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Jason Koivu's Reviews > The Jungle
The Jungle
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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.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
January 1, 2006
–
Finished Reading
November 22, 2008
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Richard
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Mar 18, 2012 09:26AM
I can't say I enjoyed this book when I read it, but I am really, really glad that I did read it. Liked and "liked" your review!
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Richard wrote: "I can't say I enjoyed this book when I read it, but I am really, really glad that I did read it. Liked and "liked" your review!"Thank you kindly!
I don't think you're alone in your feelings about this one, Richard. Seems a lot of people were so-so about it, but glad they read it.
Upton Sinclair was no kind of prose stylist, but he had Ideas! Sometime you should read the bio of his longtime publisher, Horace Liveright, Firebrand:: The Life of Horace Liveright...very instructive as to Sinclair's contemporary rep.
Richard wrote: "Upton Sinclair was no kind of prose stylist, but he had Ideas! Sometime you should read the bio of his longtime publisher, Horace Liveright, Firebrand:: The Life of Horace Liveright....."I agree, he wasn't the most eloquent writer, but he really drove a point home. I've always debated reading his other big book, Oil!, but I fear that will be one of the rare cases of the movie overtaking the novel. D-Day Lewis is enough for me.
s.penkevich wrote: "Richard wrote: "Upton Sinclair was no kind of prose stylist, but he had Ideas! Sometime you should read the bio of his longtime publisher, Horace Liveright, [book:Firebrand:: The Life of Horace Liv..."There Will Be Blood is - though not completely different - a fairly vast departure from Oil!. Here's my review, if you're interested... http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Richard wrote: "Upton Sinclair was no kind of prose stylist, but he had Ideas! Sometime you should read the bio of his longtime publisher, Horace Liveright, Firebrand:: The Life of Horace Liveright....."Sounds interesting. Thanks!
I have also always been interested in this book, but never have found the time to read it. Someday, maybe....
Rob wrote: "Nice review."Thanks, Rob!
Exactly my train of thought about the book before, during, and after reading it!Might have spared me a few painful years of calling myself a libertarian. :P
Lo wrote: "Exactly my train of thought about the book before, during, and after reading it!Might have spared me a few painful years of calling myself a libertarian. :P"
Yep! This one's so good I'm thinking I should read it again soon-like.
I totally agree with your review Jason.It's a painful but necessary experience to read this book.
This has been on my to-read list for a long time. I have thought it could be a chaser for
The Fountainhead
, a book that is on my loathe-to-read-therefore-must-read list.
Joe wrote: "This has been on my to-read list for a long time. I have thought it could be a chaser for The Fountainhead, a book that is on my loathe-to-read-therefore-must-read list."For years I assumed The Jungle was a dry, documentary-styled non-fiction hand-wringer about atrocious factory working conditions, so I kept away from it, even though it was highly regarded. Then one day I saw it at the library and decided to give the jacket a read, having never actually read a synopsis. Turns out I assumed too much. It's a great fictionalized saga of everyday life for eastern Europeans moving to Chicago during the city's meat industry heyday. It blends in politics as best it can, getting heavy-handed now and then, but the times called for it and so those parts become just as engrossing. I highly recommend it, Joe!
Rand...I tried Atlas Shrugged and just couldn't get into it. I fear my mindset these days would not be as welcoming of her theories as maybe it would've been when I was in school. But I'm with you, I resist it, but feel like it's something I should read.
I'm over half way finished with this little gem. something new shocks me with every chapter!!!!
Kristi wrote: "I'm over half way finished with this little gem. something new shocks me with every chapter!!!!"This one reignited my college-aged passion for human rights causes.
Jason wrote: "Kristi wrote: "I'm over half way finished with this little gem. something new shocks me with every chapter!!!!"This one reignited my college-aged passion for human rights causes."
Now read
and be refreshed in your socialism.
Richard wrote: "Jason wrote: "Kristi wrote: "I'm over half way finished with this little gem. something new shocks me with every chapter!!!!"This one reignited my college-aged passion for human rights causes."
..."
Thanks for opening my eyes to this one, Richard!
Considering where you live & what's going on there now, I thought it might resonate.
Jason wrote: "For years I assumed The Jungle was a dry, documentary-styled non-fiction hand-wringer about atrocious factory working conditions, so I kept away from it, even though it was highly regarded. Then one day I saw it at the library and decided to give the jacket a read, having never actually read a synopsis. Turns out I assumed too much. It's a great fictionalized saga of everyday life for eastern Europeans moving to Chicago during the city's meat industry heyday. It blends in politics as best it can, getting heavy-handed now and then, but the times called for it and so those parts become just as engrossing."Upton Sinclair wrote the novel to inspire workers to organize -- including across ethnic lines. Imagine his disappointment when The Jungle instead spawned food-safety laws!
Ivonne wrote: "Jason wrote: "For years I assumed The Jungle was a dry, documentary-styled non-fiction hand-wringer about atrocious factory working conditions, so I kept away from it, even though it was highly reg..."Hey, that ain't nothing to sneeze at!
