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alreadyemily's review against another edition
3.0
The first 60% is a 4+ star story about a family of Lithuanian immigrants and the horrors of working in the near packing industry in Chicago around the turn of the century. Eventually though, I lost interest. The reader is shown that foreign immigrants like the Lithuanians are to be pitied and helped but then subjected to reading African Americans talked about in a hideous, sub-human way. How hypocritical and ignorant!
Finally, the plot and the characters are subjugated entirely to provide a seeing for seemingly endless tracts of socialist ideas. If only Upton Sinclair had had more faith in his story and characters. He was doing a fine enough job getting his ideas about the system access - and with a gripping story too - before he had to go and starting beating the reader about the head and neck with his agenda. However it is a historically significant book and I'm still glad I read it.
Finally, the plot and the characters are subjugated entirely to provide a seeing for seemingly endless tracts of socialist ideas. If only Upton Sinclair had had more faith in his story and characters. He was doing a fine enough job getting his ideas about the system access - and with a gripping story too - before he had to go and starting beating the reader about the head and neck with his agenda. However it is a historically significant book and I'm still glad I read it.
kirstin's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
suicidaldaron's review against another edition
4.0
i read this book because everywhere I looked said that it was repulsive and graphic as hell. but these scenes of the slaughterhouse/meat industry were very sparse. gross, but it really wasnt as terrible as id expected (and honestly kind of hoped). the majority of this book was one of the saddest goddamn stories ive ever read about how absolutely miserable and poor this immigrant family was due to the conditions of chicago. the last hundred pages or so REALLY dragged to be honest, once jurgis ditches his family it gets a little plain and the politics were a bit too much, but that mightve just been me.
kevinmccarrick's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
keimre734's review against another edition
4.0
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a book that I’ve been meaning to read for a while. I actually picked it up at a used bookstore several years ago and it’s been sitting on my book shelf ever since.
I knew before I started this book that The Jungle helped to create the Food and Drug Act which is still being used in America to this day. I also knew that Sinclair’s story had to do with the terribly unhygienic conditions which were commonplace in the meat packing industry during the turn of the century.
However, I didn’t realize that Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to help educate people about communism instead of educating people about the unhygienic conditions that were rampant in the meat packing industry at the time.
The first half of the book was very interesting. I felt deeply with Jurgis and his family as one thing after another didn’t go their way. I was disgusted when I learned about so many of the stories regarding the meat packing industry in Chicago. (I’ll let you go ahead and read the gruesome parts for yourself.)
But once Jurgis decided to leave his family, I began having a hard time connecting with him as well. He up and walked out on his family, without so much as an explanation, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for his family and not Jurgis. I wanted to learn what happened to his family, but instead the story followed only Jurgis for the most part.
I understand that Sinclair wrote the book to help people better understand Socialism and maybe even encourage readers to become Socialist. With this knowledge, I can understand why Sinclair wrote the second half of the book the way he did, but I can’t help but wish he would have written it differently.
I knew before I started this book that The Jungle helped to create the Food and Drug Act which is still being used in America to this day. I also knew that Sinclair’s story had to do with the terribly unhygienic conditions which were commonplace in the meat packing industry during the turn of the century.
However, I didn’t realize that Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to help educate people about communism instead of educating people about the unhygienic conditions that were rampant in the meat packing industry at the time.
The first half of the book was very interesting. I felt deeply with Jurgis and his family as one thing after another didn’t go their way. I was disgusted when I learned about so many of the stories regarding the meat packing industry in Chicago. (I’ll let you go ahead and read the gruesome parts for yourself.)
But once Jurgis decided to leave his family, I began having a hard time connecting with him as well. He up and walked out on his family, without so much as an explanation, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for his family and not Jurgis. I wanted to learn what happened to his family, but instead the story followed only Jurgis for the most part.
I understand that Sinclair wrote the book to help people better understand Socialism and maybe even encourage readers to become Socialist. With this knowledge, I can understand why Sinclair wrote the second half of the book the way he did, but I can’t help but wish he would have written it differently.
awzitcer's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a must read for anyone interested in planning, food systems, labor, and the early 20th century. It's also an important fictionalized sociology.
I would teach from it. As reading, it's full of obvious polemic and purple prose, but it did what it was supposed to do. A lovely illustration of Marx's points about labor exploitation.
Interestingly enough, I think the response to the book was to change food safety regulation, but not labor or welfare stuff, or immigration for that matter.
I would teach from it. As reading, it's full of obvious polemic and purple prose, but it did what it was supposed to do. A lovely illustration of Marx's points about labor exploitation.
Interestingly enough, I think the response to the book was to change food safety regulation, but not labor or welfare stuff, or immigration for that matter.
goodvibeswife2016's review against another edition
4.0
I know the characters aren't real, but the story absolutely is. Difficult to imagine the struggles of life during those times but Sinclair paints a perfect picture of just how real their struggle was. The ending was a bit sluggish and confusing, what with the topic of socialism finally being introduced thoroughly. A bit tedious but informative and VERY thought provoking. I sense similarities between The Jungle and Animal Farm.