve. Thanks-Giving? Who are we thanking? The Taiwanese sweatshop worker who wove the plastic netting that enwrapped our raw turkey? I'll be we're not. I'll be we haven't given HIM a second thought.
MOM: So, no turkey, then?
I'm not sure which was worse: My Socialist diatribes or bookending the most succulent turkey of my life with readings about men kicking rats off their bleeding feet and falling into vats of grease. Thanks, Ms. Doe.
MOM: Could you pass the turkey?
ME: Oh, yeah, great, why don't we pass the meat that untold numbers of Slavik immigrants had to die to process? Why don't we just spit in the face of the proleteriat and laugh, knowing that he's too malnourished to fight back.
DAD: Are you okay?
ME: Oh, sure, I'm great. And you know why? Because my comfort is based on an oligarchic pyramid, where we feast while others starve. Thanks-Giving? Who are we thanking? The Taiwanese sweatshop worker who wove the plastic netting that enwrapped our raw turkey? I'll be we're not. I'll be we haven't given HIM a second thought.
MOM: So, no turkey, then?
I'm not sure which was worse: My Socialist diatribes or bookending the most succulent turkey of my life with readings about men kicking rats off their bleeding feet and falling into vats of grease. Thanks, Ms. Doe.
March 18, 2012
Reading The Jungle will have you wringing your fists Upton Sinclair style.
Right up until I read it, The Jungle was one of those books I'd always heard of, but not heard about. I knew it was important, apparently, because everyone said so, but no one said why. (I guess I should have asked.) From what I gathered, it had something to do with the meat industry and its nefarious doings in the early 20th century, which led me to expect a dry, straight-forward, tell-all non-fiction revealing corruption, worker neglect, health violations, unsafe food preparation, and other important but not very exciting topics. That's probably why it took me about 20 years longer to get around to it than it should have.
Finally I read it. I was right. It did include all those topics, but it was fiction, and it was epic.
The Jungle is a story of immigrants coming to America to improve their lot in life and running headlong into the Chicago meat industry, which had very little interest in improving anyone's lot in life but the company owners and share holders. The lower you were down on the corporate food chain, the less the industry cared about you, and that includes the consumer, that unwitting public being fed a product almost completely devoid of nutrition.
Granted, Sinclair had an agenda - reveal industry corruption - and he sugarcoated it in a captivating story to entice the unwashed masses to give it a read. Not only do I not have a problem with that, I'm not embarrassed to say it's one of my favorite methods of swallowing these dry pills. I popped this one in my mouth and it went down smoother than expected. Then it made me sick to my stomach, but in the end I'm better off for having taken it.
Right up until I read it, The Jungle was one of those books I'd always heard of, but not heard about. I knew it was important, apparently, because everyone said so, but no one said why. (I guess I should have asked.) From what I gathered, it had something to do with the meat industry and its nefarious doings in the early 20th century, which led me to expect a dry, straight-forward, tell-all non-fiction revealing corruption, worker neglect, health violations, unsafe food preparation, and other important but not very exciting topics. That's probably why it took me about 20 years longer to get around to it than it should have.
Finally I read it. I was right. It did include all those topics, but it was fiction, and it was epic.
The Jungle is a story of immigrants coming to America to improve their lot in life and running headlong into the Chicago meat industry, which had very little interest in improving anyone's lot in life but the company owners and share holders. The lower you were down on the corporate food chain, the less the industry cared about you, and that includes the consumer, that unwitting public being fed a product almost completely devoid of nutrition.
Granted, Sinclair had an agenda - reveal industry corruption - and he sugarcoated it in a captivating story to entice the unwashed masses to give it a read. Not only do I not have a problem with that, I'm not embarrassed to say it's one of my favorite methods of swallowing these dry pills. I popped this one in my mouth and it went down smoother than expected. Then it made me sick to my stomach, but in the end I'm better off for having taken it.
November 12, 2021
The jungle, Upton Sinclair
The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair (1878鈥�1968).
Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities.
His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States.
The Jungle tells the story of Jurgis Rudus, a young immigrant who came to the New World to find a better life.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 爻丕賱1978賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩賳诏賱貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丌倬鬲賳 爻蹖賳讴賱乇貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 丕亘賵鬲乇丕亘 亘丕賯乇夭丕丿賴貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 責貙 責貙 丿乇 趩賴丕乇丿賴 賵417氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇: 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 乇賵夭亘賴丕賳貙 爻丕賱1357貙 丿乇 趩賴丕乇丿賴 賵417氐貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕蹖丕賱丕鬲 賲鬲丨丿賴 丌賲乇蹖讴丕 - 爻丿賴 20賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩賳诏賱貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丌倬鬲賳 爻蹖賳讴賱乇貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲蹖賳丕 爻乇丕亘蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 責貙 責貙 丿乇331氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 毓賱賲貙 爻丕賱1357貙 丿乇331氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丿賳蹖丕蹖 賳賵貙 爻丕賱1380貙 丿乇329氐貨 卮丕亘讴9649047212貨
賳蹖丕讴丕賳 丕丿亘蹖 芦丌倬鬲賳 爻蹖賳讴賱乇禄貙 亘蹖卮賲丕乇 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 丌賳丕賳 爻賳鬲 丿蹖乇蹖賳賴 丕蹖 丿乇 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 倬丕蹖賴 賳賴丕丿賴 丕賳丿貙 毓賲丿鬲丕 卮乇丕蹖胤 夭賳丿诏蹖 胤亘賯賴 讴丕乇诏乇貙 賵 丕賳诏蹖夭賴 賴丕蹖 噩賳亘卮賴丕蹖 丌賳 胤亘賯賴 乇丕貙 賲賵乇丿 亘乇乇爻蹖 賯乇丕乇 賲蹖丿賴賳丿貙 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 賳賲賵賳賴 丿乇 芦丌賲乇蹖讴丕禄 讴鬲丕亘 芦讴賱亘賴 蹖 毓賲賵 鬲賵賲禄貙 丕孬乇 芦賴乇蹖鬲 亘蹖趩乇 丕爻鬲賵禄 亘賵丿貙 賵 丿蹖诏乇蹖 讴鬲丕亘 芦卮賲丕賱 賵 噩賳賵亘禄 丕孬乇 芦丕賱蹖夭丕亘鬲 诏丕爻讴賱禄貙 賵 ...貨
爻蹖賳讴賱乇貙 丕蹖賳 乇賲丕賳 乇丕貙 亘乇丕蹖 賳卮丕賳 丿丕丿賳 卮乇丕蹖胤 禺卮賳貙 賵 夭賳丿诏蹖 賲賴丕噩乇丕賳 賳賵卮鬲賳丿貙 卮乇丕蹖胤蹖 讴賴 丿乇 芦卮蹖讴丕诏賵禄貙 賵 丿蹖诏乇 卮賴乇賴丕蹖 氐賳毓鬲蹖 賴賲丕賳賳丿 芦卮蹖诏丕诏賵禄 亘賵丿賳丿貨 賴丿賮 丕蹖卮丕賳 丕夭 賳诏丕乇卮貙 丿乇 芦亘丕夭賳賲丕蹖蹖 丕賵囟丕毓 氐賳毓鬲 诏賵卮鬲禄貙 賵 芦卮乇丕蹖胤 讴丕乇蹖 丌賳 乇賵夭賴丕禄貙 丿乇 芦丕蹖丕賱丕鬲 賲鬲丨丿賴禄 亘賵丿貨 亘丕 禺賵丕賳卮 丕蹖賳 乇賲丕賳貙 亘蹖卮鬲乇 賲乇丿賲丕賳貙 丕夭 賴賲诏蹖 芦賳丕乇爻丕卅蹖賴丕蹖 亘賴丿丕卮鬲蹖 丿乇 氐賳丕蹖毓 亘爻鬲賴 亘賳丿蹖 诏賵卮鬲禄貙 丿乇 丌賲乇蹖讴丕蹖 爻丕賱賴丕蹖 賳禺爻鬲貙 丕夭 爻丿賴 亘蹖爻鬲賲 賲蹖賱丕丿蹖貙 丌诏丕賴 卮丿賳丿貙 讴賴 亘賴 鬲馗丕賴乇丕鬲 毓賲賵賲蹖 讴卮蹖丿貙 賵 亘賴 丕氐賱丕丨丕鬲蹖貙 丕夭 噩賲賱賴 芦賯丕賳賵賳 亘丕夭乇爻蹖 诏賵卮鬲禄貙 賲賳噩乇 卮丿貨 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 芦賮賯乇 胤亘賯賴 讴丕乇诏乇禄貙 芦賳亘賵丿 丨賲丕蹖鬲 丕噩鬲賲丕毓蹖禄貙 芦夭賳丿诏蹖 爻禺鬲 賵 賳丕禺賵卮丕蹖賳丿禄 賵 芦卮乇丕蹖胤 讴丕乇蹖 賵 賳丕丕賲蹖丿蹖禄貙 丿乇 賲蹖丕賳 亘爻蹖丕乇蹖 丕夭 讴丕乇诏乇丕賳 丌賳 乇賵夭诏丕乇丕賳 乇丕 亘丕夭诏賵 賲蹖讴賳丿貨
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 05/11/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 20/08/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair (1878鈥�1968).
Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities.
His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States.
