A review by books_n_bananas
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
4.0
This book was not at all what I thought it would be.
First introduced to me in high school in American History, this book was presented as a deep look into the meat industry; the basis of the FDA and labor laws today; a book that changed our practices with food, workers, and most of all, meat.
Well, holy shenanigans, it's a lot more than that. What I have discovered is that Upton Sinclair is, apparently, the American Tolstoy-- this story he created is a sequence of heartbreak and of truthtelling. He may have dramatized the facts, but it is the story of immigrants finding what most of us know to be true about America in the early 1900's: that the American dream wasn't so dreamy-- there was corruption, pain, struggle, and starvation.
Like Tolstoy (or Game of Thrones), Sinclair doesn't seem to falter to kill off most of his main characters in brutal and tragic ways.
And like Tolstoy, he was a huge supporter of Socialism, as made evident in the last chapter(s) of the book.
My take aways:
1. This book is NOT a bore. I could hardly put it down! It was a wonderful story and great narrative that will have you aching with grief and disgust.
2. This book won't necessarily make you feel the need to go vegan immediately, but it may make you sympathize with the meat packing industry and realize that it's not really the best work situation there is... because obviously there aren't humans falling in our lard anymore... not that I would ever choose to eat lard.
3. It really is remarkable what Sinclair accomplished in his time. Highly recommend.
First introduced to me in high school in American History, this book was presented as a deep look into the meat industry; the basis of the FDA and labor laws today; a book that changed our practices with food, workers, and most of all, meat.
Well, holy shenanigans, it's a lot more than that. What I have discovered is that Upton Sinclair is, apparently, the American Tolstoy-- this story he created is a sequence of heartbreak and of truthtelling. He may have dramatized the facts, but it is the story of immigrants finding what most of us know to be true about America in the early 1900's: that the American dream wasn't so dreamy-- there was corruption, pain, struggle, and starvation.
Like Tolstoy (or Game of Thrones), Sinclair doesn't seem to falter to kill off most of his main characters in brutal and tragic ways.
And like Tolstoy, he was a huge supporter of Socialism, as made evident in the last chapter(s) of the book.
My take aways:
1. This book is NOT a bore. I could hardly put it down! It was a wonderful story and great narrative that will have you aching with grief and disgust.
2. This book won't necessarily make you feel the need to go vegan immediately, but it may make you sympathize with the meat packing industry and realize that it's not really the best work situation there is... because obviously there aren't humans falling in our lard anymore... not that I would ever choose to eat lard.
3. It really is remarkable what Sinclair accomplished in his time. Highly recommend.