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What are readers saying about Jungle: The Uncensored Original Edition?
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-13 02:36:11.
(Language: English)
   
A long-winded bit of post turn-of-the-century socialist propaganda set to the soundtrack of Jurgiss Rudkus' progressively mounting discontent as a hardscrabble immigrant struggling to carve out a living in the industrial fugue of Chicago's shipyards. Don't believe the hype; this isn't the must-read classic it's been sold to you as all these years, nor is it an accurate historical document of labor conditions at the time, though several nuggets of truth populate otherwise sensational text (the most famous of which recount the grisly details of meatpacking workers suffering injury and death at the hands of unsafe equipment and unreasonable working conditions).
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-03 03:10:49.
(Language: English)
A great picture of the plight of immigrants during the turn of the 20th century in the industrial section of Chicago. A couple of times you can really feel your heart-aching but, even though this book is basically a diary of what could/did happen to our great-grandparents, I just couldn't finish it. The middle of the book is where I lost it. Sinclair just kept droning on and on about the main character's hopelessness and then it got very political in the most boring way. A great book if you want a sad but true look into the depressed poverty of the immigrant population.
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Matthew posted a review at 2009-11-22 04:57:27.
(Language: English)
Heart-breaking realism. This book plunges you deep into the blood-soaked meat packing industry of Chicago at the turn of the century through the eyes of Jurgis, a fres-off-the-boat immigrant who comes to the US seeking economic freedom and prosperity. Like many with the same intention, Jurgis and his family are slowly but surely ground down by industry and its piratesHeart-breaking realism. This book plunges you deep into the blood-soaked meat packing industry of Chicago at the turn of the century through the eyes of Jurgis, a fres-off-the-boat immigrant who comes to the US seeking economic freedom and prosperity. Like many with the same intention, Jurgis and his family are slowly but surely ground down by industry and the scavengers that ride its coat-tails.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-17 06:42:05.
(Language: English)
Myths of Capitalism Destroyed The Jungle by Upton Sinclair paints a portrait of capitalism that destroys all its positive myths. Jurgis and his family show the total bankruptcy of the capitalist system and persuade the reader to adopt the socialist alternative. A major stigma about United States capitalism is the possibility that any hard working man can pull himself up for a better future. That capitalism’s nature allows for people to build their hopes into reality. Sinclair shows capitalism as just the opposite. Instead it crushes people’s hopes. Jurgis, as an immigrant employed in the meat industry, always faces his obstacles with the conviction that he will make it through because he will “just work harder.†But he works harder to no avail. Corruption is everywhere in the capitalist system. The cost of their meager housing forces the whole family to work. The extra income does not help. The extreme working conditions cause family members do die off from disease and work related injury. The living are reduced “to part of the machine.†Their basic humanity is destroyed under capitalism as well as their life. They are trapped in the rat race of life where man is set against his brothers and sisters to fight for survival. Jurgis and his family seem to be doing everything right according to those who are apologetic of capitalism. They pull together, they work hard, they invest in a home, yet there is no way for them to survive. Sinclair shows a capitalism that is against the family, destroying it, and making it impossible to live. More meaning is created because Jurgis is working in the meat industry. This industry holds special significance because the meat industry feeds America; it is the life source for the nation. Yet while Jurgis slaves away in grotesque conditions working to feed the nation, he is ironically forced to go without food and even physically wastes away on a bad ankle. Sinclair shows that it is the poor, the immigrants, and the destitute that work in the key sectors of the economy that breath life into the nation. Indeed from key industries like agriculture, meat, steel, and transportation all other jobs flow. These desperate conditions take their toll. Jurgis finds himself in and out of jail and Marija as a prostitute. They are forced into an even lower class that Marx called the Lumpenproletariat: “Roughly translated as slum workers or the mob, this term identifies the class of outcast, degenerated and submerged elements that make up a section of the population of industrial centers. It includes beggars, prostitutes, gangsters, racketeers, swindlers, petty criminals, tramps, chronic unemployed or unemployables, persons who have been cast out by industry, and all sorts of declassed, degraded or degenerated elements.†1 It is this subclass that is the true product of American capitalism. Finally Jurgis reaches the conclusion that Sinclair wants the reader to share. He finds the hope of socialism and believes the workers can own the industries and even the city of Chicago. Public ownership will get rid of the corruption and the insane degradation of capitalism. It will get rid of all the cheaters and swindlers that are rampant at every level of society. It will allow workers to build a family and a future of their own rather than being eaten up by “the machine.†It will bring back humanity. 1(http://marxists.org/glossary/terms/l/u.htm#lumpenproletariat)
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-12 11:45:05.