The Jungle tells the story of Jurgis Rudus, a young immigrant who came to the New World to find a better life.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 爻丕賱1978賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩賳诏賱貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丌倬鬲賳 爻蹖賳讴賱乇貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 丕亘賵鬲乇丕亘 亘丕賯乇夭丕丿賴貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 責貙 責貙 丿乇 趩賴丕乇丿賴 賵417氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇: 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 乇賵夭亘賴丕賳貙 爻丕賱1357貙 丿乇 趩賴丕乇丿賴 賵417氐貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕蹖丕賱丕鬲 賲鬲丨丿賴 丌賲乇蹖讴丕 - 爻丿賴 20賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩賳诏賱貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丌倬鬲賳 爻蹖賳讴賱乇貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲蹖賳丕 爻乇丕亘蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 責貙 責貙 丿乇331氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 毓賱賲貙 爻丕賱1357貙 丿乇331氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丿賳蹖丕蹖 賳賵貙 爻丕賱1380貙 丿乇329氐貨 卮丕亘讴9649047212貨
賳蹖丕讴丕賳 丕丿亘蹖 芦丌倬鬲賳 爻蹖賳讴賱乇禄貙 亘蹖卮賲丕乇 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 丌賳丕賳 爻賳鬲 丿蹖乇蹖賳賴 丕蹖 丿乇 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 倬丕蹖賴 賳賴丕丿賴 丕賳丿貙 毓賲丿鬲丕 卮乇丕蹖胤 夭賳丿诏蹖 胤亘賯賴 讴丕乇诏乇貙 賵 丕賳诏蹖夭賴 賴丕蹖 噩賳亘卮賴丕蹖 丌賳 胤亘賯賴 乇丕貙 賲賵乇丿 亘乇乇爻蹖 賯乇丕乇 賲蹖丿賴賳丿貙 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 賳賲賵賳賴 丿乇 芦丌賲乇蹖讴丕禄 讴鬲丕亘 芦讴賱亘賴 蹖 毓賲賵 鬲賵賲禄貙 丕孬乇 芦賴乇蹖鬲 亘蹖趩乇 丕爻鬲賵禄 亘賵丿貙 賵 丿蹖诏乇蹖 讴鬲丕亘 芦卮賲丕賱 賵 噩賳賵亘禄 丕孬乇 芦丕賱蹖夭丕亘鬲 诏丕爻讴賱禄貙 賵 ...貨
爻蹖賳讴賱乇貙 丕蹖賳 乇賲丕賳 乇丕貙 亘乇丕蹖 賳卮丕賳 丿丕丿賳 卮乇丕蹖胤 禺卮賳貙 賵 夭賳丿诏蹖 賲賴丕噩乇丕賳 賳賵卮鬲賳丿貙 卮乇丕蹖胤蹖 讴賴 丿乇 芦卮蹖讴丕诏賵禄貙 賵 丿蹖诏乇 卮賴乇賴丕蹖 氐賳毓鬲蹖 賴賲丕賳賳丿 芦卮蹖诏丕诏賵禄 亘賵丿賳丿貨 賴丿賮 丕蹖卮丕賳 丕夭 賳诏丕乇卮貙 丿乇 芦亘丕夭賳賲丕蹖蹖 丕賵囟丕毓 氐賳毓鬲 诏賵卮鬲禄貙 賵 芦卮乇丕蹖胤 讴丕乇蹖 丌賳 乇賵夭賴丕禄貙 丿乇 芦丕蹖丕賱丕鬲 賲鬲丨丿賴禄 亘賵丿貨 亘丕 禺賵丕賳卮 丕蹖賳 乇賲丕賳貙 亘蹖卮鬲乇 賲乇丿賲丕賳貙 丕夭 賴賲诏蹖 芦賳丕乇爻丕卅蹖賴丕蹖 亘賴丿丕卮鬲蹖 丿乇 氐賳丕蹖毓 亘爻鬲賴 亘賳丿蹖 诏賵卮鬲禄貙 丿乇 丌賲乇蹖讴丕蹖 爻丕賱賴丕蹖 賳禺爻鬲貙 丕夭 爻丿賴 亘蹖爻鬲賲 賲蹖賱丕丿蹖貙 丌诏丕賴 卮丿賳丿貙 讴賴 亘賴 鬲馗丕賴乇丕鬲 毓賲賵賲蹖 讴卮蹖丿貙 賵 亘賴 丕氐賱丕丨丕鬲蹖貙 丕夭 噩賲賱賴 芦賯丕賳賵賳 亘丕夭乇爻蹖 诏賵卮鬲禄貙 賲賳噩乇 卮丿貨 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 芦賮賯乇 胤亘賯賴 讴丕乇诏乇禄貙 芦賳亘賵丿 丨賲丕蹖鬲 丕噩鬲賲丕毓蹖禄貙 芦夭賳丿诏蹖 爻禺鬲 賵 賳丕禺賵卮丕蹖賳丿禄 賵 芦卮乇丕蹖胤 讴丕乇蹖 賵 賳丕丕賲蹖丿蹖禄貙 丿乇 賲蹖丕賳 亘爻蹖丕乇蹖 丕夭 讴丕乇诏乇丕賳 丌賳 乇賵夭诏丕乇丕賳 乇丕 亘丕夭诏賵 賲蹖讴賳丿貨
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 05/11/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 20/08/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
December 1, 2023
鈥�I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.鈥�
-Upton Sinclair
The Jungle is best known as the novel that led to the Meat Inspection Act and partially to the creation of the FDA after much public outcry against the unsanitary conditions of food processing and packaging. However, this was not the aim of the book and the unsanitary food was but a mere detail in a novel written to expose the horrific conditions of the working class, from unsafe conditions at work, corrupt factory owners, exploitation of children, fixing votes, blacklists, and especially predatory housing that got rich off the suffering of others. Especially immigrants. That this is all glossed over says quite a bit about society (yes, food safety is important too, though), and even Upton Sinclair himself his rise to celebrity over the book was 鈥�not because the public cared anything about the workers, but simply because the public did not want to eat tubercular beef.鈥� Written after spending weeks working in meat packing plants in Chicago to gather information and write about the lives of the people working there, Sinclair crafter this story of Jurgis and Ona who have come to the US hoping to pursue the mythological American Dream only to have their hopes dashed and dreams shattered at every turn as they find themselves mere pawns for the wealthy to have their lives burned up for the sake of profit.
鈥�There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.鈥�
President Teddy Roosevelt called the book 鈥�hysterical, unbalanced, and untruthful,鈥� and the Bureau of Animal Industry rejected Sinclairs claims of unhygienic practices, saying the novel was 鈥�willful and deliberate misrepresentations of fact,鈥� which is comically inept of them seeing as it was published as a novel and not non-fiction. However, the public outcry did lead to the passage of the , which is great and prove that literature can certainly spark outrage that leads to change, though it is a shame it didn鈥檛 also spark outrage towards improving conditions for the working class.
鈥�The rich people not only had all the money, they had all the chance to get more; they had all the know-ledge and the power, and so the poor man was down, and he had to stay down.鈥�
As a novel itself, it is certainly rage inducing though not necessarily one that is the most enjoyable to read in terms of literary quality. I mean, sure, its great, but Sinclair is definitely more a journalist than a novelist. To be fair, the point was to spark outrage not write 鈥榝ine literary works,鈥� and he did what he set out to do. The book has an agenda and it does it well. The ending uses socialism as sort of a deus ex machina, which, whatever I鈥檓 into it, but it isn鈥檛 not heavy handed. The big problem, though, is there are some rather racist tropes used at the end, hoping to get white readers upset over Black workers mingling with white country girls, and using some really problematic characterizations. Most of the scab workers are said to be Black and described using racist stereotypes. So that is not great. But the novel does capture how awful conditions were and how people got trapped in this. It also definitely gives you the overwhelming sense of futility that broke people鈥檚 spirits, feeling as if 鈥�she was standing upon the brink of the pit of hell and throwing in snowballs to lower the temperature.鈥�
If you are interested in this story and the main points, there is actually a really wonderful graphic novel adaptation, by , that is well worth reading. It鈥檚 a decent novel though and certainly a piece of history even if a bit heavy handed, and part of the frustration is seeing how many of these issues still cast a shadow over life today.
3.5/5
-Upton Sinclair
The Jungle is best known as the novel that led to the Meat Inspection Act and partially to the creation of the FDA after much public outcry against the unsanitary conditions of food processing and packaging. However, this was not the aim of the book and the unsanitary food was but a mere detail in a novel written to expose the horrific conditions of the working class, from unsafe conditions at work, corrupt factory owners, exploitation of children, fixing votes, blacklists, and especially predatory housing that got rich off the suffering of others. Especially immigrants. That this is all glossed over says quite a bit about society (yes, food safety is important too, though), and even Upton Sinclair himself his rise to celebrity over the book was 鈥�not because the public cared anything about the workers, but simply because the public did not want to eat tubercular beef.鈥� Written after spending weeks working in meat packing plants in Chicago to gather information and write about the lives of the people working there, Sinclair crafter this story of Jurgis and Ona who have come to the US hoping to pursue the mythological American Dream only to have their hopes dashed and dreams shattered at every turn as they find themselves mere pawns for the wealthy to have their lives burned up for the sake of profit.
鈥�There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.鈥�
President Teddy Roosevelt called the book 鈥�hysterical, unbalanced, and untruthful,鈥� and the Bureau of Animal Industry rejected Sinclairs claims of unhygienic practices, saying the novel was 鈥�willful and deliberate misrepresentations of fact,鈥� which is comically inept of them seeing as it was published as a novel and not non-fiction. However, the public outcry did lead to the passage of the , which is great and prove that literature can certainly spark outrage that leads to change, though it is a shame it didn鈥檛 also spark outrage towards improving conditions for the working class.
