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The Jungle

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 54,770 ratings · 2,873 reviews

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 o...more

Mass Market Paperback, 350 pages

Published 1980 by Signet (first published 1906)

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Jun 16, 2008 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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,...more

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Nov 12, 2008 Robertisenberg rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more

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Jan 23, 2008 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

(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 considerin...more

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Aug 21, 2009 Timmy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: united-states

What a disservice that this book is mostly read and remembered as a mere historical reference and expose on socialism and the meat-packing industry! The final four chapters which lapse into doctrine, preaching, and recruitment don't help any in casting off the label, but otherwise the book goes well beyond the Socialist politics which motivated Sinclair to write it. The first three hundred pages focus on hardened descriptions of the physical and emotional tragedy of working class immigrants losi...more

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Sep 08, 2008 Jed rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: tough people

Recommended to Jed by: bennion (and a handful of people who were afraid to read it)

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...more 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.(less)

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Feb 03, 2010 theduckthief rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"They could tell the whole hateful story of it, set forth in the inner soul of a city in which justice and honor, women's bodies and men's souls were for sale in the marketplace, and human beings writhed and fought and fell upon each other like wolves in a pit, in which lusts were raging fires, and men were fuel, and humanity was festering and stewing and wallowing in its own corruption."

The Good:

Jurgis Rudkus is a Lithuanian immigrant, newly landed in Chicago, IL with his extended family. Like...more "They could tell the whole hateful story of it, set forth in the inner soul of a city in which justice and honor, women's bodies and men's souls were for sale in the marketplace, and human beings writhed and fought and fell upon each other like wolves in a pit, in which lusts were raging fires, and men were fuel, and humanity was festering and stewing and wallowing in its own corruption."

The Good:

Jurgis Rudkus is a Lithuanian immigrant, newly landed in Chicago, IL with his extended family. Like many immigrants, he dreams of a new life: work, good pay, food on the table. Things begin to go wrong from the moment they arrive. Con men are quick to take advantage as greed, corruption and moral decay are the driving forces in town. The fortunes of the family dwindle and they learn to shrink from opportunity as it often serves as a Trojan Horse.

Upton Sinclair traveled to Chicago to research this story, originally intending to focus on the morbidity of working conditions but instead switched over food safety after witnessing the revolting conditions in which food was prepared. After the book was published, its effect became apparent. Foreign sales of American meat fell by one half and to calm public outrage, major meat packers lobbied the government to pass legislation to pay for the additional inspection and certification of meat packaged in the United States. This led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which established the Food and Drug Administration.

This story is a great example of the idea that books can change the world, something I deeply believe in. The publishing of this book led to public outcry and a government investigation that led to the passage of pure food laws.

The Bad:

The story and main characters are victims of Sinclair's criticism of the meatpacking industry, the poor working conditions and the all consuming poverty and hopelessness of the lower classes. While Sinclair spends time over-describing slaughterhouse conditions and the joys of socialism, the plot fades into the background, subservient to his hidden agenda.

While I like the idea of a book changing things for the better in the real world, I was looking forward to the story of this Lithuanian family and their struggle as immigrants. Instead the story is treated more like a textbook documenting the lack of food safety in Chicago in order to illustrate the problems with American food safety. The book shouldn't have tried to be both story and textbook as the two inevitably end up clashing and leave the reader wanting.

The Ugly:

I had trouble stomaching this book. I'm not a vegetarian but it was difficult to contemplate eating meat after finishing this book. As well, I found I couldn't physically eat anything in the actual reading of the book. Sinclair doesn't hold back on detail or description when it comes to the horrors of the packing houses or other various food preparation factories.(less)

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Mar 04, 2008 AMD rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to AMD by: Mr. Buchas

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 co...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, make-you-put-a-gun-in-your-mouth, favorites

"There was no justice, there was no right, anywhere in it--it was only force, it was tyranny, the will and the power, reckless and unrestrained! They had ground him beneath their heel, they had devoured all his substance; they had murdered his old father, they had broken and wrecked his wife, they had crushed and cowed his whole family; and now they were through with him, they had no further use for him--and because he had interfered with them, had gotten in their way, this was what they had don...more "There was no justice, there was no right, anywhere in it--it was only force, it was tyranny, the will and the power, reckless and unrestrained! They had ground him beneath their heel, they had devoured all his substance; they had murdered his old father, they had broken and wrecked his wife, they had crushed and cowed his whole family; and now they were through with him, they had no further use for him--and because he had interfered with them, had gotten in their way, this was what they had done to him! They had put him behind bars, as if he had been a wild beast, a thing without sense or reason, without rights, without affections, without feelings."

