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Oil! (California Fiction) Paperback – April 30, 1997

by
Upton Sinclair (Author)
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Upton Sinclair (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars 96 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Series: California Fiction
  • Paperback: 528 pages
  • Publisher: University of California Press; Reprint edition (April 30, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0520207270
  • ISBN-13: 978-0520207271
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (96 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,110,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsEnjoy it for its economic and socio-political drama, but forget the characters.
By Amazon Customer on December 20, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
You can see where Paul Thomas Anderson drew inspiration from Oil! to make his film, There Will Be Blood; however, you can list the similarities on one hand: 1) It is the story of an oil man (Dad) and his boy (Bunny). 2) There is a ranch that is key to the development of Dad’s oil company. 3) Dad contends with larger oil companies. 4) Dad knows how to wheel and deal to get what he wants. 5) Like the Sunday family in the film, the Watkins family are religious, but too a much greater degree – they are “jumpers” that holler, speak and tongues, and roll around on the ground.

You will find other similarities, but the above are the most apparent. The differences are too many to list. The biggest deviations is the aspect of oil development that gets pushed aside in the latter half in favor of being a political think piece.

For some reviewers, the 2nd half is socialist propaganda. I don’t know enough about the global conflicts and economic history of that era to make judgement as to whether Sinclair is posturing his personal views, or whether his negative views of capitalism were justified. Regardless, we are receiving this information from the view of Bunny who believes in socialism.

Another important distinction between the movie and book: Bunny is the main character instead of the father. Dad has far less character development and is less interesting than Daniel Day Lewis’s character. They are both capitalist with strong anti-regulatory views, but Dad's the father-son conflict never really develops into something more interesting.

My major gripe with the novel is that it never goes beyond Bunny’s POV.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsMuch different than I had anticipated.
By Logan May on December 11, 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I have been wanting to read this book for quite some time now. I finally bought it and jumped right in. The first quarter of the book is enthralling and very interesting. If you loved the movie "There Will Be Blood" the beginning will also be your favorite part. It is the basis for the whole movie. After the first part of the book, however, it takes a very different turn and becomes a commentary about social injustices and the unfairness of the oil industry and labor in general. This truly is a book on class warfare and how to even the odds for every man. No doubt interesting, but very long and gets irritatingly repetitive. I believe it is worth reading once, for sure. More than likely will not become your favorite book but it is a fun read.
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3.0 out of 5 starsFive stars for the first third...
By TJW on June 4, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This book starts off so, so good - the initial description of the oil business is engaging, exciting and new. You relate to both the dad and the son, and want to see how much the business grow and how they grow as a family.

Unfortunately, about a third of the way in it becomes a slow plod through the challenges of Capitalism, Socialism and Communism, and the son never winds up really making any significant impact one way or another. The book is really about the son, but the father steals the show. Nothing really resolves itself either - it's just a gentle, slow landing of a book that starts with a bang.

After reading the book I re-watched the movie, and now I know why the movie is based only on the first part of the book. The back 2/3's of the book are just too slow. Too bad - the first third of the book is GREAT - wish it could have kept it up!
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2.0 out of 5 starsSee the movie forget the book
By P. Joseph on December 2, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I was one of the ones that expected this to be like the movie "There will Be Blood" The movie was based on the beginning of the movie and is nothing like the book. See the movie it's great. The book will put you to sleep before you get to the middle. I struggled to get through it hoping for a great ending and was extremely disappointed.
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5.0 out of 5 starswhich is probably great praise for it already
By The fat cat on September 28, 2015
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
It was the first book I read by Upton Sinclair, but definitely not the last, which is probably great praise for it already. I read it after watching the movie, "There Will Be Blood" and learning that it was based on this novel. I found the novel to be SO much deeper, more interesting, and multi[layered, addressing all sorts of historical and social changes and challenges that America was facing in the beginning of the XX century - and that are still poignant today.
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4.0 out of 5 starsLovely book, garbage construction
By The Shan-shan Man on May 10, 2016
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I absolutely love this story! It's interesting, purposeful, and still relavent almost a century after the first publication. Easy to read and doesn't drone on like so many novels from the time. The only problem I have is pages are falling out of the spine after opening the book twice. I know, it's a paperback book, but let me read it once before falling apart.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe amazing thing about Sinclair's works is how applicable they still ...
By John Novak on September 6, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
The amazing thing about Sinclair's works is how applicable they still are despite the fact that they were written on the order of a hundred years ago. Oil! Provides a visionary and enlightening historical picture of the evolution of the oil economy and how it has been supported since the beginning by corporate dollars filling the pockets of politicians.
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5.0 out of 5 starsBetter than I expected!
By Kujifanya Jina on November 10, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I bought this book because it was the source material for the movie "There Will Be Blood." The book is far different from the movie and contains a lighter, breezier tone. Told from the perspective of the oilman's son, it breathes with the enthusiasm of its youthful protagonist. Excellent!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 starsWouldn't Recommend

Book didn't thrill me. I read kind of slow. I bought this because it was the basis for the move "There Will Be Blood". I thought "The Jungle" was much better. Read more

Published 29 days ago by L. Green
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

good story

Published 2 months ago by robin m
4.0 out of 5 starsTimeless

Even though it was written in the twenties, there were a lot of parallels to today's issues. Thought provoking and timeless

Published 3 months ago by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars... day -- the divide between the rich and the poor, the foibles of...

Though it is a commentary on the society of his day -- the divide between the rich and the poor, the foibles of the rich -- the book is surprisingly relevant today. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Mark Schenk
2.0 out of 5 starsThe slanted viewpoints of the author exaggerating events to justify...

A brilliant wordsmith setting forth his blAck and white version of society vilifying any other and slanting the facts to make his own heroic.

Published 9 months ago by Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

not as good as the jungle but still good.

Published 11 months ago by none
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great

Published 11 months ago by Rhonda Reeves
1.0 out of 5 starsNothing like the cover

Read this because of There Will Be Blood and was wildly disappointed. I'm sure the book has merit but it basically tries to make communism sound awesome. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Kris Weiner
4.0 out of 5 starsA gusher!

Readers expecting to find Daniel Plainview and H.W. in written form will be disappointed, for "There Will Be Blood" is only loosely adapted from "Oil! Read more

Published 12 months ago by HH

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