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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
What I remember of this book:
Chapter 15: So poor were they that they had to make do on eating table lint and breadcrumbs for dinner three days straight.
Chapter 16: The next morning, they went into town and bought each other Christmas presents.
Chapter 15: So poor were they that they had to make do on eating table lint and breadcrumbs for dinner three days straight.
Chapter 16: The next morning, they went into town and bought each other Christmas presents.
The Jungle is a classic, but I found the prose a bit obtuse so I read this graphic novel version. Sort of like Cliff's Notes but with great illustrations.
What a great read. I found myself getting very frustrated and just wishing Jurgis and his family a break at some point. The ending was a turn I didn't see coming but has lead to me wanting more information about that period in American history.
Jurgis Rudkus went to the Mike Tyson school of fighting. My guy stop biting people?
Excellent story, centered around the plight of immigrant, Jurgis Rudkus in early nineteenth century Chicago. The story had me, gripping to the rails on it's emotional roller coaster. Then it lost me when Sinclair went the route of Ayn Rand & ended the book with a life-lecture for his reader. For him, it was Socialism, the very anti-message of Rand, but still very annoying. So, I skimmed the last four chapters to not overshadow the balance of the book.
What worries me is to think that the experience of Jurgis may not be so foreign today for many displaced people around the world, even though the book was originally published over 100 years ago.
What worries me is to think that the experience of Jurgis may not be so foreign today for many displaced people around the world, even though the book was originally published over 100 years ago.
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
informative
slow-paced
This book is old so it’s a bit hard to read and the pace is a bit slow, but it is one of the most informative books I have ever read. It was really important to learn about the history of the meat packing industry in relation to unions and workers rights.
This novel was hard for me to get through. No, it wasn't primarily because of the repulsive and pessimistic descriptions of society and food that Sinclair spreads throughout the novel, but instead it was because of the plot. This novel almost seems better suited to have been just a piece of journalism or socialist propaganda because at the core of it, Sinclair made it obvious that he was simply using his characters as a tool to convey his political agenda. He wasn't trying to immerse us into the lives of a group of Lithuanian immigrants who had gotten the worst end of the American capitalist system, but instead he was using that family as a microcosm for every person who wasn't the owner of a monopoly. Now, Sinclair definitely makes some effort to develop characters and connect his readers to said characters, but just when he paves an opportunity for more development of the fictional environment and characters of his story, he instead almost lists every corrupt thing he has seen in America's capitalist society with minimal effort to interweave it into the novel's plot and character arcs. From around chapter 23 onwards, I felt less and less invested in the plot and much more distant from the characters, but I pushed through and managed to finish the book (mostly because I had to). I honestly feel that I would rather have read Sinclair's arguments in a more direct, nonfictional medium so I didn't have to expend so much effort into reading the first 23 or so chapters of his novel, but maybe that's just me. Maybe Sinclair imagined that others would appreciate his writing strategy, but then again his novel scarcely had the impact he intended it to.
That being said, Sinclair has a way of painting pretty pictures and then burning those pictures before your very eyes, or simply presenting you with the most horrid and repulsive portrayal of the world you though you knew so well. His descriptions (and sometimes plot) were horrifying and gut-wrenching, evoking emotions that many novels dare not evoke. In his case though, those emotions were exactly what moved the people, albeit towards an unintended cause. It's somewhat of a shame that he channeled those aspects of fiction directly into his exposition instead of his explicit arguments for socialism.
In the end, this novel was completely different from what I had expected it to be and what its popular connotation portrayed it as, but all for understandable reasons. I would recommend this novel if you're interested in studying where authors can go wrong in delivering their message or in analyzing how public reception can change the effective cultural and social meaning of literature. Likewise, people who just want something dark yet socially relevant to read or want to fulfill their knowledge of literary classics should also read this novel. Otherwise, if you're looking for a fictional masterpiece with an immersive plot and dark themes, I would personally say this novel falls short, particularly in the plot aspect.
That being said, Sinclair has a way of painting pretty pictures and then burning those pictures before your very eyes, or simply presenting you with the most horrid and repulsive portrayal of the world you though you knew so well. His descriptions (and sometimes plot) were horrifying and gut-wrenching, evoking emotions that many novels dare not evoke. In his case though, those emotions were exactly what moved the people, albeit towards an unintended cause. It's somewhat of a shame that he channeled those aspects of fiction directly into his exposition instead of his explicit arguments for socialism.