鈥�The rich people not only had all the money, they had all the chance to get more; they had all the know-ledge and the power, and so the poor man was down, and he had to stay down.鈥�
As a novel itself, it is certainly rage inducing though not necessarily one that is the most enjoyable to read in terms of literary quality. I mean, sure, its great, but Sinclair is definitely more a journalist than a novelist. To be fair, the point was to spark outrage not write 鈥榝ine literary works,鈥� and he did what he set out to do. The book has an agenda and it does it well. The ending uses socialism as sort of a deus ex machina, which, whatever I鈥檓 into it, but it isn鈥檛 not heavy handed. The big problem, though, is there are some rather racist tropes used at the end, hoping to get white readers upset over Black workers mingling with white country girls, and using some really problematic characterizations. Most of the scab workers are said to be Black and described using racist stereotypes. So that is not great. But the novel does capture how awful conditions were and how people got trapped in this. It also definitely gives you the overwhelming sense of futility that broke people鈥檚 spirits, feeling as if 鈥�she was standing upon the brink of the pit of hell and throwing in snowballs to lower the temperature.鈥�
If you are interested in this story and the main points, there is actually a really wonderful graphic novel adaptation, by , that is well worth reading. It鈥檚 a decent novel though and certainly a piece of history even if a bit heavy handed, and part of the frustration is seeing how many of these issues still cast a shadow over life today.
3.5/5
August 13, 2017
Every day in New York they slaughter
four million ducks
five million pigs
and two thousand doves for the pleasure of the dying,
a million cows
a million lambs
and two million roosters,
that leave the sky in splinters.
鈥擣ederico Garc铆a Lorca
I expected to dislike this book, because it is a book aimed at provoking outrage. Outrage is a species of anger, and, like all species of anger, it can feel oddly pleasurable. True, anger always contains dissatisfaction of some kind; but anger can also be an enormously enlivening feeling鈥攖he feeling that we are infinitely right and our opponents infinitely wrong. Outrage joins with this moral superiority a certain smugness, since we feel outrage on behalf of others, about things that do not affect us personally, and so we can feel satisfied that we would never do something so egregious. Judging from how ephemeral public outrage tends to be, and how infrequently it leads to action, outrage can be, and often is, engaged in for its own sake鈥攁s a periodic reminder to ourselves that we are not villains, since villains couldn鈥檛 feel so angry at injustice inflicted on so distant a party.
In a way, the history of this book justifies my suspicion. Upton Sinclair spent seven weeks working in the meatpacking industry in Chicago, and wrote a muckraking novel about the experience. An avowed and proud socialist, his aim was to raise public awareness of the terrible conditions of the working poor鈥攖o write the "Uncle Tom鈥檚 Cabin of wage slavery,鈥� as Jack London called the book. The book did cause a lot of outrage, but not for the intended reasons. The public interpreted the book as an expos茅 on the unsanitary conditions in the meat factories; and the legislation that resulted was purely to remedy this problem. As Sinclair himself said, 鈥淚 aimed at the public鈥檚 heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.鈥� This is one of those ironies of history that make you want to laugh or cry: a book aimed to publicize the plight of the working poor made an impact solely in the way that working conditions affected the middle class.
About halfway through, I had decided that this was a brilliant piece of journalism and a mediocre novel. But the second half made me revise my opinion: it is a surprisingly decent novel, too. This is impressive, since fiction is not Sinclair鈥檚 strength. His characters are, for the most part, one-dimensional and static; in this book they serve as mere loci of pity. Furthermore, they never really come alive, since Sinclair writes almost no dialogue. In the first half, when the protagonists are at work in the yards, the plot is drearily predicable: things go from bad to worse; and, as Shakespeare reminds us, every time you tell yourself 鈥淭his is the worst,鈥� there is worse yet still to come. But after Jurgis, our hero, finally leaves the meat factories, the novel really comes alive. Things still go from bad to worse, for the most part, but there are some surprising reversals and exciting adventures.
In any case, this book is primarily a work of journalism, and on that level it is absolutely successful. Sinclair is an expert writer. He deploys language with extreme precision; his descriptions are vivid and exact. And what he describes is unforgettable. His portrayal of grinding poverty, and the desperation and despair it drives people to, is almost Dostoyevskyan in its gruesomeness. And unlike that Russian author, Sinclair is very clear that the problem is systematic and social鈥攈ow decent and hardworking people can fall into an economic trap with no options and no escape. He shows how and why the working poor are free only in theory, how and why the oppressed and exploited are virtually owned by their bosses. And it must be said that his descriptions of factory processes are viscerally disgusting鈥攕o disgusting that they do distract a little from Sinclair鈥檚 message. The meat factory is the book鈥檚 central metaphor: a giant slaughterhouse where hapless animals are herded and butchered. As becomes painfully clear by the end of the book, the working poor are hardly in a better situation than the pigs.
By the end, Sinclair succeeds in producing that rare sensation: reasoned outrage. For there are, of course, situations in which outrage is the only logical response鈥攎onstrous injustice and inhuman cruelty鈥攁nd the working and living conditions in the meatpacking district was one of them. Sinclair succeeds in this by relating facts instead of preaching. (Well, he does some preaching at the end, but it is forgivable.) He does not sentimentalize his characters or exaggerate their nobility; they are ordinary and flawed people. He does not use mawkish or cloying language; his narrative voice is pitiless and cold, like the world he describes. This book is a testament to the positive potential of outrage. The world needs more muckrakers.
January 24, 2008
(written 6-03)
Wow. Now I can see why this book had such a big impression on those who read it in the early twentieth century. Really heart-wrenching (and gut-wrenching) stuff. There's the famous quote that Sinclair said he aimed for the public's heart and hit it in the stomach instead. I guess people didn't care much for the Socialism stuff, but when they learned what exactly their sausage was made of, they got mad.
It was surprising how much Sinclair reminds me of Ayn Rand, especially considering their completely opposite views on capitalism. They both use a fictional human situation to show the evils of society from an individual's point of view, and The Jungle and Atlas Shrugged both ended with a lengthy philosophical statement that was thinly veiled as a speech by the characters. I guess the difference is, Rand didn't know when to quit, and tried to actually make her utopia become a reality in the book. Sinclair left it as a call-to-arms. I liked Rand's ideas in print, but, as seen in The Jungle and in Fast Food Nation, corporations can't be trusted to make good decisions. Not every business owner is a Howard Roark or a John Galt. And efficiency can sometimes come at a high human price. Profits don't equal success, and the market, self-sufficient as it may seem, needs regulation.
The situation has come a long way in the past century, with minimum wages, enforced child labor laws, anti-trust laws, worker's compensation, and more. But Eric Schlosser showed us that the meatpacking industry is still cheating its workers, still the most dangerous place to work, and still trying to avoid regulations at all costs, with injuries going unreported and meat going uninspected. I'm glad to finally have read this book... now when I talk about it I really know what I am talking about.
Wow. Now I can see why this book had such a big impression on those who read it in the early twentieth century. Really heart-wrenching (and gut-wrenching) stuff. There's the famous quote that Sinclair said he aimed for the public's heart and hit it in the stomach instead. I guess people didn't care much for the Socialism stuff, but when they learned what exactly their sausage was made of, they got mad.
It was surprising how much Sinclair reminds me of Ayn Rand, especially considering their completely opposite views on capitalism. They both use a fictional human situation to show the evils of society from an individual's point of view, and The Jungle and Atlas Shrugged both ended with a lengthy philosophical statement that was thinly veiled as a speech by the characters. I guess the difference is, Rand didn't know when to quit, and tried to actually make her utopia become a reality in the book. Sinclair left it as a call-to-arms. I liked Rand's ideas in print, but, as seen in The Jungle and in Fast Food Nation, corporations can't be trusted to make good decisions. Not every business owner is a Howard Roark or a John Galt. And efficiency can sometimes come at a high human price. Profits don't equal success, and the market, self-sufficient as it may seem, needs regulation.
The situation has come a long way in the past century, with minimum wages, enforced child labor laws, anti-trust laws, worker's compensation, and more. But Eric Schlosser showed us that the meatpacking industry is still cheating its workers, still the most dangerous place to work, and still trying to avoid regulations at all costs, with injuries going unreported and meat going uninspected. I'm glad to finally have read this book... now when I talk about it I really know what I am talking about.
March 21, 2014
It's been a while since I read it, but I believe this book features a precocious young boy named Mowgli Rudkus who was raised by wolves. After singing a bunch of songs with bears and orangutans in the jungles of India, Mowgli immigrates to turn-of-the-century Chicago where he lives in abject poverty until he falls into an industrial meat grinder and becomes a hamburger. He is later served to Theodore Roosevelt for Thanksgiving dinner, 1906.
This book also has the distinction of changing America's political and social attitudes towards both the meat packing industry and the villainous Shere Khan. Legislation against Shere Khan continues to this day.
Someone might want to fact check this review on Wikipedia or something.
This book also has the distinction of changing America's political and social attitudes towards both the meat packing industry and the villainous Shere Khan. Legislation against Shere Khan continues to this day.
Someone might want to fact check this review on Wikipedia or something.
May 13, 2019
Hey, do you want to see some poor schlub get totally wrecked by "the man", be grossed out by the meat industry, and learn about socialism?
Then, this is the book for you!
I had to read it for school and hated every minute of it. I was literally nauseous at times, and depressed the rest.