"That he should have suffered such oppressions and such horrors was bad enough; but that he should have been crushed and beaten by them, that he should have submitted, and forgotten, and lived in peace--ah, truly that was a thing not to be put into words, a thing not to be borne by a human creature, a thing of terror and madness!"

"And yet there were things even worse. You would begin talking to some poor devil who had worked in one shop for the last thirty years, and had never been able to save a penny; who left home every morning at six o'clock, to go and tend a machine, and come back at night too tired to take his clothes off; who had never had a week's vacation in his life, had never traveled, never had an adventure, never learned anything, never hoped anything--and when you started to tell him about Socialism he would sniff and say, "I'm not interested in that--I'm an individualist!" And then he would go on to tell you that Socialism was "paternalism," and that if it ever had its way the world would stop progressing. It was enough to make a mule laugh, to hear arguments like that; and yet it was no laughing matter, as you found out--for how many millions of such poor deluded wretches there were, whose lives had been so stunted by capitalism that they no longer knew what freedom was! And they really thought that it was "individualism" for tens of thousands of them to herd together and obey the orders of a steel magnate, and produce hundreds of millions of dollars of wealth for him, and then let him give them libraries; while for them to take the industry, and run it to suit themselves, and build their own libraries--that would have been "Paternalism"!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What a shitty ending to an already deeply flawed novel. Still, I'm giving it four stars for 'inspiring' me to make a new bookshelf "books to make you stick a gun in your mouth", that counts for something.

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Dec 19, 2012 matt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: america-f-k-yeah, fictions-of-the-big-it, social-crit, satire, political-badassery, red-menace

I'm really surprised that I hadn't added this one yet. I thought I had. We certainly go back a long way...

I read it summer before Junior year of high school for the much-coveted AP English/History class. I was excited; I remember staring at the cover of the boring old Bantam edition (I couldn't find it amid the list of editions, so I went with the pretty badassed, eye-catchingest one) and feeling like a big kid at last.

It wasn't necessarily the greatest aesthetic achievement in the history of...more

I'm really surprised that I hadn't added this one yet. I thought I had. We certainly go back a long way...

I read it summer before Junior year of high school for the much-coveted AP English/History class. I was excited; I remember staring at the cover of the boring old Bantam edition (I couldn't find it amid the list of editions, so I went with the pretty badassed, eye-catchingest one) and feeling like a big kid at last.

It wasn't necessarily the greatest aesthetic achievement in the history of human existence, but it wasn't bad. It's very simple, plot-wise, almost flimsily stereotypical with its Hard Working, Simple but Confused and Naieve Immigrant Guy versus Soulless, Rapacious Capitalist who Lies His Smooth Head Off dichotomy. Poor Jurgus Rudkus hauls ass all day while his scowling boss bullies him and feels up his anxious, uncomprehending wife..."I must work harder" he mumbles, bending his honest back to the Vulcanic fire pits of gilded age capitalism...

Sinclair doesn't really even bother to hide this fact- he pretty much abandons his blatant symbolism and glaring allegory halfway through for a long, impassioned rant about Socialism and it's inherent awesomeness..."Chicago will be ours! Chicago will be ours!"...not a bad slogan, that.

I read it in a growing, adolescent fury and felt totally on fire once I put it down. I remember exactly where I was- CT, beach house, mid-summer. I hopped out to the beach to soak up some waves and listen to the ocean and I started talking about the book with my dad, who is reactionarily right wing and thinks he's an even-handed moderate. He listens to Glenn Beck and Hannity and god knows who else and takes them seriously. He's devoutly religious, too.

So anyway, I'm twitching with righteous indignation and dad settles back into his beach chair, his muscular chest glistening with suntan oil and sweat, the very picture of middle class lassitude and cockiness and tells me that all I need to do, as far as politics is concerned, is read one book by Ayn Rand called Atlas Shrugged and "all your questions will be answered". Just like that.

And you WONDER why I'm fucked up.

