Customer Reviews

They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second Coming

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Savior comes to post WWI industrial America to weigh in on a labor relations and post war reactionary politics. A brilliant set-up for a satire, executed sharply and funnily. I love it, but I have a high tolerance for Socialist thinking and sacrelige.

I had to read this for a History class I was taking and I thought to myself, "Oh great, a novel written in the 20's." I expected it to be slow and dry. On the contrary, it was one of the most exciting novels I had read for quite some time. This acts as an exposition of Southern California in the early 20's in the great muckraking tradition of Upton Sinclair. Great read, fast read, interesting read. Highly recommended.

They Call Me Carpenter is a very interesting book about what it would be like if Jesus were to have his Second Coming during the 1920s. It is very though provoking to think about how Jesus would interpret our everyday experiences and what his overall perspective of what the world has come to would be. Sinclair brings attention to the continuing hositility and differences of race and social class during this time, despite the theory of these problems stopping or at least slowing by the end of the Progressive Era in 1919. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it!

This book takes a great look at society in Los Angeles during the 1920's. Sinclair is able to show the struggle between two classes "upper and lower" and using Jesus as the main character what he would have done for both sides. This book is an easy read and gives a clear picture as to what Sinclair was thinking society was like during this time period.

They Call me Carpenter is an excellent story of what it would be like if Jesus 'Carpenter' came to visit L.A. in the 1920s. Sinclair, a known muckraker, takes an even closer look at what Carpenter would think of mobs, social class segregation, and the up and coming Hollywood film industry. Sinclair puts a humerus twist on the book as Carpenter is unsure how to act in modern day places such as a restaurant and beauty parlor. Overall the book is a fun interesting read that I really enjoyed.

Upton Sinclair aims to stir a religous America to act out against the injustices of big businesses by asking and showing what Jesus would do if he would have been there during the Great Depression and the continual striking by certain groups. By bringing in an idealist in a land of pessism and distraction, Sinclair shows the readers how they should act toward one another through the sayings and action of this modern day prophet.

Upton Sinclair's They Call Me Carpenter is a quick read that gives a very good insite into the conditions of Los Angeles in the 1920's. Not only does Sinclair give the reader plenty of information to base their own opinion on but he also makes his own distate and position very clear. This book is a great reference to understand what life was like during this time period and without having to read plain history text.

An interesting look at the social politics of the early 1920's. The novel is centered around the return of "Jesus" to the modern time, and his observations of greed, selfishness, lust, sorrow, and the ultimate division between rich and poor.

The novel brings a whole new meaning to the 90's phrase "WWJD?"