Yes, it's a classic, but unless you are required to read it, like I was, don't go here. There is nothing but horror and sadness.
One pic to explain the book:
Then, this is the book for you!
I had to read it for school and hated every minute of it. I was literally nauseous at times, and depressed the rest.
Yes, it's a classic, but unless you are required to read it, like I was, don't go here. There is nothing but horror and sadness.
One pic to explain the book:
July 9, 2012
I have a tendency to be easily swayed by arguments, so I asked a well-read friend for an antidote to Ayn Rand's ATLAS SHRUGGED. She suggested this book. If I ever get that wish where you get to resurrect people and have them at a dinner party, I'm going to have Ayn Rand and Upton Sinclair there together. That would be an awesome cage-fight between the philosophers.
This book has an actual story with actual sympathetic characters. Well, they start out being sympathetic. Jurgis and Ona are a young couple in love, recently immigrated from Lithuania. They've come to Chicago to make their forturne, only to find that life in the packing houses is not much better than slavery. No matter how hard they work, they are only one brief breath away from starvation.
At first, I was rooting for them, hoping to get to the point where their luck turned and they finally started to make good. Alas, at some point, it became apparent that this wasn't Sinclair's plan. Bad luck plagues them. Pretty soon, children and innocent women are dropping like flies, and I had to disengage because I didn't really want to identify with people who were doomed to die a horrible, horrible death.
There's not a lot of subtlety in this book, and as a reader I felt myself looking for the path that Sinclair was trying to lead us on. I knew the history of this novel, what he had intended (to have labor reform) and what he got (food safety reform). But I couldn't help but wonder if the moral was "life will get better once you rid yourself of your family."
The novel is plotted poorly. It lacks a narrative arc that culminates in a satisfactory ending. One expects a plot to have a certain path. Things get worse, and worse, and worse, then there's a climax, then there's a resolution, then there's a denoument. I don't notice as a reader how much I rely on this until something like this comes along where its absence jars me. Jurgis' life and his family get worse and worse, and worse, and worse, then they get better, then they get worse,then they get better, then they get kind of worse, but not as bad as they were at the beginning, and then a bunch of unrelated things happen, and then he meets the socialists and everything is sunshine and roses.
The reader is supposed to be blown away by the triumphant rational truth of the socialist proselytizer, just as Jurgis is. But because I've actually read history, I read it instead with a kind of amused pity, like when a tone-deaf ugly kid says "I'm going to be a famous singer someday!" Oh honey, you think socialism will fix everything. Bless your heart, you're so cute.
Sinclair correctly points out that wage slavery creates a huge burgeoning underclass, that it's both unjust and inhuman when those with money buy power so they can exploit people so they can gain even more power. While his proposed solution would solve the ills of early 20th century Chicago about as well as mercury sulfide cures toothaches, these are valid points. They make me grateful for OSHA regulations and minimum wage laws.
The most amusing part of this novel is that when this book came out, no one really cared that much about the poor people. All they cared about was that their meat was disgusting. Apparently 20th century Americans don't care if poor immigrants die, they just don't want to have to eat the corpses. It reminds me of that scene in "The Simpsons" where Bart goes to France and is held prisoner and mistreated by his "host" family. When he escapes to the police and recites a litany of his travails, the only fact the gendarme fixes on is "they put antifreeze in the wine?"
The other amusing part of this novel was that I read it so soon after reading ATLAS SHRUGGED. I don't think Rand ever read this novel, though she could have. I wonder what she would have thought of it? Because ATLAS SHRUGGED is basically a diatribe with cardboard characters that espouses how Socialism (Communism) is horrible, and the only solution to a happy nation is unbridled capitalism. THE JUNGLE is basically a diatribe with cardboard characters that espouses how unbridled capitalism is horrible, and how the only solution to a happy nation is Socialism (Communism). He didn't really live long enough to see the full extent of that little experiment. What would he have thought about it? I'll grant Sinclair a little more leeway for his naivite, since he was born too early to see Soviet Communist handiwork.
Like ATLAS SHRUGGED, THE JUNGLE is an important book, a monumental book, in terms of its influence, but it's not really a well-written book. I recommend it to people who like to learn about early twentieth-century America.
This book has an actual story with actual sympathetic characters. Well, they start out being sympathetic. Jurgis and Ona are a young couple in love, recently immigrated from Lithuania. They've come to Chicago to make their forturne, only to find that life in the packing houses is not much better than slavery. No matter how hard they work, they are only one brief breath away from starvation.
At first, I was rooting for them, hoping to get to the point where their luck turned and they finally started to make good. Alas, at some point, it became apparent that this wasn't Sinclair's plan. Bad luck plagues them. Pretty soon, children and innocent women are dropping like flies, and I had to disengage because I didn't really want to identify with people who were doomed to die a horrible, horrible death.
There's not a lot of subtlety in this book, and as a reader I felt myself looking for the path that Sinclair was trying to lead us on. I knew the history of this novel, what he had intended (to have labor reform) and what he got (food safety reform). But I couldn't help but wonder if the moral was "life will get better once you rid yourself of your family."
The novel is plotted poorly. It lacks a narrative arc that culminates in a satisfactory ending. One expects a plot to have a certain path. Things get worse, and worse, and worse, then there's a climax, then there's a resolution, then there's a denoument. I don't notice as a reader how much I rely on this until something like this comes along where its absence jars me. Jurgis' life and his family get worse and worse, and worse, and worse, then they get better, then they get worse,then they get better, then they get kind of worse, but not as bad as they were at the beginning, and then a bunch of unrelated things happen, and then he meets the socialists and everything is sunshine and roses.
The reader is supposed to be blown away by the triumphant rational truth of the socialist proselytizer, just as Jurgis is. But because I've actually read history, I read it instead with a kind of amused pity, like when a tone-deaf ugly kid says "I'm going to be a famous singer someday!" Oh honey, you think socialism will fix everything. Bless your heart, you're so cute.
Sinclair correctly points out that wage slavery creates a huge burgeoning underclass, that it's both unjust and inhuman when those with money buy power so they can exploit people so they can gain even more power. While his proposed solution would solve the ills of early 20th century Chicago about as well as mercury sulfide cures toothaches, these are valid points. They make me grateful for OSHA regulations and minimum wage laws.
The most amusing part of this novel is that when this book came out, no one really cared that much about the poor people. All they cared about was that their meat was disgusting. Apparently 20th century Americans don't care if poor immigrants die, they just don't want to have to eat the corpses. It reminds me of that scene in "The Simpsons" where Bart goes to France and is held prisoner and mistreated by his "host" family. When he escapes to the police and recites a litany of his travails, the only fact the gendarme fixes on is "they put antifreeze in the wine?"
The other amusing part of this novel was that I read it so soon after reading ATLAS SHRUGGED. I don't think Rand ever read this novel, though she could have. I wonder what she would have thought of it? Because ATLAS SHRUGGED is basically a diatribe with cardboard characters that espouses how Socialism (Communism) is horrible, and the only solution to a happy nation is unbridled capitalism. THE JUNGLE is basically a diatribe with cardboard characters that espouses how unbridled capitalism is horrible, and how the only solution to a happy nation is Socialism (Communism). He didn't really live long enough to see the full extent of that little experiment. What would he have thought about it? I'll grant Sinclair a little more leeway for his naivite, since he was born too early to see Soviet Communist handiwork.
Like ATLAS SHRUGGED, THE JUNGLE is an important book, a monumental book, in terms of its influence, but it's not really a well-written book. I recommend it to people who like to learn about early twentieth-century America.
August 14, 2024
A book that changed laws in America...should be required reading for anyone working towards an MBA. This book truly made a positive change for everyone; the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. The 1906 Act was passed in response to the public anger over the conditions in the Chicago stockyards that were described in this book. This later lead to the formation of the FDA.
May 9, 2016
鈥淭hey use everything about the hog except the squeal.鈥�
鈥� Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
One of the great social/protest novels of the 20th Century. 'The Jungle' is at once an indictment on the treatment of immigrants, poverty, American wage slavery, and the working conditions at Chicago's stockyards and meatpacking plants -- and simultaneously an expos茅 on the unsanitary conditions of the meat produced in the plants and led to Federal real food reform. Did I like it? Well, it pissed me off, so I thought it was a great piece of writing. It reminded me of the time when I was 19 and lived next to the Swift stockyards and meat packing plants. The smells that seemed more terrestrial than dirt seemed to flood back into my brain. 'The Jungle' shows how persuasive fiction can actually lead to real world reform. The FDA was created largely due to the public outcry after the publication of this book.
Jack London said in his review at the time, that the Jungle was the Uncle Tom's Cabin of wage slavery. The interesting fact, however, is Sinclair was more concerned about the people, the exploitation of immigrants and children, but the power of this novel ended up being tied to the condition of the food, and not the people. Sinclair was quoted as saying "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach." Regardless, Upton Sinclair throws a helluva punch.
鈥� Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
One of the great social/protest novels of the 20th Century. 'The Jungle' is at once an indictment on the treatment of immigrants, poverty, American wage slavery, and the working conditions at Chicago's stockyards and meatpacking plants -- and simultaneously an expos茅 on the unsanitary conditions of the meat produced in the plants and led to Federal real food reform. Did I like it? Well, it pissed me off, so I thought it was a great piece of writing. It reminded me of the time when I was 19 and lived next to the Swift stockyards and meat packing plants. The smells that seemed more terrestrial than dirt seemed to flood back into my brain. 'The Jungle' shows how persuasive fiction can actually lead to real world reform. The FDA was created largely due to the public outcry after the publication of this book.