Anyway, I guess something in Sinclair's political conviction must have caught a hold on me because it's three administrations and more than a decade later and I'm more interested in progressive politics than I've ever been.

Sinclair said that he'd aimed for the people's heart but managed to hit them in the stomach. Ah well. Teddy Roosevelt apparantly read him and was outraged at the plainly outrageous conditions of the meat packing plants- regulation? what, me worry?- and rough rode up in the slums and got some more specific, restrictive and evidently useful legislation passed. Good for him. Good for both of 'em...(less)

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Mar 18, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Reading The Jungle will have you wringing your fists Upton Sinclair style.

description

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 corruptio...more

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Jan 07, 2008 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i recalled that i read this book after seeing the film 'There Will Be Blood', and finding out that the movie is based on an Upton Sinclair novel called Oil. i really want to review the movie here... and will, and will try and be brief.

There Will be Blood is just as stark, arresting and mesmerizing as reading a U. Sinclair novel. Be warned though, it is not for the squeamish. The film makes early oilfield workers' hardships come to life with brutal, unrelenting reality.

To the book:

This is one o...more

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Aug 29, 2008 Danielle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I can't say I liked this book. Truthfully, it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to read, but the story has definitely stayed with me, and I've found many applications for it throughout the years. It was hard to read because its just so unstintingly honest in conveying the miserable condition of these immigrants. Normally I don't like reading about suffering for suffering's sake, but I think this book served a purpose. It was based on real events, and of course, there were probably wors...more

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Mar 19, 2008 Crystal rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Jungle may not be great literature, especially with the clunky socialist propaganda at the end, but with the news lately about food from China (has the gyoza scandal made US news - several families in Japan got sick after eating dumplings that were made in China that had been tainted with pesticide), it is a good reminder that developed countries went through some pretty horrible stages, too. The vision of cheap labor supplied by immigrants, including children, is timely in this age of glob...more

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Jul 16, 2008 Leah W rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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.

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Nov 25, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: The 99%, people who like sausage

Shelves: audiobook, classic, american-history, american-literature, 1910s, sociology, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die

With a hundred years of hindsight, we've learned so little.

Chicken processing plant

Upton Sinclair's The Jungle is famous for disgusting America with its tales of meat packing workers falling into vats and rendered into lard, and all the things that went into sausages and tinned beef. (Cigar butts and poisoned rats not even being the most disgusting ingredients...) But as Sinclair said about his most famous book, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach." The Jungle is not primarily about...more

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Apr 10, 2009 Ryan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: nobody

Sinclair Lewis never wrote a book called "The Jungle."
Upton Sinclair , however, did. Do you guys even read books?

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Nov 16, 2012 Dan Henk rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read many of the standard high school required reading fare, Grapes of Wrath, Cry Beloved Country, Hearts of Darkness, Wuthering Heights, The Great Gatsby, and so on. All held their own rewards and witticisms. Some were better than others, but I could see why all were required reading. I actually had never read this book in high school. I had heard about it, and always meant to, but it took me a good 20 years to get to it.
It starts out alright. You can tell it's written by a journalist, not a...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Charity rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people into politics, history lovers

Recommended to Charity by: Had to read for my AP US History class in 2007

"'There a million people, men and women and children, who share the curse of the wage slave; who toil every hour they can stand and see, for just enough to keep them alive; who are condemned to the end of their days to monotony and weariness, to hunger and misery, to heat and cold, to dirt and disease, to ignorance, drunkenness and vice!" -The Jungle, pg 305.

I read this book back in the summer of 2007, when I was about to be a junior in high school. When I read the book then, I thought it was sa...more

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Dec 14, 2008 Jamie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When the desciption on the back of the book mentioned harrowing scenes, I thought it meant harrowing in the 1906 sense of harrowing. What I didn't expect was these nightmarish visions that will haunt me for a long time. I can now completely understand why so many of my friends that had read this book have become vegetarians. After having a salad for dinner myself I decided to ruminate on the larger picture of what Sinclair was presenting in this book,
which he so eloquently said he had aimed at t...more

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Jul 06, 2008 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american-fiction

Ah, The Jungle. I know that this is traditionally an item on many high school required reading lists, but I picked it up of my own volition a few years ago. Coincidentally, Hurricane Katrina had just swept through my life, indirectly causing me to become a vegetarian.