(Language: English)
This book is simply amazing. It's like the first investigative report in America. Sinclair writes a fiction story about real life events. The graphic details, the drama, the tragedy, it's all based at least partially on truth, and the book puts it all on display wonderfully. Someone else reviewed the book it said it got political at the end. Well, the whole thing is a political statement. It led to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. To look at this book and think it is not political is to not read the book at all. The book exposes wage slavery, child labor, and the most disgusting filth imaginable that was an everyday way of life for the meat packing industry. It is a great book to read, but I do know some people who felt a little sick after reading it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-06-11 12:14:57.
(Language: English)
Though tedious, Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" is a masterpiece in the world of muckraking. He describes the life of Jurgis and his family, Lithuanian immigrants, in the terrible conditions of the Chicago Stockyards. Sinclair describes in unbelievable detail the horrible conditions of the factories, the inhumane production procedures, the contemptable graft, the corporate greed attempting monopoly, the criminal natures created by sheer poverty, the lying, cheating, and down-right dispicable practices of every businessman on the street. The prostitution of the poor and child labor. He even discusses the political machines in the city. And finally Jurgis discovers the Brotherhood of Man, better known as Socialism. With that he changes his life and becomes radical, so inspired by the words of marx and debs that he goes on to spread the message throughout Chicago. And so on and so forth... Though the book was meant as a protest to the degrading nature of capitalism, the public took his cattle production to mind instead. As a result, the Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act were instituted.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-05 09:36:33.
(Language: English)
This is a terrible, terrible book. The Jungle is socialist propaganda disguised in the form of a novel, and a very poor one at that. The plot is contrived to fit the political message of the book. Jurgis and his family are plagued with misfortune after misfortune until at the end when he joins the socialist movement and then suddenly everything is perfect for him. This realistic progression of events creates a true-to-life aspect of the story that has cemented the book's proper place in modern literature. End sarcasm. The passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which is the only reason anyone remembers this book, was an unintended side-effect. The book's message is much better suited for a political treatise, but that would defeat the whole purpose of having people unwittingly stumble upon socialist ideas when they think they're reading a novel. Quite possibly the worst thing I have ever read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-11-11 12:43:32.
(Language: English)
A fictional work that speaks profound truth... A harrowing narrative of unparalleled emotional power. There must be an alternative! And has it died with American realism? Alas, the brutal themes of human bestiality and greed still resonate - maybe, just maybe, in the mirror of The Jungle, you can catch a glimpse of today's corpotocracy and be a little more sympathetic about the great experiments, regardless of your political persuasion.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-06-15 10:58:08.
(Language: English)
I had wanted to read this book for years, and the wait was worth it. The popular attention is always on the hell of the packing plants, but to me the real horror was in seeing how a family was utterly crushed within two years. I've driven through the old stockyard areas (all is gone now), and I just can't comprehend the conditions these people went through. I'll never look at a hot dog the same way again. Thank the lord for the mukrakers; much of what we take for granted is due to their efforts.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-28 06:59:27.
(Language: English)
This is the only book that I have had to set down and put away because of how depressing it is. It's a rollercoaster of emotional appeal. Mainly negative emotion. There is not much happiness to take from reading this book. It changes from a documentary on working conditions, to a story of hitting rock bottom, and then the last few chapters are purely socialist propaganda. I liked this book because it stimulates raw emotion, and shows us how well off our lives are, and gives a little insight of what may be potentially behind closed doors. While this book is dated, it still holds true to the fact that the many are still being screwed over for the benefit of few. I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to, since I have mixed feelings about whether I liked it or not. If you love tragedies I recommend this book. I also recommend you seek help.
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Chelsea posted a review at 2011-01-10 07:22:44.
(Language: English)
this book was better than I thought it would be...especially since it was a required read for AP US History. Jurgis's struggles were heartbreaking, yet fairly unrealistic seeing usually losing your son, unborn child, and wife in the same month is fairly unrealistic! The political rant on socialism in the last chapter was uncalled for and not at all interesting but the rest of the book was good!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-03-09 08:27:45.
(Language: English)
If ever you are feeling like your work is either unrewarding or too difficult to enjoy...read The Jungle. I found the characters engaging and sympathetic if not misdirected. The significance this book had on our current state of business is substantial even if we don't follow the ways of Socialism (which is a whole different review). I took away 1.5 stars simply for the fact that despite its passionate lament over the plight of the working man in the 1900s, it was still propaganda at the time.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-10 07:17:53.