Jack London said in his review at the time, that the Jungle was the Uncle Tom's Cabin of wage slavery. The interesting fact, however, is Sinclair was more concerned about the people, the exploitation of immigrants and children, but the power of this novel ended up being tied to the condition of the food, and not the people. Sinclair was quoted as saying "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach." Regardless, Upton Sinclair throws a helluva punch.
September 8, 2008
if i had the words to describe the horror of reading this book, i'd certainly find a way to put them here. this was a physically challenging read, as it took an epic energy even to continue. All the terrors you've ever heard about what you might find in its pages are absolutely true. the weight of it is oppressive. it stinks with the filth of early america, it aches with excruciating poverty and unrelenting suffering, and it drips an inhuman avarice summoned from the darkest reaches of a roiling hell that most of us refuse to acknowledge ever played a part in our history or the present capitalist mirage we live in now.
but with that out of the way, i think i really liked it.
i determined to read it based on the fact that it's a book we "talk" a lot about. we discussed in in high school and in college, and most people are familiar enough with its subject to make allusions to it over big macs at mcdonalds (what are we eating in there, anyway?). but i can't think of anyone i know that has actually read it (with the exception, now, of bennion who lent me his copy). i thought i could endure the torment of the story if only for the right to say i'd done it. like watching david lynch's "eraserhead." but, i was happy to find that it was alarmingly fulfilling and i'll always be glad i stuck it out.
its trajectory is long and slow, demanding a total commitment of the reader. because to quit on the killing beds (and the first 3/4 of the book feel like the killing beds) you would leave it as gutted and hollow as the cattle slaughtered thereon. but with the proper fight, and a healthy dose of "count your many blessings," the reward is rich and it fills the resulting void with an enlightened, even sweet-smelling righteous indignation. the kind that makes you feel good. like you've come out the other side of a battle, drenched in blood, but totally alive. more so, maybe, than when you went in.
i'd heartily recommend this book to anyone with the stomach and the will to endure. i'd say it is essential to the american experience. it's a rotten picture, however, and not for anyone who doesn't want to take off the star-spangled glasses and confront the ugly past. but there's a lot more here than an expository piece of reportage from a century behind us. a bloody lot more.
but with that out of the way, i think i really liked it.
i determined to read it based on the fact that it's a book we "talk" a lot about. we discussed in in high school and in college, and most people are familiar enough with its subject to make allusions to it over big macs at mcdonalds (what are we eating in there, anyway?). but i can't think of anyone i know that has actually read it (with the exception, now, of bennion who lent me his copy). i thought i could endure the torment of the story if only for the right to say i'd done it. like watching david lynch's "eraserhead." but, i was happy to find that it was alarmingly fulfilling and i'll always be glad i stuck it out.
its trajectory is long and slow, demanding a total commitment of the reader. because to quit on the killing beds (and the first 3/4 of the book feel like the killing beds) you would leave it as gutted and hollow as the cattle slaughtered thereon. but with the proper fight, and a healthy dose of "count your many blessings," the reward is rich and it fills the resulting void with an enlightened, even sweet-smelling righteous indignation. the kind that makes you feel good. like you've come out the other side of a battle, drenched in blood, but totally alive. more so, maybe, than when you went in.
i'd heartily recommend this book to anyone with the stomach and the will to endure. i'd say it is essential to the american experience. it's a rotten picture, however, and not for anyone who doesn't want to take off the star-spangled glasses and confront the ugly past. but there's a lot more here than an expository piece of reportage from a century behind us. a bloody lot more.
February 18, 2018
Introduction, by Ronald Gottesman
Suggestions for Further Reading
A Note on the Text
--The Jungle
Suggestions for Further Reading
A Note on the Text
--The Jungle
June 4, 2022
The story of a Lithuanian family that came to The US at the beginning of the twentieth century to start a new life. What they experience is not America鈥檚 dream but its nightmare, with conditions that resemble a slavery and a poverty that is inescapable. Powerful, and yet it seems too easy to say how terrible that was and how bad those days were, without recognizing that it has relevance to what is happening today. Good read that one hopes goes beyond just being read.
March 4, 2008
I had to read this book in my high school U.S. History class. I was in an "Academic" class because due to scheduling conflicts, I could not be in either "Honors" or "AP". I hated this class. I loved the teacher, but at one point the a student stopped class to ask what the difference between the U.S.S.R. and Russia was. I spent almost every class period simultaneously wanting to kill everyone and go get coffee with the teacher, but I never spoke out loud. (Incidentally, he told me I would like college much better than high school.)
In order to encourage me to be more vocal and assertive, when we broke up into groups to work on this book, the teacher made me a group leader. One member of my group (male) was aggressively stupid. The other two were varying degrees of comatose. The only thing I really remember of this book (apart from the graphic descriptions of putrescence) was this: At the beginning of each class, we had to answer check questions just to make sure we had done the assigned reading. One of the questions was to list ways in which the factory workers died. One of the ways they died was by contracting tuberculosis. Obviously in the book, Sinclair uses the term consumption, which is what I told my group was an additional answer to the question. The aggressively stupid one turned to me and said very clearly: "You're so dumb, I should be the leader. Consumption is when you eat."
I hated that class.
In order to encourage me to be more vocal and assertive, when we broke up into groups to work on this book, the teacher made me a group leader. One member of my group (male) was aggressively stupid. The other two were varying degrees of comatose. The only thing I really remember of this book (apart from the graphic descriptions of putrescence) was this: At the beginning of each class, we had to answer check questions just to make sure we had done the assigned reading. One of the questions was to list ways in which the factory workers died. One of the ways they died was by contracting tuberculosis. Obviously in the book, Sinclair uses the term consumption, which is what I told my group was an additional answer to the question. The aggressively stupid one turned to me and said very clearly: "You're so dumb, I should be the leader. Consumption is when you eat."
I hated that class.
November 26, 2015
Even teachers get things wrong. I remember throughout middle school and high school learning about The Jungle as the book intended to expose the American meatpacking industry. And while it did to that, Upton Sinclair's mission - which I discussed quite a bit in my Social Protest Literature course - centered more on exposing the evils of capitalism. The public's reception of The Jungle exemplifies the doctrine of unintended consequences, as Sinclair himself writes "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."
The book itself does a great job of criticizing capitalism. We follow Jurgis and his family - immigrants from Lithuania - as they struggle in horrifying and disastrous ways to live the American dream. Sinclair hits us over and over with all the ways in which capitalism dehumanizes us, pits us against one another, and precludes any type of moral upward mobility. Perhaps Sinclair's book did not achieve its expected goal because of Sinclair's unrelenting and somewhat bombastic prose. The public may have internalized the grossness of his descriptions of the meatpacking industry instead of Sinclair's more overarching indictment of capitalism.
Overall, a worthwhile read for those interested in investigative fiction or books aimed to generate social protest. Not the most subtle or stylistically-sophisticated book by any means, but one that remains relevant in regard to writing and activism.
The book itself does a great job of criticizing capitalism. We follow Jurgis and his family - immigrants from Lithuania - as they struggle in horrifying and disastrous ways to live the American dream. Sinclair hits us over and over with all the ways in which capitalism dehumanizes us, pits us against one another, and precludes any type of moral upward mobility. Perhaps Sinclair's book did not achieve its expected goal because of Sinclair's unrelenting and somewhat bombastic prose. The public may have internalized the grossness of his descriptions of the meatpacking industry instead of Sinclair's more overarching indictment of capitalism.
Overall, a worthwhile read for those interested in investigative fiction or books aimed to generate social protest. Not the most subtle or stylistically-sophisticated book by any means, but one that remains relevant in regard to writing and activism.
November 22, 2024
Socialist propaganda BULLSHIT!
I realize I鈥檓 going to be in the minority on this one, but come on people, the ending was crap and you know it. Sinclair had me hook, line, and sinker until the end.
Here we are in early 20th-century Shitcago, rats are running rampant, the stockyards and slaughterhouses are in full swing, immigrants are pouring in by the thousands, and the unions and mob bosses are fighting for control of the factories and the politicians. We find ourselves following a young, optimistic Jurgis as he sets out with his family from Lithuania to find his fortune in the land of opportunity which is America. Of course, there are going to be hardships; it can鈥檛 all be peaches and cream, but the level of hardship and pain that Jurgis and his family endure is next level, it鈥檚 beyond anything I鈥檝e ever read. You鈥檒l be disgusted and amazed at what this family went through in pursuit of the 鈥淎merican Dream.鈥� We were right there as Jurgis worked 20-hour days on the freezing killing floor, we fought the cold at night as we lay on the kitchen floor trying to sleep, we waded through the muddy streets so we wouldn鈥檛 get fired, we starved, we fought, and part of us died every time disaster struck. But in the end, what do we get? Screwed, that鈥檚 what! We, the readers, deserved a better ending. Jurgis deserved a better ending. He deserved to die in the streets, or be mangled to death in the stockyards, or robbed and stabbed to death by a drunk for the 15 cents in his pocket. Instead, we get some socialist propaganda BULLSHIT at the end. And people call this a 鈥渃lassic.鈥�
I realize I鈥檓 going to be in the minority on this one, but come on people, the ending was crap and you know it. Sinclair had me hook, line, and sinker until the end.
