The Jungle Author:Upton Sinclair Upton Sinclair?s muckraking masterpiece The Jungle centers on Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant working in Chicago?s infamous Packingtown. Instead of finding the American Dream, Rudkus and his family inhabit a brutal, soul-crushing urban jungle dominated by greedy bosses, pitiless con-men, and corrupt politicians. While Sinclair?s main targe... more »t was the industry?s appalling labor conditions, the reading public was most outraged by the disgusting filth and contamination in American food that his novel exposed. As a result, President Theodore Roosevelt demanded an official investigation, which quickly led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug laws. For a work of fiction to have such an impact outside its literary context is extremely rare. (At the time of The Jungle?s publication in 1906, the only novel to have led to social change on a similar scale in America was Uncle Tom?s Cabin.) Today, The Jungle remains a relevant portrait of capitalism at its worst and an impassioned account of the human spirit facing nearly insurmountable challenges.« less
I read this book after reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. I had always thought this book was mainly about the meatpacking plants and how disgusting they were AND, while this was a part of the book and the plants are definitely disgusting, this book is much more than that. It follows an immigrant family from Lithuania as they try to make their way in America. Sinclaire really reels you in with his narrative and you can't help but feel for this family that quickly finds out that the American dream is not quite what they imagined.
If I had been alive and able to read during (many could not then as now I suppose)this time I think I would have stopped eating meat. Thank goodness for the FDA now to regulate how our meat is processed! It breaks my heart reading how people lived during this time and how immigrants were treated, I just can't imagine the struggles nd sacrafices they had to make. Overall its a great book and I am glad I read it.
The stockyards are long gone but the unsavory dark side of Chicago lives on. Chicago machine politicians recently elected to high offices in Washington confirm that beneath the glitz Chicago's the same town it was when Sinclair analyzed it.
This is probably my favorite book of all time. I found myself trapped in this tale and unable to put this book down. It is a classic in every way. You want to learn about America at the dawn of the industrial revolution, the treatment of immigrants or coporate greed? Do you want to read a book with happiness, heartbreak and great adventure? It's all right here!
This is a very powerful book. I was lucky enough to read this when I was very young and it was one of the motivating factors in my decision to stop eating meat. Everyone should read this book!
This is one book that everyone should read. It details the life in the meat-packing district of Chicago in the early 20th century and the horrific conditions under which the men had to work. The women's lot was no better, and this was the impetus for the labor movement that brought about so much change. It's been said that America's meat consumption dropped by 25% after this book was published because of the graphic details of the conditions in the plants.
This book is a tough read. it's easy to understand why it has become a classic. Definitely not a casual book to take to the beach, but more a cold fisted commentary on urban life at the beginning of the 20th century. The book hits hard at the plight of the emmigrants and could apply to our current culture.
What a trap the immigrants fell into as they moved to the promising city of Chicago. It explains why the city burned even across the river, and illustrates the gap between the classes. We have it so easy now! And this is why the USDA came about...
Shocking novel exposing the horrors of the meat packing industry in early 19th century America. This book strongly leans toward what the author believes to be the positive aspect of socialism.
I loved the book up until the very end when it was no longer about the life of Jurgis Rudkus and all about Socialism. I felt towards the end I was reading an incredibly boring essay on the advantages of Socialism. The other 300 pages were great though. I enjoyed this book for putting a perspective on the life of immigrants during the early 1900s, for confirming that corruption in the United States was no different 100+ years ago. The Jungle made me appreciate the fact that even though my job isn't some place I'd like to be all the time, it's not even a scintilla of what people had to go through 100+ years ago. Read it.
This is the way it was during the early years of imigration by Europeans and the hell they had to put up with in order to make a living. You think there is a problem with todays meat processing? You haven't even got a clue!!!!!
I read parts of this in high school, and picked it up again years later. It was surprising to me how much of it was still relevent. There were things I learned about our modern world that dates back to when this book was written. While some of the conditions may have improved, the desires and greed have remained in our country today.
I don't recommend reading this if you have a weak stomach. Other than that, it's an interesting, if fairly depressing read. I think it's good to have at least dabbled in the classics.
Great book. Powerful, heart breaking and depressing at times. Upton Sinclair did a preeminent job exposing the reality of meat factories during the early 20th century.
put to the American public the fundamental questions raised by capitalism in such a way that they could not escape them. When it was first published in 1906, The Jungle exposed the inhumane conditions of Chicagos stockyards and the laborers struggle against industry and wage slavery. It was an immediate bestseller and led to new regulations that forever changed workers rights and the meatpacking industry.
This book, about the life of a poor immigrant who finds a job in a meat processing plant, was fantastic - heart-breaking, hopeful, and disgusting. The only problem I had with it was the ending...I won't spoil it for you, though. Everyone should read this book.
Follows the life of one immigrent working man in 1906 Chicago. The incredible things this man endures are heart wrenching but you can't put the book down for the need to know what happens to him. The inside look at his life in the meat packing plants also spurred the pure food acts that still affect us today.
