52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A supreme achievement, July 7, 2007
This review is from: The Jungle (Enriched Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)
Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" is one of the handful of books throughout all of history, perhaps, that have encapsulated the crying voices of the oppressed. While many readers and politicians at the time of its publication (and since) have focused on the intolerable conditions in which American food products were produced, the major thrust in "The Jungle" is not in regards to the ill-treatment of our food; it is in regards to the ill-treatment of our workers.
The repeated sufferings of Jurgis and his family are akin to an overwhelming symphony of sorrowful songs. As his family is driven deeper into debt, his body worn down, and his life's zeal and love slowly strangled, Jurgis' desperation becomes palpable, and if you can't sympathize with his feelings at the loss of his family's home--a structure they worked so hard for--check your pulse. You might be dead.
The book contains some of the most horrific depictions in all of literature, including a mercifully oblique reference to a child's death by being eaten alive by rats. Although the novel focuses on Jurgis primarily, it is the children--the laboring little people--who elicit the most sympathy in this reader's view. Struggling to support their family, escaping extremely dangerous situations (one little girl is nearly dragged into an alley and raped), sleeping on the street, and begging desperately for food--the appalling conditions being visited upon children as described in "The Jungle" still have the power to arouse strong anger and outrage, over a century after its initial publication.
One of the greatest social novels ever written, "The Jungle" is a moving tribute to the millions of immigrants who did come here legally, who did find jobs, who were ready to work for their slice of the American Dream, and who survived (barely) despite being swindled, stolen from, lied to, oppressed, turned out, ignored, and abused, almost from the very first step they took into the United States. The recent punditry over immigration that has dominated the national debate should serve as a reminder of the timelessness exhibited in Upton Sinclair's seminal masterpiece.
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58 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Old classic in a safe form, April 10, 2008
This review is from: The Jungle (Enriched Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)
Of the numerous editions of The Jungle that are in print, this version is reasonably good and presented in a scholarly form. However, this version of The Jungle is not the original form. It has been drastically cut in length, with much of the slaughterhouse gore removed and the ethnic material cut way back. Readers would be better to get the "Uncensored" verion of the novel put out by See Sharp Press.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Jungle, November 7, 2006
This review is from: The Jungle (Enriched Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)
Perhaps one of the most significant and influential American novels written, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair reveals the flipside to the American Dream. Jurgis Rudkus, the main character, is a Lithuanian immigrant who is at first gleeful and awed by his new homeland, America. Jurgis and his family travel to Chicago and settle in Chicago's Packingtown, one of the largest meat packing cities in the United States. As Jurgis and most of his family are employed in their inhospitable jobs, their ignorance about the American Dream is agonizingly chipped away as they experience first hand the abuses of a capitalistic, greedy, and monopolistic society. And, as they pack the rotting and rat infested meat, they revealed what Americans were really eating. Through their harrowing experiences, Capitalism is portrayed as man's enemy that viciously exploits and manipulates its workers for a profit. Jurgis eventually understands after losing his job, losing his family, being arrested, and becoming a criminal and political crook that Capitalism must be eliminated and that Socialism must be established for the betterment of man. The Jungle continues to embody the spirit of reform because issues such as forced prostitution, child labor, false advertising, unhealthful living conditions, and unsanitary food preparation continue to riddle societies throughout the world. After Sinclair admitted, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach," Americans went on a crusade to reform society and rid it of its ills. Whether one is eating a hamburger, or buying a product from a store, they can thank Sinclair that they are not eating freshly ground rats with synthetic ketchup.
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