Here we are in early 20th-century Shitcago, rats are running rampant, the stockyards and slaughterhouses are in full swing, immigrants are pouring in by the thousands, and the unions and mob bosses are fighting for control of the factories and the politicians. We find ourselves following a young, optimistic Jurgis as he sets out with his family from Lithuania to find his fortune in the land of opportunity which is America. Of course, there are going to be hardships; it can鈥檛 all be peaches and cream, but the level of hardship and pain that Jurgis and his family endure is next level, it鈥檚 beyond anything I鈥檝e ever read. You鈥檒l be disgusted and amazed at what this family went through in pursuit of the 鈥淎merican Dream.鈥� We were right there as Jurgis worked 20-hour days on the freezing killing floor, we fought the cold at night as we lay on the kitchen floor trying to sleep, we waded through the muddy streets so we wouldn鈥檛 get fired, we starved, we fought, and part of us died every time disaster struck. But in the end, what do we get? Screwed, that鈥檚 what! We, the readers, deserved a better ending. Jurgis deserved a better ending. He deserved to die in the streets, or be mangled to death in the stockyards, or robbed and stabbed to death by a drunk for the 15 cents in his pocket. Instead, we get some socialist propaganda BULLSHIT at the end. And people call this a 鈥渃lassic.鈥�
August 28, 2019
丕诏乇 丿賱鬲丕賳 賴賵爻 禺賵丕賳丿賳 蹖讴 讴賱丕爻蹖讴 亘爻蹖丕乇 鬲賱禺貙 诏夭賳丿賴貙 丕賮卮丕诏乇丕賳賴 賵 鬲兀孬蹖乇 诏匕丕乇 讴乇丿賴 丕爻鬲 蹖丕 賲卮鬲丕賯 禺賵丕賳丿賳 蹖讴 乇賲丕賳 乇卅丕賱蹖爻賲 爻賵爻蹖丕賱蹖爻鬲蹖 賴爻鬲蹖丿 丨鬲賲丕賸 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 乇丕 亘禺賵丕賳蹖丿. 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 鬲丨鬲 毓賳賵丕賳 讴鬲丕亘鈥屬囏й屰� 讴賴 丿賳蹖丕 乇丕 鬲睾蹖蹖乇 丿丕丿賳丿 卮賳丕禺鬲賴 賲蹖鈥屫促堌�. 賲賳 鬲乇噩賲賴 丕亘賵鬲乇丕亘 亘丕賯乇夭丕丿賴貙 趩丕倬 1357貙 417 氐賮丨賴 乇丕 禺賵丕賳丿賲 賵 鬲乇噩賲賴 禺賵亘蹖 亘賵丿. 賲賯丿賲賴鈥屫й� 丿賵丕夭丿賴 氐賮丨賴鈥屫й� 丕夭 乇賵亘乇鬲 亘. 丿賵賳爻 (丿丕賳卮诏丕賴 丕蹖賱蹖賳賵蹖夭) 賳蹖夭 丕亘鬲丿丕蹖 讴鬲丕亘 丌賲丿賴 丕爻鬲 讴賴 毓丕賱蹖 亘賵丿.
丌賳趩賴 讴賱亘賴 毓賲賵 鬲賲 亘乇丕蹖 亘乇丿诏丕賳 爻蹖丕賴 丕賳噩丕賲 丿丕丿貙 (噩賳诏賱) 亘賴 丕丨鬲賲丕賱 夭蹖丕丿 亘乇丕蹖 亘乇丿诏丕賳 爻賮蹖丿 丕賲乇賵夭 丕賳噩丕賲 禺賵丕賴丿 丿丕丿. 噩讴 賱賳丿賳. 賲賯丿賲賴鈥屰� 讴鬲丕亘 氐賮丨賴鈥屰� 丿賵丕夭丿賴
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丌賳趩賴 讴賱亘賴 毓賲賵 鬲賲 亘乇丕蹖 亘乇丿诏丕賳 爻蹖丕賴 丕賳噩丕賲 丿丕丿貙 (噩賳诏賱) 亘賴 丕丨鬲賲丕賱 夭蹖丕丿 亘乇丕蹖 亘乇丿诏丕賳 爻賮蹖丿 丕賲乇賵夭 丕賳噩丕賲 禺賵丕賴丿 丿丕丿. 噩讴 賱賳丿賳. 賲賯丿賲賴鈥屰� 讴鬲丕亘 氐賮丨賴鈥屰� 丿賵丕夭丿賴
乇賵夭賵賱鬲 趩賳丕賳 鬲丨鬲 鬲兀孬蹖乇 丕賮卮丕诏乇蹖 (噩賳诏賱) 賯乇丕乇 诏乇賮鬲 讴賴 亘賴 爻蹖賳讴賱乇 鬲賱诏乇丕賮 讴乇丿 賵 丕夭 丕賵 禺賵丕爻鬲 讴賴 亘賴 賲賱丕賯丕鬲卮 亘乇賵丿 鬲丕 賲賵囟賵毓 乇丕 賲賵乇丿 亘丨孬 賯乇丕乇 丿賴賳丿. 賲賯丿賲賴鈥屰� 讴鬲丕亘 氐賮丨賴鈥屰� 賴賮鬲
賲亘賱睾 丕賳噩蹖賱 丿乇亘丕乇賴鈥屰� "诏賳丕賴 賵 噩亘乇丕賳" 賵 賮蹖囟 禺丿丕賵賳丿 賵 亘禺卮卮 丕賵 賳爻亘鬲 亘賴 囟毓賮 丕賳爻丕賳 賲賵毓馗賴 賲蹖鈥屭┴必�... 賱讴賳 蹖賵乇诏蹖爻 丕丨爻丕爻 賲蹖鈥屭┴必� 讴賴 丕蹖賳 賵丕毓馗蹖賳 夭賳丿诏丕賳蹖 乇丕 讴賴 賲賵毓馗賴 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁嗀� 賱賲爻 賳賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁嗀� 賵 賯丕丿乇 賳蹖爻鬲賳丿 賲爻丕卅賱 丌賳 乇丕 丨賱 讴賳賳丿貨 亘乇毓讴爻 禺賵丿 丌賳賴丕 亘禺卮蹖 丕夭 賲爻卅賱賴 亘賵丿賳丿- 丌賳賴丕 亘禺卮蹖 丕夭 賳馗賲 賲賵噩賵丿 亘賵丿賳丿 讴賴 丕賳爻丕賳鈥屬囏� 乇丕 禺乇丿 賲蹖鈥屭┴必� 賵 丕夭 倬丕蹖 丿乇 賲蹖鈥屫①堌必�. 丌賳賴丕 亘禺卮蹖 丕夭 胤亘賯丕鬲 倬蹖乇賵夭 賵 诏爻鬲丕禺 孬乇賵鬲賲賳丿 亘賵丿賳丿. 丌賳賴丕 鬲丕賱丕乇貙 亘禺丕乇蹖貙 睾匕丕貙 賱亘丕爻 賵 倬賵賱 丿乇 丕禺鬲蹖丕乇 丿丕卮鬲賳丿 賵 亘賳丕亘乇丕蹖賳 亘乇丕蹖 诏乇爻賳诏丕賳 賲賵毓馗賴 賲蹖鈥屭┴必嗀� 賵 诏乇爻賳诏丕賳 賲蹖鈥屫ㄘй屫池� 賲胤蹖毓 亘丕卮賳丿 賵 丨乇賮鈥屬囏й屫簇з� 乇丕 诏賵卮 讴賳賳丿. 氐 275 讴鬲丕亘
September 5, 2013
It is impossible for me to review this without appearing to be pissy. The work itself is barely literary. The Jungle explores and illustrates the conditions of the meatpacking industry. Its presence stirred outcry which led to much needed reforms. Despite the heroics of tackling the Beef Trust, Upton Sinclair saw little need in the actual artful. The protagonist exists only to conjoin the various pieces of reportage. There isn't much emotional depth afforded, the characters' motivations often appear skeptical. I was left shaking my head on many a turn, especially towards the end where entire speeches from the American Socialist party compete with esoteric findings of left-leaning social scientists from the era (around 1905).
Despite these shortcomings as a novel, the opening half is often harrowing. Graphic descriptions of hellish work conditions, poor food quality and lack of social safety net reached towards a very personal conclusion: I am EVER so grateful that I didn't live 110 years ago and was forced to compete economically under those conditions.
Despite these shortcomings as a novel, the opening half is often harrowing. Graphic descriptions of hellish work conditions, poor food quality and lack of social safety net reached towards a very personal conclusion: I am EVER so grateful that I didn't live 110 years ago and was forced to compete economically under those conditions.
November 4, 2023
If someone were to tell me what this book was about, I'd assume I'd love it. As it is, I really disliked this book. It felt like a book written by a white man who didn't struggle about the struggles of the lower class and minorities. I wasn't impressed. What this book talked about is important, and for when it was written it was probably revolutionary. But in 2023, I've read books about the same topics that were much better books and that got the points across better. Am I glad I read it? Well, at least I can say that I have.
Read
November 15, 2018As the animals are driven up the ramp into the slaughter house, killed, butchered and processed down to the last scraps of bone and hoof so too an immigrant family will be cozened, cheated, see their dreams shattered and families broken up. It is one of a number of novels in which the slaughter house is both a metaphor for modern society and foreshadows the fate of the characters, which I suppose is appropriate in that the Chicago slaughterhouse, in which the incoming beasts were de-constructed into as many component or marketable parts as possible was one of the inspirations for the Detroit assembly line along which components were once upon a time built up into four wheeled motor cars. Mirror image processes which might from a certain point of view be taken as epitomising the twentieth century experience. Either way one finds oneself sent along a pre ordained line whether to destruction or to be released into the community on parole, perhaps not as a model-T, until the bell toils for you.