Sinclair's writing really surprised me. I expected his style to be dry and antiquated, as some classics unfortunately are. I couldn't have been more wrong! The book was fascinating and kept me interested during many hours of commuti...more

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Jun 25, 2009 Maureen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: muckraking

Upton Sinclair was, among many other things, a first-class muckraker, and the muck he raked up in the Chicago stockyards caused a firestorm of controversy in public halls and living rooms all over America. There are two shocking components in The Jungle: the methods by which the cattle are killed and processed, and the horrible conditions of the workmen in the stockyards. This book is a straight-up rant against a capitalist system where the workers have more in common with slaughtered beasts tha...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Kristen Carannante rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gripping story of the life of an immigrant factory worker in corrupt Chicago at the beginning of the 1900's. The state of the meatpacking industry was revealed in this book by undercover work that Sinclair did in an attempt to draw attention to the plight of the worker. Rather, the public was concerned with the poor quality of the meat that was being sold. Sinclair says: "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach." Legislation that eventually became the F.D.A. arose...more

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Mar 20, 2009 Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, required-reading

I read this book in high school and I couldn't put it down. It really gives you shivers to think about what went on in the food and meat industry prior to regulations. Some of the adulterants and utter crud they added to milk and meat will make your hair stand on end. Also it is horrible what workers suffered because they literally had no protection from the government from their employers. This book works well on the level of fiction and as a bit of an expose on the meat-packing industry. Inste...more

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May 06, 2013 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone

Like many others, I was given the joyful privilege of reading this and many other Classics in High School English. Of course, since mine was a public, but pretentious school, we were handed "Babbit" by Sinclair Lewis (whose name I needed for a trivia question 3 weeks ago), "1984", by George Orwell, "Moby Dick" by Melville, a few of Shakespeare's (not Bacon's!) plays and so on.

At the time (when mammals were still all egg-laying) I wasn't very impressed by the socialist propaganda, despite having...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Jeremy Yong rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jeremy Yong
Advisory
Ms. Gondek
4/26/13

I am scared to read this book, it has converted countless carnivores into vegans. The book is called The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. Not anytime soon do I want to give up on my precious bacon or my beloved, fatty cheeseburgers. This book depicts the struggles of a European immigrant coming to America. Jurgus Rudkus, the protagonist, works in a disgusting meat processing plant to support his poor family.

In Packingtown, Chicago it was tough, dangerous, and filthy...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Boy do I know how to pick them, as I read this book I realized that I tend to have a knack for books that are considered downers and depressing. For example my first review was of "Johnny Get Your Gun" written by Dalton Trumbo. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is no different for it also shows the tragedy and underbelly of our great nation, but instead of war this one takes you straight home. The Jungle is about emigrants you move here to live out the grand American dream. The catch is him, nor his...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Michael Worthington rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In the beginning of the book, Jurgis and Ona, two Lithuanian immigrants, are getting married. They immigrated to America because Ona’s uncle, who owns a delicatessen, has become wealthy and they decide to pursue the American dream. Once they arrive in Packingtown in Chicago, things are not at all what they expected. Jurgis, and eventually the rest of family, must take unregulated and unsafe industrial jobs. Their wages and working conditions are very poor, they often lose their jobs and must se...more In the beginning of the book, Jurgis and Ona, two Lithuanian immigrants, are getting married. They immigrated to America because Ona’s uncle, who owns a delicatessen, has become wealthy and they decide to pursue the American dream. Once they arrive in Packingtown in Chicago, things are not at all what they expected. Jurgis, and eventually the rest of family, must take unregulated and unsafe industrial jobs. Their wages and working conditions are very poor, they often lose their jobs and must search for new ones, and their “great deal” on a house turns out to be a scam. Ona is raped and forced to become a prostitute by her boss, so Jurgis attempts to confront him, but is thrown in jail. After his release, things appear to be getting better, but Jurgis’s young son drowns. Disappointed with America, he vows to destroy it. He becomes a criminal, mugging people and rigging elections while still working at the factor. He attacks Ona’s former boss again, who works for the criminal that Jurgis works for. Knowing he would go to prison, he spends his illegally earned money to post bail, and escapes from Packingtown. Socialism provides a solution to him, and he becomes a devoted socialist, who support the workers rather than the corrupt business men and politicians who continuously ruin their lives. Although he still has problems, he now has hope.
It is quite clear why Upton Sinclair wrote this book. He wrote it to show how capitalism has led to corruption in America, and to expose the incredibly poor life of industrial workers that capitalism tends to create. Sinclair himself was actually a socialist, so I definitely would not be surprised if the book was written to convince people to become Socialists, since the events of this book were a very common occurrence in real-life America at the time.
My overall opinion was positive. I consider this an old novel, and I have always thought of old books as being about positive things, like things relating to high society or a hero who goes on an adventure of some kind. But this totally contradicted that. It seemed to be a continual disappointment for the characters in the book, and had some really gruesome details that I found disturbing, and (unfortunately) enjoyable. So it was a depressing, but at the same time enjoyable, surprise. It also did not seem to be very afraid to talk about things that are controversial, like horrific working conditions and forced prostitution. This makes the book seem sort of in-your-face, and not afraid to say what must be said. So I must say, I do quite like how the story was told, with all the negatives in addition to the (few) positives.
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Apr 09, 2013 Lorin Kinney rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is not a story about meat. This is a story about the conditions of the working class of the United States in Sinclair's time. Vegetarianism is great, but it wasn't what the author had in mind when he thought about changing people's consciousness. He wanted people to picture themselves in the overcrowded house built over a landfill. He wanted people to understand that hard work doesn't pay off for the working poor, it just wears you down as you continue to sell yourself for just enough money...more

