Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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53 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb book (even if you were assigned to read it)., July 9, 2000
I'm the type of guy that can't stand many literary classics. I'm sorry, but I read a book for entertainment, not for metephors, meaning or symbolism. This is why it seems strange that I highly recommend this book.This book chronicles the life of immigrants from Lithuania who settle in Chicago in hopes of obtaining the American Dream. The way Sinclair describes the hardships of this family, it almost feels like you're the one who's suffering. Though depressing, the amount of detail engulfs the reader. Though the book is famous for exposing the meat packing industry's unsanitary conditions, it really is just a minor part of this book. The worker's rights, the racism, the corruption, and the poverty is what this book is all about. Though I'm a firm believer of Adam Smith and his invisible hand, half way through the book, I was searching for the local Socialist recruiter. Well, not really, but it will open anyone's mind. Except for the end, where it was just pure Socialist propoganda, this book is fantastic.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How much has really changed?, May 27, 2002
By A Customer
Excellent book that tells the story of Jurgis, a Lithuanian immigrant who finds himself stuck in the Chicago stockyards. It traces his life in America, telling about all the horridness in the meat packing industry, which prompted the Food and Drug Act shortly after the book was written. It's a true account of what went on in the early 1900's, told in a fictional sort of way. It then proceeds through different manners of living at the bottom of society (i.e., theft, prostitution, political graft, etc.). The last few chapters, though, are mainly Sinclair preaching and raving about the benefits of socialism, which I think ends the story of Jurgis earlier than it needed to be. However, this book was written for the purpose of change during that time, and it probably did help considerably. However, if you also read "Fast Food Nation," which I highly reccommend, you have to wonder, really, how much has really changed? The faces may be different, but is the public not still led to believe by the government and the packing industry that all is fine and dandy with what we eat? Ugh, read both books... they'll scare you.
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28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This story is a gripping, heart-breaking, MUST-READ!, November 23, 1999
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, leads you through the heart-wrenching tale of a family of poor Lithuanian immigrants. His description is so amazing that you can actually envision the filth of the stockyards, smell the stench, and feel the pain and suffering of the poor, good-hearted immigrants. From the minute they arrive in America, they are faced with nothing but hardships, struggling to survive. The characters and the storylines were very realistic. This story was so real to me, that I actually got nightmares. My only dissappointment with the novel was the ending. I was hoping for something more about Jurgis and the family, but instead got a heavy speech on socialism. Socialism was a good turn for Jurgis, but I feel the story would have been a bit better if it had ended more personally, on his part. Overall, this was an excellent book. I think that everyone should read it becuase it has so much to offer. It not only gives us a vivid depiction of that period in time, it is overwhelming with emotion. It is a major contribution to our history.
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