If we take Sinclair's somewhat Weberian view of the culmination of the process of rationalisation and glance on to or even , one might wonder why bother going to the trouble of erecting political structures to channel people first along the assembly line and then the dis-assembly line with such involved and complex mechanisms when one can achieve equal destruction simply through the apparently normal and acceptable operation of efficiency and rational economics. It is only the bleat for which no economic use can be found.
If we take Sinclair's somewhat Weberian view of the culmination of the process of rationalisation and glance on to or even , one might wonder why bother going to the trouble of erecting political structures to channel people first along the assembly line and then the dis-assembly line with such involved and complex mechanisms when one can achieve equal destruction simply through the apparently normal and acceptable operation of efficiency and rational economics. It is only the bleat for which no economic use can be found.
October 22, 2014
Somehow I never read this before, but I've heard it was a classic - not just a classic, but one that drove Theodore Roosevelt into attempting to clean up the mess of the Chicago stock yards & eventually led to public exposure & the FDA.
Sinclair wasn't happy with the response & I can see why. About halfway through, I've found the ills of the meat packing industry to be very much a secondary issue for Sinclair. They're awful, but it's obvious that his first & foremost thought is the plight of honest, hard working immigrants. They arrive with stars in their eyes & are soon living in hell. He certainly created (found) a proper setting.
I've always had a soft spot for immigrants. All of my ancestors, a grandfather & the rest of my great grandparents, immigrated to the US in the late 1800's & early 1900's, within decades of this novel's setting 1906. They all landed in NYC & eventually made their fortunes. Some managed to own their own homes out on Long Island, nothing grand, but solidly middle class. They had hard times in Brooklyn, but nothing like what Sinclair describes. The morass that his characters landed in is enough to make anyone with a heart weep.
The naivete & ignorance of the immigrants is compounded by the language barrier. Life was pretty brutal back then, but their lives were crushed by greed, a surplus of workers, lack of unions, decent medicine, & more. IOW, the sheer number of hardships that lines up against them is too long to list. The grinding weight of them is practically unbearable to read about.
This is something for us to remember today when we are facing similar immigration issues. Poor people who are scrounging to live will do just about anything, including turning to crime, & it's hard to blame them. They're desperate. Sinclair shows us that in this novel, although his point is weakened by taking things too far.
After the halfway point, Sinclair felt he had set the stage & started pointing out all the ills of the world. He dwells on corruption in every major industry & rants at how it is all a scheme to plunder the poor worker. His remedy is Socialism & he preaches it relentlessly until the last 1/4 of the book devolved into pure party politics.
His version of Socialism sounded very much like the Communism of Russia, although I'm no expert in or student of gov't types. (Make up your own mind on the label, I don't care.) The world into 2 classes; the workers & the greedy owners. Only one manufacturer of goods is needed, since it is more efficient & there is no need for frills or competition. Prices are set by the amount of work it takes to produce them & everyone is allotted the basics.
I was disappointed in the way the book ended in his political diatribe. The last half wasn't really worth plowing through, especially today, given the historical example of how the Russian's economy worked out under a similar system. Even without that, Sinclair's fanaticism shines through & doesn't make much sense since there is no allowance for any compromise. He sees unions as ineffectual, doomed to failure due to the corruption throughout the entire system.
Upton Sinclair's page in Wikipedia
says he believed sex should only be performed during marriage & then for procreation only. I'm glad I read this after the book. I don't much care for fanaticism.
This book has its own Wikipedia page:
Overall, I was tempted to only give this book 3 stars due to the poor last half, but decided that I'd give it 4 stars & highly recommend the first half to all. Once you feel the book is descending into the depths, cut your losses. There's no real ending to look forward to, just increasing diatribe & idiocy.
Sinclair wasn't happy with the response & I can see why. About halfway through, I've found the ills of the meat packing industry to be very much a secondary issue for Sinclair. They're awful, but it's obvious that his first & foremost thought is the plight of honest, hard working immigrants. They arrive with stars in their eyes & are soon living in hell. He certainly created (found) a proper setting.
I've always had a soft spot for immigrants. All of my ancestors, a grandfather & the rest of my great grandparents, immigrated to the US in the late 1800's & early 1900's, within decades of this novel's setting 1906. They all landed in NYC & eventually made their fortunes. Some managed to own their own homes out on Long Island, nothing grand, but solidly middle class. They had hard times in Brooklyn, but nothing like what Sinclair describes. The morass that his characters landed in is enough to make anyone with a heart weep.
The naivete & ignorance of the immigrants is compounded by the language barrier. Life was pretty brutal back then, but their lives were crushed by greed, a surplus of workers, lack of unions, decent medicine, & more. IOW, the sheer number of hardships that lines up against them is too long to list. The grinding weight of them is practically unbearable to read about.
This is something for us to remember today when we are facing similar immigration issues. Poor people who are scrounging to live will do just about anything, including turning to crime, & it's hard to blame them. They're desperate. Sinclair shows us that in this novel, although his point is weakened by taking things too far.
After the halfway point, Sinclair felt he had set the stage & started pointing out all the ills of the world. He dwells on corruption in every major industry & rants at how it is all a scheme to plunder the poor worker. His remedy is Socialism & he preaches it relentlessly until the last 1/4 of the book devolved into pure party politics.
His version of Socialism sounded very much like the Communism of Russia, although I'm no expert in or student of gov't types. (Make up your own mind on the label, I don't care.) The world into 2 classes; the workers & the greedy owners. Only one manufacturer of goods is needed, since it is more efficient & there is no need for frills or competition. Prices are set by the amount of work it takes to produce them & everyone is allotted the basics.
I was disappointed in the way the book ended in his political diatribe. The last half wasn't really worth plowing through, especially today, given the historical example of how the Russian's economy worked out under a similar system. Even without that, Sinclair's fanaticism shines through & doesn't make much sense since there is no allowance for any compromise. He sees unions as ineffectual, doomed to failure due to the corruption throughout the entire system.
Upton Sinclair's page in Wikipedia
says he believed sex should only be performed during marriage & then for procreation only. I'm glad I read this after the book. I don't much care for fanaticism.
This book has its own Wikipedia page:
Overall, I was tempted to only give this book 3 stars due to the poor last half, but decided that I'd give it 4 stars & highly recommend the first half to all. Once you feel the book is descending into the depths, cut your losses. There's no real ending to look forward to, just increasing diatribe & idiocy.
December 9, 2015
Note:
This book was included in 鈥�1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.鈥�
I own the 2006 edition of 鈥�1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.鈥� Peter Boxall is the general editor and the preface was written by Peter Ackroyd. This book has compiled 1001 recommended books, primarily novels which were selected by over 100 contributors (literary critics, professors of literature, etc.). For each recommended book there is information on the author and a short blurb about the book.
I use "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" for reference.
This book was included in 鈥�1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.鈥�
I own the 2006 edition of 鈥�1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.鈥� Peter Boxall is the general editor and the preface was written by Peter Ackroyd. This book has compiled 1001 recommended books, primarily novels which were selected by over 100 contributors (literary critics, professors of literature, etc.). For each recommended book there is information on the author and a short blurb about the book.
I use "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" for reference.
December 6, 2019
The story of Jurgis and his family who came from Lithuania to work in the slaughterhouses of Chicago in the early 20th century.
Doing some preparatory research for his novel, writer Upton Sinclair has spent some time as a worker in Packingtown, Chicago. This novel exposes the appalling living conditions migrants faced once they settled : exploited like cattle by a full-blown cartel that brings together industrialists, real estate developers, bar owners, transport companies, state officials, police officers and magistrates.
Though its scope and ambition are much wider, the book is mainly acclaimed for having pushed the US Congress to enact laws in favour of a strengthened sanitary control in the food processing industry.
Book recommendation :
Soundtrack :
Plasticity - Front Line Assembly
----------------
L'histoire de Jurgis et de sa famille venus de Lituanie pour travailler dans les abattoirs de Chicago au d茅but du 20猫me si猫cle.
Le livre d茅crit minutieusement les conditions de vie 茅pouvantables de ces immigr茅s exploit茅s comme du b茅tail par un v茅ritable cartel qui rassemble industriels, promoteurs immobiliers, cabaretiers, entreprises de transport, fonctionnaires de l'茅tat, policiers comme magistrats.
L'茅crivain Upton Sinclair avait pass茅 quelque temps comme employ茅 脿 Packingtown pour documenter son r茅quisitoire contre ces pratiques. Si aujourd'hui le livre fait date, c'est pour avoir pouss茅 l'脡tat 脿 茅dicter des lois en faveur d'un contr么le sanitaire renforc茅 dans l'industrie agro-alimentaire.
Lecture voisine :
Piste sonore :
Plasticity - Front Line Assembly
Doing some preparatory research for his novel, writer Upton Sinclair has spent some time as a worker in Packingtown, Chicago. This novel exposes the appalling living conditions migrants faced once they settled : exploited like cattle by a full-blown cartel that brings together industrialists, real estate developers, bar owners, transport companies, state officials, police officers and magistrates.
Though its scope and ambition are much wider, the book is mainly acclaimed for having pushed the US Congress to enact laws in favour of a strengthened sanitary control in the food processing industry.
Book recommendation :
Soundtrack :
Plasticity - Front Line Assembly
----------------
L'histoire de Jurgis et de sa famille venus de Lituanie pour travailler dans les abattoirs de Chicago au d茅but du 20猫me si猫cle.