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Apr 02, 2013 David Sarkies rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: politics

Well this is the last official day of my amazing holiday and I am sitting at the bar in the Regal Airport Hotel in Hong Kong (at around 1:00 am in the morning). I guess my sleep patterns have been mucked up and I have now resorted to buying my beers by VISA since I really don't want to withdrawl any more money (since I leave Hong Kong at 7:00 am in the morning, which means that I have to be up around 4:30 am, which is okay because I have already had a sleep once I arrived here, but then I have...more Well this is the last official day of my amazing holiday and I am sitting at the bar in the Regal Airport Hotel in Hong Kong (at around 1:00 am in the morning). I guess my sleep patterns have been mucked up and I have now resorted to buying my beers by VISA since I really don't want to withdrawl any more money (since I leave Hong Kong at 7:00 am in the morning, which means that I have to be up around 4:30 am, which is okay because I have already had a sleep once I arrived here, but then I have to go back to work on Thursday, which is going to seriously mush my brains, though I hope I won't get thrown straight onto the phones).
Anyway, enough of where I am and onto the Jungle. I had heard about this book from my American History lecturer, and at later times when I was going through the phase of reading anti-corporate, anti-George Bush books. This is sort of one of those books, though it was written over one hundred years ago and is about the meat packing industry in Chicago. However, it is more than that because it is actually about the plight of the immigrant worker who comes to America to experience the land of wealth, but never to actually be able to secure that wealth. Mind you, when the book was published it was banned (so much for freedom of speech), and had to be published in a censored form (as I said, so much for the Bill of Rights). They have since released the uncensored version, and that is the version that I managed to get my hands on (thankyou Amazon).
The one thing that stands out to me about the book is the concept of what they call the squeeze. The protagonist of this book comes to America from Lithuania to find a better life, and he brings his family with him. However the only job that he can get is in the meat packing industry, and the descriptions of that industry is truly horrifying. No such thing as occupational health and safety, and no such thing as a unionised workplace. Mind you they since managed to clean up their act, however if you read some of the more modern literature (such as Fast Food Nation) you will discover that while there has been some change, in many cases not much has changed at all. In fact the modern meatpacker is more like a factory and the meat is factory processed, and there are some serious concerns about the quality of the meat (and the cows) that go through these factories.
When our hero gets his job it is probably the highlight of the book, and pretty much everything goes down hill from there. He gets a job and he gets a house, however we discover that hanging onto that job can be precarious indeed, and because he is working class (and an immigrant) any rights that he may appear to have are tenuous indeed. In fact it appears that losing this job can be easier than getting it, and if you lose it, the chances of you being able to get another job are slim indeed. In fact, after he loses his job (he suffers an injury, and in those days there was no workcover, but then even here in Australia workcover only applies to legitimate workers, and there are many occupations here where immigrants are paid cash under the table, which means no workcover) he also loses his family and finds himself on the streets of Chicago.
This reminds me of a scene that I saw in London, and you do see a bit of it in London (as well as many of the other cities I have been to, including Hong Kong – you spend enough time in a city and you end up seeing under its glitz and glamour and begin to see the harsh reality). As I was walking through Leicester Square I walked past a cinema and there was some guy wrapped up in a sleeping bag against the wall. Another guy was shaking him and prodding him, and after about five minutes of no response, ended up making a phone call. While I am not privy to the facts, I can say that London was incredibly cold when I was their, and there are many people who have to brave the cold because they do not have a warm room to go to. I would not be surprised that this guy died of the cold overnight.
Also, a couple of days later I was having a beer in a London Pub (and gee those pubs can get packed, especially on the Easter Long Weekend) and there was a guy telling the bartender about how he used to live on the streets but now has a house. It was funny because he was saying that he finds it difficult to get to sleep in this new environment because he is used to the cars and the people going passed. In fact he has to leave his window open to get to sleep. It is also a new experience that he does not have to lug all of his possessions around with him. It sought of makes me think about the plight of our condition, and the fortune that many of us have who are able to travel the world, and even live in a nice warm house with food in our closet and a regular paycheck (no matter how small it is, though I would still fight to see people paid a decent amount of money – as they say, a living wage).(less)