(Language: English)
My review taken from my Myspace Blog. "The Jungle" is one of the most influential novels apparently ever, blowing the top of the meat-packing industry and helping set up sanitation and wage laws in this country. What the USA really got upset about was the truth about the meat they were eating, and how it was made. Upton Sinclair, the author, describes in vivid detail the violent killing of the animals, the stipping of their skin and meat, how everything is used from the body to make SOMETHING. He shows how tainted meat is never thrown away, that now only are hogs and cows chopped up in machines, but mice and rats and sometimes humans just as well, and are sold to the public without a word. Like I said before, it caused a HUGE controversy when it came out. And I know it's really supposed to me important. But if you ever actually read the novel, you may ask yourself, "Why is this book a classic?" What's hilariously ironic about this book is that's it's main focus is NOT on the meat. It's certainly an important factor in the book, and is mentioned every now again, but it's mainly in the first half of the book. Upton Sinclar really wanted this book to blow the lid off about how workers were treated in the factories. Cheater, lied to, killed, starving, forced to begging, tramping, prostitution. But everyone sort of skipped over that part (Don't worry, they got to fixing those things eventually), and went "EW GROSS MEAT! WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING!" And Upton Sinclair, wanting his book to be important in any way possible, even if it wasn't for it's intended reason, rode that nasty meat wave and said "Yup Yup, we gotta fix that!" Now, the book begins with an extremely tedious first chapter. Almost no action, a flurry of Lithuanian names that aren't really that important later on. It drags on and on with way to much description of things like how a man plays a violin or how couples are dancing. But, I'll admit, after the first chapter, things pick up a little bit. We get the beginning of our main character's, Jurgis's story. We get good descriptions of the factories and the things that go on there, and this is where the nasty meat stuff comes in. And it's terribly nasty awesome to read what they did. Sinclair's descriptive writing is great here, so sickening it can almost make you gag at times. My biggest complaint is that the first 200 pages don't really have a plot. They're much more just random snapshots during Jurgis's first 2 years working in the factories. It jumps back and forth to any point in time. So, essentially the first 200 pages, half of the book, is just "setting the scene". And while that's pretty annoying when you figure it out, the next bit almost makes up for it with an actual story-line. A really good story-line. After you realize and get used to the fact that like "Nectar In A Seive", this is one of those books that "everything bad that can happen will happen", it's a really engaging story-line. I'd almost liken it to an early 1900's version of "Scarface", that essentially, after his wife and son die, Jurgis starts from the very bottom, as a tramp, and continues to move on up the ranks until he becomes what he once hated. An oppressor. He's working hand in hand with the men that beat him half-dead, raped his wife, and killed his relatives. Of course, he loses it all again. And ends up right where he began, tramping. But a chance encounter with a friend who had been at his wedding sends him on the way home, but not until *drum roll please* he discovers SOCIALISM! And with this word uttered, the entire book falls apart. Turns out, Sinclair was a very vocal supporter of Socialism. Which I really have no problem with. If he could have worked it into the book well, then fine. But he can't. Jurgis stumbles upon a speech being given by a man, about Socialism, and finds himself entranced, not talking for an entire chapter. And let me tell you, it's very hard to read an entire chapter that is just one mans' speech. One huge block of text for 6 pages. From the beginning of the book, Sinclair has built up Jurgis as a fairly layered character, but as soon as he becomes a Socialist, he's actually pushed to the background, and hardly utters a word for the final 2 chapters of the book. It seems to be written ironically, but Sinclar is absolutly serious. Post-Socialism, Jurgis becomes a faceless drone, a background character for the new main character, Socialism. Jurgis goes back to his family and hardly does anything to help them. One has turned to prostitution to pay bills, and Jurgis offers to help her once. She goes, "No don't help me. I'm now addicted to dope, and I need to make some money." And Jurgis goes "OK LOL SOCIALISM!", and doesn't do anything. The final couple of chapters are nothing but pure propoganda for the Socialist party. There's no if, and, or buts about it. Sinclair just absolutly abandons any story he had going, or plot threads, or characters, and just focusing on how awesome Socialism is. Jurgis, just sits around and is awed by what's happening around him. He never questions anything, he just accepts. Basically, if this character we've grown attached to has accepted it without questions, we should also. That's probably what Sinclair was going for. But it doesn't work. It feels forced. He abandons