In the end, this novel was completely different from what I had expected it to be and what its popular connotation portrayed it as, but all for understandable reasons. I would recommend this novel if you're interested in studying where authors can go wrong in delivering their message or in analyzing how public reception can change the effective cultural and social meaning of literature. Likewise, people who just want something dark yet socially relevant to read or want to fulfill their knowledge of literary classics should also read this novel. Otherwise, if you're looking for a fictional masterpiece with an immersive plot and dark themes, I would personally say this novel falls short, particularly in the plot aspect.
There weren't any lions in this book at ALL. Some jungle.
A tough book to rate. I bounced between 2 and 5 as I was reading.
This one is certainly powerful - and powerfully frustrating. It is eye-opening in many ways regarding the systemic oppression of the laboring class, and it left me searching through my own perceptions and experiences for an idea of how much remains true today.
I have come across many books which I am thankful not to relate too heavily with. Most stories of war, fancy, greed, adventure, etc. offer an escape from reality. Whether or not that escape is pleasant is another matter altogether. With The Jungle, however, I was uncomfortably aware of my own relation to the institutions of power and greed which dictated the events of this story. I don't mean the Beef Trust specifically, and I certainly don't mean that I actively or intentionally contribute to oppression, but, I, like mostly every person I know, am a consumer of goods and services both essential and nonessential, and I live in and walk through a materialistic world without batting an eye. Often without a later thought.
Much has changed since the beginning of the 20th century, and while that makes it easier to distance ourselves from the characters and happenings of this book, it cannot be ignored that our nation has been built upon foundational divisions.
As for the merits of the story itself, not just its impact, I think it was executed in an extremely effective way. Our main cast of characters experience lows, often ignorant highs, and then gut-wrenching, brutal lows again. Rinse and repeat. As someone who can't begin to understand the plight (and plight is an understatement) of the critically impoverished, I found the cyclical nature of emotions, circumstance, and condition to be infuriating. There is growth, but it is always followed by injustice. There is hope, but it is always followed by suffering. There is even joy and happiness, and there are moments of blissful fortune, but these, too, often end in despair. Now imagine if this wasn't fiction. The awful truth is that it is fiction rooted firmly in reality.
After everything, I give this a 4 because while it was absolutely moving, I was displeased with the end. The last few chapters were rich in idealism and provocative dialogue, but the manner by which they were conveyed seemed disingenuous and motivated by the author's not-so-subtle agenda. I am perfectly fine with an author having opinions and weaving them into their works, but to do so with such little nuance and regard for what I think deserved to be a carefully potent conclusion was, in my opinion, imprudent.
A sour end doesn't detract fully from an overall sound and important exposé though, so I would still recommend anyone give this a read. Especially today, it might help reinforce the idea that society is full of misconceived notions of people and the past.
This one is certainly powerful - and powerfully frustrating. It is eye-opening in many ways regarding the systemic oppression of the laboring class, and it left me searching through my own perceptions and experiences for an idea of how much remains true today.
I have come across many books which I am thankful not to relate too heavily with. Most stories of war, fancy, greed, adventure, etc. offer an escape from reality. Whether or not that escape is pleasant is another matter altogether. With The Jungle, however, I was uncomfortably aware of my own relation to the institutions of power and greed which dictated the events of this story. I don't mean the Beef Trust specifically, and I certainly don't mean that I actively or intentionally contribute to oppression, but, I, like mostly every person I know, am a consumer of goods and services both essential and nonessential, and I live in and walk through a materialistic world without batting an eye. Often without a later thought.
Much has changed since the beginning of the 20th century, and while that makes it easier to distance ourselves from the characters and happenings of this book, it cannot be ignored that our nation has been built upon foundational divisions.
As for the merits of the story itself, not just its impact, I think it was executed in an extremely effective way. Our main cast of characters experience lows, often ignorant highs, and then gut-wrenching, brutal lows again. Rinse and repeat. As someone who can't begin to understand the plight (and plight is an understatement) of the critically impoverished, I found the cyclical nature of emotions, circumstance, and condition to be infuriating. There is growth, but it is always followed by injustice. There is hope, but it is always followed by suffering. There is even joy and happiness, and there are moments of blissful fortune, but these, too, often end in despair. Now imagine if this wasn't fiction. The awful truth is that it is fiction rooted firmly in reality.
After everything, I give this a 4 because while it was absolutely moving, I was displeased with the end. The last few chapters were rich in idealism and provocative dialogue, but the manner by which they were conveyed seemed disingenuous and motivated by the author's not-so-subtle agenda. I am perfectly fine with an author having opinions and weaving them into their works, but to do so with such little nuance and regard for what I think deserved to be a carefully potent conclusion was, in my opinion, imprudent.
A sour end doesn't detract fully from an overall sound and important exposé though, so I would still recommend anyone give this a read. Especially today, it might help reinforce the idea that society is full of misconceived notions of people and the past.