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Apr 02, 2013 Mr. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read this as I assigned it to my Advanced Sophomore English class. I think there are some things I will do differently the next time I read it with a class. The book starts out with a first chapter that's reminiscent of the wedding scene from "The Deerhunter." My students didn't really understand what was happening there - next year I'll skip it and start with the family tree (another point of confusion - especially given the different Antanases and Tamosziuses).

Sinclair does a spectacular job c...more Read this as I assigned it to my Advanced Sophomore English class. I think there are some things I will do differently the next time I read it with a class. The book starts out with a first chapter that's reminiscent of the wedding scene from "The Deerhunter." My students didn't really understand what was happening there - next year I'll skip it and start with the family tree (another point of confusion - especially given the different Antanases and Tamosziuses).

Sinclair does a spectacular job creating a spectacle of "Packingtown." Imagery is very vivid and very haunting. I was almost put off of eating sausages for good at one point.

Where the novel falls short is the comedy of tragedies that occurs later. Problem after problem befalls this little Lithuanian family to the extent that I felt like I was going to have to start creating epitaphs for characters a la "The Oregon Trail." Even though the scenes at the meat-packing plant are harrowing, they still aren't enough to suspend the disbelief of what occurs with Jurgis Rudkus.

The book runs off the rails for me almost completely (ironically somewhere between when Jurgis becomes a hobo and then when he works for a rail company). There are just too many bad things that happen to him without any recompense. This character that evokes the same heartfelt reaction as Boxer from "Animal Farm" at the beginning of the novel becomes a shriveled and bitter character from constantly getting the worst of life thrown at him.

The two or three chapters at the end of the novel extolling the virtues of Socialism are not nearly enough of a redemption or catharsis for a man getting fed a crap sandwich for the first 28. The message at the end seems haphazard, and there are multi-page paragraphs of lecture and sermon that Sinclair was probably way into as he wrote them, but I just couldn't help but think "hit the return key on the typewriter, comrade," as I read them.

Still - a very important novel in American history - an interesting look at literature as propaganda, but much like "Uncle Tom's Cabin," it is far too Romanticized to strike home as plausible. I would recommend this book to anyone as an examination of how literature can shape society, but ultimately, Sinclair failed to shape it in the way he wanted to. It could be paired with "Animal Farm" if not for its nearly-prohibitive length. Here's hoping my students like Ayn Rand's "Anthem" better.

SPOILER ALERT - The second time Jurgis beat the crap out of the man who ruined his marriage by sleeping with his wife was just too implausible for me. - END SPOILER.(less)

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Motivation to Read	10	49	15 mar. 20:48
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About Upton Sinclair

Prolific American author who wrote over 90 books in many genres and was widely considered to be one of the best investigators advocating socialist views and supporting anarchist causes, he achieved considerable popularity in the first half of the 20th century.

He gained particular fame for his novel, The Jungle (1906), which dealt with conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry and caused a publ...more

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“They use everything about the hog except the squeal.” — 14 people liked it

“If we are the greatest nation the sun ever shone upon, it would seem to be mainly because we have been able to goad our wage-earners to this pitch of frenzy.” — 12 people liked it

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