all supporting cast, and introduces 5 random characters in the last two chapters to sit around and talk about Socialism. I am not kidding. There's one part that gets totally meta-fictiony. Where Jurgis meets Jack London, a real-life Socialist author, and an author who's book we have to read. "The Sea-Wolf", to be precise. Then, there's a whole part where Jurgis discovers the "Appeals to Reason", a Socialist magazine, and the actual magazine "The Jungle" was first printed in, in serial form. So, Jurgis was reading the magazine, where his story should have been appearing, which means we must automatically set "The Jungle" in an altrenate demension where his story was not in the "Appeals to Reason". The final couple of pages detail how everyone voted Socialist in a recent election, with everyone going WILD. And really, some of the numbers felt exaggerated. Which they may or may have not been, it just seems likely that a Socialist trying to encourage people into Socialism would exaggerate how many people were already in it. The numbers are like "Chicago went from 208 Socialist votes to 4,877 in for years! Whoo! Washington went from 186 to 2549! HOORAY! Places that were 0 Socialist votes four years ago clocked in with 358 this time! YEAH" And they all just get WAAAAY to excited, because I'm pretty sure they never really won anything major. I think they got a couple state legislators. But these increase in votes lead one of their speakers to just start spitting mad word, claiming that on this track Socialists would control the country by 1920! But first they had to get the big cities, and while everyone is cheering, and Jurgis does nothing, this random speaker finishes the book my screaming "Chicago will be ours, CHICAGO WILL BE OURS!" It's actually a pretty frightening ending. Sinclair is always trying to shed a positive light on what the Socialist party, but I feel they often times, no better example then that last sentence, seem controlling, and almost tyrannical. But what a terrible ending. He gave up any semblance of a "plot", forgot his main character. Well, not entirely. The footnotes in my version of the book made mention of the original ending from the serial version, which Sinclair decided to take out for book version. I prefer it, because while upsetting, it at least remembers Jurgis. "All of which was at one o'clock on the morning of the day after election; and at one o'clock of the afternoon of the same day Jurgis was handcuffed to a detective, and on his way to serve a two-years' sentence in a state's prison for assault with intent to kill." Yeah, forgot to mention Jurgis was a wanted man for almost killing the men who had sex with his wife. So he had been lying low. But I like the sweet irony in the original. And like I said, at least it freaking mentions the main character.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-06-19 10:55:53.
(Language: English)
I read this as a logical tangent to Studs Terkel. And because for some reason, summertime is the time to read the classics. Sinclair's story of 'Poor Jurgis Rudkus' (and I'm sorry, I did get sick of sentances starting with "Poor Jurgis...") is the ugly inside view of a Chicago packing house at the turn on the century. Sinclair ran for office under the Socialist party in California, and his purpose for writing the book was to improve the fare of meatpackers and all laborers across the nation. Out of this groundbreaking book came the government institutions the FDA, and then the USDA. These institutions were improvements of the time, preventing the feces of cattle mixing with meat products sold across the country. We still need to read _The Jungle_. Meatpackers have the highest incidence of injury and debilitation of any working group in America. Unions in some industries have become very powerful. Perhaps those bastards who wouldn't take a pay cut for UAW workers and are now seeing the auto industry fail might wanna remember where they came from and gain some humility. (Bastards who ran these companies to the ground have much to learn, too.) But also consider the situation for migrant workers who live hand to mouth and have no recourse. And I'm so glad I no longer eat meat. Yes, we have USDA. And we have mad cow disease and nobody in Europe will touch our meat products with a ten foot pole. Do you know what's in your Chicago bratwurst? Do you REALLY want to? Just say no. Geezus. Some passages in the book made me nauseous and I haven't touched beef since 1990. Ew.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-23 09:43:21.
(Language: English)
I really liked the first 28 chapters. The journey of Jurgis and his wife Ona, as well as EVERYONE around them was very familiar to even today's standards of the family life. The meat packing scenes are brutal to read, and I could think of ALL my Vegan friends saying at once, "SEE!". However, after Chapter 28, it becomes too much of a Socialist/Communist sermon, and Jurgis no longer seems the person of the earlier chapters, which is in due part to the horrific changes in his living standards. When his youngest son dies OH! I was heart broken for him. However, if he had never gone through his journey, I doubt he would have conformed to the Socialist movement so willingly. Eye opening nevertheless.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-11 02:01:35.