Le livre d茅crit minutieusement les conditions de vie 茅pouvantables de ces immigr茅s exploit茅s comme du b茅tail par un v茅ritable cartel qui rassemble industriels, promoteurs immobiliers, cabaretiers, entreprises de transport, fonctionnaires de l'茅tat, policiers comme magistrats.
L'茅crivain Upton Sinclair avait pass茅 quelque temps comme employ茅 脿 Packingtown pour documenter son r茅quisitoire contre ces pratiques. Si aujourd'hui le livre fait date, c'est pour avoir pouss茅 l'脡tat 脿 茅dicter des lois en faveur d'un contr么le sanitaire renforc茅 dans l'industrie agro-alimentaire.
Lecture voisine :
Piste sonore :
Plasticity - Front Line Assembly
December 20, 2015
This was a graphic look into the world of meat and it may have been the original , but that just isn't what I am looking for in a book.
November 4, 2017
There鈥檚 an interesting introduction into the world of this Lithuanian community of Chicago. The main scene being the marriage of 16-year-old, blue-eyed Ona, running into tears often, 鈥ith Jurgis, a much older man.
Special attention has been given to the description of the characters dancing or just chatting over the table; but center-stage remains the trio-band (moving, sometimes, over the room!): Tamoszius, the 5-feet leader, the violin player, supported by another violin, of a Slovak man, and a third fat man who plays the bass part on a cello. The band tunes make the minds and hearts of those attending to recall Lithuania.
Alina is the beauty of the evening, but she鈥檚 too proud. She鈥檚 countered by Jadvyga: beautiful, yet humble.
There鈥檚 plenty of Lithuanian language in the air鈥nd in the songs鈥nd waltzing. Jokubas contribution to the 鈥減arty鈥� is his 鈥減oetical imagination鈥�. Antanas, the precociously 鈥渙ld鈥� man, has got difficulties starting his solemn speech due to lungs problems gotten in his job, now in America.
The author, from the very beginning, points to the work aspects of these people. Take a few cases: Tamoszius works in the 鈥渒illing beds鈥�; Marija, the very first character of the book, works in a 鈥渃anning factory鈥� . 鈥nd Mikolas is a beef boner; a 鈥渢rade鈥� which may imply 鈥渂lood poisoning鈥�.
The book had an impact on the denunciation of (bad) work conditions and the promulgation of appropriate laws to correct these situations in America, in the beginning of the 20th century.
April 11, 2021
This classic novel follows the life of a young man who immigrated to the United States and settles in Chicago during the early twentieth century together with his extended family made up of his fianc茅e and future in-laws. They're ambitious and hard workers, but due to a combination of predatory house financing, draconian working conditions, and corrupt business/governmental powers their situation deteriorates to the point of economic and social devastation鈥�(i.e loss of their house and death of his wife and son).
As the book portrays these harsh conditions and exploited lives it also describes nauseating health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meat packing industry. It is this aspect of the novel that resulted in historic legislation that eventually led to the formation of the U.S.Food and Drug Administration.
At this point the book's narrative is barely two thirds complete. The story's protagonist is devastated by the death of his wife and son and tries to escape his sorrowful and miserable life by escaping to the life of a hobo. After awhile he returned to Chicago and lived through a variety of activities through which he learns about the workings of power in Chicago that contribute to making life difficult for working people like him. Through the descriptions of his activities the book demonstrates the corrupt relationship of crime, politics, and business in Chicago at that time. The following excerpt describes the situation. It's a lengthy excerpt because there's a lot to describe.
One evening the story's protagonist happens to attend a speech promoting the socialist cause. The text for the equivalent of about a half hour speech is included in the book. It's clear that this is the message that the author wants to convey. Below I have included the beginning of this speech because I think it summarizes perfectly the life of our protagonist up to this point.
As the book portrays these harsh conditions and exploited lives it also describes nauseating health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meat packing industry. It is this aspect of the novel that resulted in historic legislation that eventually led to the formation of the U.S.Food and Drug Administration.
At this point the book's narrative is barely two thirds complete. The story's protagonist is devastated by the death of his wife and son and tries to escape his sorrowful and miserable life by escaping to the life of a hobo. After awhile he returned to Chicago and lived through a variety of activities through which he learns about the workings of power in Chicago that contribute to making life difficult for working people like him. Through the descriptions of his activities the book demonstrates the corrupt relationship of crime, politics, and business in Chicago at that time. The following excerpt describes the situation. It's a lengthy excerpt because there's a lot to describe.
The city, which was owned by an oligarchy of business men, being nominally ruled by the people, a huge army of graft was necessary for the purpose of effecting the transfer of power. Twice a year, in the spring and fall elections, millions of dollars were furnished by the business men and expended by this army; meetings were held and clever speakers were hired, bands played and rockets sizzled, tons of documents and reservoirs of drinks were distributed, and tens of thousands of votes were bought for cash. And this army of graft had, of course, to be maintained the year round. The leaders and organizers were maintained by the business men directly鈥攁ldermen and legislators by means of bribes, party officials out of the campaign funds, lobbyists and corporation lawyers in the form of salaries, contractors by means of jobs, labor union leaders by subsidies, and newspaper proprietors and editors by advertisements. The rank and file, however, were either foisted upon the city, or else lived off the population directly. There was the police department, and the fire and water departments, and the whole balance of the civil list, from the meanest office boy to the head of a city department; and for the horde who could find no room in these, there was the world of vice and crime, there was license to seduce, to swindle and plunder and prey. The law forbade Sunday drinking; and this had delivered the saloon-keepers into the hands of the police, and made an alliance between them necessary. The law forbade prostitution; and this had brought the "madames" into the combination. It was the same with the gambling-house keeper and the poolroom man, and the same with any other man or woman who had a means of getting "graft," and was willing to pay over a share of it: the green-goods man and the highwayman, the pickpocket and the sneak thief, and the receiver of stolen goods, the seller of adulterated milk, of stale fruit and diseased meat, the proprietor of unsanitary tenements, the fake doctor and the usurer, the beggar and the 鈥減ushcart man," the prize fighter and the professional slugger, the race-track 鈥渢out,鈥� the procurer, the white-slave agent, and the expert seducer of young girls. All of these agencies of corruption were banded together, and leagued in blood brotherhood with the politician and the police; more often than not they were one and the same person,鈥攖he police captain would own the brothel he pretended to raid, the politician would open his headquarters in his saloon. "Hinkydink" or 鈥淏athhouse John," or others of that ilk, were proprietors of the most notorious dives in Chicago, and also the "gray wolves" of the city council, who gave away the streets of the city to the business men; and those who patronized their places were the gamblers and prize fighters who set the law at defiance, and the burglars and holdup men who kept the whole city in terror. On election day all these powers of vice and crime were one power; they could tell within one per cent what the vote of their district would be, and they could change it at an hour's notice.The story told by this book is so depressing that I couldn't help but wonder how the author was going the end the story. Surely he would find a way of adding a bit of optimism. Sure enough the author provides a vision for the future. It's called Socialism.
One evening the story's protagonist happens to attend a speech promoting the socialist cause. The text for the equivalent of about a half hour speech is included in the book. It's clear that this is the message that the author wants to convey. Below I have included the beginning of this speech because I think it summarizes perfectly the life of our protagonist up to this point.
And so you return to your daily round of toil, you go back to be ground up for profits in the world-wide mill of economic might! To toil long hours for another's advantage; to live in mean and squalid homes, to work in dangerous and unhealthful places; to wrestle with the specters of hunger and privation, to take your chances of accident, disease, and death. And each day the struggle becomes fiercer, the pace more cruel; each day you have to toil a little harder, and feel the iron hand of circumstance close upon you a little tighter. Months pass, years maybe鈥攁nd then you come again; and again I am here to plead with you, to know if want and misery have yet done their work with you, if injustice and oppression have yet opened your eyes!So the book ends with a variety of conversations that defend the cause of socialism. The book suggests that support for it is trending up and that eventually will win nationwide popular support. So that's how things looked in 1906 when this book was published.
May 5, 2025
Polarizing views on this one. I get why it's seen as such an important novel in regards to the early years of 20th century America - the swift development of a capitalist society; economic inequalities; mistreatment of workers; dehumanization - but I found it longer than need be, with too much graphic detail of killing livestock - no I'm not a vegetarian, while the constant drilling of socialist propaganda gets in the way of good storytelling. Little wonder the conservative press condemned it. Would it not just have better to write a shorter non-fiction piece - after going undercover with workers to gather material, that would still highlight deep issues within the meatpacking industry, thus still getting the reforms. As a novelist, in my opinion, Sinclair is more corned beef than prime steak. So much so that later on I had the urge to start skimming as my head was beginning to hurt.
July 17, 2008
Things not to do:
-tug on Superman's cape
-spit in the wind
-discuss The Jungle extensively in your junior year literature class directly before lunchtime on hot dog day
-mess around with Jim
I still don't eat hot dogs. And I ate hot dogs up until then, despite having uncles who worked at the hot dog factory that weren't the most finger-rich of individuals.
Re-read in 2005 for Gapers Block book club.
-tug on Superman's cape
-spit in the wind
-discuss The Jungle extensively in your junior year literature class directly before lunchtime on hot dog day
-mess around with Jim
I still don't eat hot dogs. And I ate hot dogs up until then, despite having uncles who worked at the hot dog factory that weren't the most finger-rich of individuals.
Re-read in 2005 for Gapers Block book club.
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