(Language: English)
When I first heard about this book - I was told that I would not want to eat meat for the rest of my life. Needless to say, I still enjoy my hamburgers. Don't worry - thanks to the FDA, meat-processing companies no longer operate like this. Instead, this book was a story of an immigrant to Chicago in the early 1900s, and how capitalism bogged down the new citizens of the United States and is an argument for socialism. The only criticism I have is the first chapter - which is given to show that happy times are possible, but I found to be a real bore. Also, the last thirty pages of a socialist speech made you want to roll your eyes. Other than that, I could hardly put it down.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-05 01:23:30.
(Language: English)
I first heard of this book while taking a high school history class. The title stuck with me after I learned of its effect on the food administration in the early 20th century. Finally after reading it, I see why. The book does so much more than delve into Packington life though and is an entirely wonderful read. Jurgis might just be the most hapless man I've ever met.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-27 09:18:15.
(Language: English)
I thought this was a good book; it's easy to see how startling this story was for the readers in it's own time. I thought the first half of the book was much better than the second half; the second half is clearly a means to the Socialist propoganda at the end (which, apparently, was Sinclair's whole reason for writing the book). I think it would have been helpful to be aware of Sinclair's socialist agenda at the beginning of the book, and to read the story through that lens... I was simply reading it as an expose on immigrant labor in Chicago in the 1900s, and I think that's why I found the latter half of the book lacking. But to read it as an invitation to Socialism, a lot of the plot turns make much more sense. Overall, a good book to read, especially if you are interested in issues of immigration, poverty and labor in the early 1900s.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-15 10:15:14.
(Language: English)
Certainly a historical record for its time and a vivid portrait of man's inhumanity to his fellow brothers and sisters - not to mention God's animal creatures great and small. Sinclair had his own agenda in writing this book and I wonder what he would say in regards to our country's current economic situation -- whether we've progressed or not in allowing others to live a fruitful and abundant life. Maybe we the people have become our own worst nightmare - a million "Beef Trusts" - wanting what we want when we want it. For its historical guidepost and literary merit this book should be read. If I were a high school or college English teacher - it would be on my must-read list.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-04 07:24:20.
(Language: English)
Read it for school and this was the best example of a book with an agenda rather than a plot. The characters are led thru the story by their noses; they're nothing deeper than puppets enacting one horror after another. It was simply a string of industrial disasters attached to random characters with no emotional component beyond the author's outrage.
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Jen posted a review at 2011-10-30 04:55:01.
(Language: English)
An absolutely heartbreaking tale of woe brought upon a family to chanced to believe in the idea of a better life possible across a distant sea. Sinclair's work is absolutely gripping in the misery he inflicts upon his character. In the end, the reader is left to contemplate the atrocities with a mind toward contemporary issues.
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Glenn posted a review at 2009-03-18 09:01:09.
(Language: English)
I have read this book more than a dozen times. This is the book that exposed the horrible conditions in the meat packing industry in Chicago and led to many of the laws and regulations that now exist to protect food consumers. It's also the story of the struggle of immigrant families to make a living in the new world. If you ever feel like your life is tough, this is the book to read as it will put everything into perspective. Skim through the last couple of chapters which turn into a long lecture on the merits of communism.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-25 08:06:47.
(Language: English)
The more things change, the more things stay the same. I think this novel is as relevant today as ever. Sinclair captures humor, horror, cynicism,and subtleties of political and social issues with an earthy precision and attention to detail. I prefer his fierce commitment to his worldview over writers who opt for fashionable detachment. I don't care what anyone says, Sinclair's "propaganda"is both a more accurate picture of life, and a better read than a lot of what passes for good literature today.Though his characters are a little flat, the picture of their world is captivating and detailed.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-03-03 10:48:44.
(Language: English)
This is an awesome book. Originally written in 1906. It's about the meatpacking industry back then and immigrant families that came to US Chicago and having to work there. I picked it up because the main family in this book is Lithuanian, such as I. Makes you very thankful for the laws and regulations we have now. If you are at all squeemish about things, be careful. Pretty graphic about how things really were in the industry back then, both how animals were treated, safety of food (none) and how the people were treated. Be thankful for today's labor and employment laws
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-10-14 01:10:31.
(Language: English)
This is the book that you talked about in High School history, but never read, but absolutely should have. Gives a vivid, detailed, and gripping description of a pivotal era in American history, illustrating not only the gruesome conditions of the meatpacking industry but the wretched conditions of laboring immigrants, the systems of graft and corruption, the stranglehold of big industry, the growth of the city of Chicago, and the birth of a political movement. A must-read.
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