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The Jungle
The Jungle
Author: Upton Sinclair
In some of the most harrowing scenes ever written in modern literature, Upton Sinclair vividly depicts factory life in Chicago in the first years of the twentieth century. With an afterward by Robert B. Downs.
ISBN: 26129
Pages: 350
Rating:
  • Currently 4.7/5 Stars.
 3

4.7 stars, based on 3 ratings
Publisher: Signet Classic
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Jungle on + 12 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
I read this book after reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. I had always thought this book was mainly about the meatpacking plants and how disgusting they were AND, while this was a part of the book and the plants are definitely disgusting, this book is much more than that. It follows an immigrant family from Lithuania as they try to make their way in America. Sinclaire really reels you in with his narrative and you can't help but feel for this family that quickly finds out that the American dream is not quite what they imagined.
reviewed The Jungle on + 32 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
If I had been alive and able to read during (many could not then as now I suppose)this time I think I would have stopped eating meat. Thank goodness for the FDA now to regulate how our meat is processed! It breaks my heart reading how people lived during this time and how immigrants were treated, I just can't imagine the struggles nd sacrafices they had to make. Overall its a great book and I am glad I read it.
sherbertbones avatar reviewed The Jungle on
Helpful Score: 2
Starts slow, but after awhile the grisly descriptions of the food industry in old America becomes powerful and gripping.
hazeleyes avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 331 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
The stockyards are long gone but the unsavory dark side of Chicago lives on. Chicago machine politicians recently elected to high offices in Washington confirm that beneath the glitz Chicago's the same town it was when Sinclair analyzed it.
Gashlycrumb avatar reviewed The Jungle on
Helpful Score: 1
A must-read!
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reviewed The Jungle on + 22 more book reviews
This book was revolutionary in that it led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act. A scorching expose of the cattle slaughter houses.
reviewed The Jungle on + 24 more book reviews
I thought the book gave a very painful look into the bleak life of immigrants in Chicago in the early 1900s
ukeman avatar reviewed The Jungle on
It seems that Upton Sinclair sat down to attempt writing the most depressing book of all time........he may have succeeded.
reviewed The Jungle on + 13 more book reviews
This is probably my favorite book of all time. I found myself trapped in this tale and unable to put this book down. It is a classic in every way. You want to learn about America at the dawn of the industrial revolution, the treatment of immigrants or coporate greed? Do you want to read a book with happiness, heartbreak and great adventure? It's all right here!
reviewed The Jungle on
absolutely worth reading! a really great story set among Chicago early in the century,
in the slaughterhouses. wonderful for historical fiction fans!
ilovebooksanddogs avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 359 more book reviews
This is a very powerful book. I was lucky enough to read this when I was very young and it was one of the motivating factors in my decision to stop eating meat. Everyone should read this book!
Kathie-Freeman avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 2 more book reviews
This is one book that everyone should read. It details the life in the meat-packing district of Chicago in the early 20th century and the horrific conditions under which the men had to work. The women's lot was no better, and this was the impetus for the labor movement that brought about so much change. It's been said that America's meat consumption dropped by 25% after this book was published because of the graphic details of the conditions in the plants.
reviewed The Jungle on + 80 more book reviews
A classic!
reviewed The Jungle on
This book is a tough read. it's easy to understand why it has become a classic. Definitely not a casual book to take to the beach, but more a cold fisted commentary on urban life at the beginning of the 20th century. The book hits hard at the plight of the emmigrants and could apply to our current culture.
Hewette avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 67 more book reviews
What a trap the immigrants fell into as they moved to the promising city of Chicago. It explains why the city burned even across the river, and illustrates the gap between the classes. We have it so easy now! And this is why the USDA came about...
Philly avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 38 more book reviews
Shocking novel exposing the horrors of the meat packing industry in early 19th century America. This book strongly leans toward what the author believes to be the positive aspect of socialism.
ivylibra224 avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 11 more book reviews
The characters in this book were very believable. That said, it was a little depressing, and got way too political for me.
reviewed The Jungle on + 2 more book reviews
I loved this book. It makes you think about how it used to be and what all happens and is in our food.
reviewed The Jungle on + 21 more book reviews
The meat packing industry in Chicago in the early 1900s. Very riveting.
reviewed The Jungle on
I loved the book up until the very end when it was no longer about the life of Jurgis Rudkus and all about Socialism. I felt towards the end I was reading an incredibly boring essay on the advantages of Socialism. The other 300 pages were great though. I enjoyed this book for putting a perspective on the life of immigrants during the early 1900s, for confirming that corruption in the United States was no different 100+ years ago. The Jungle made me appreciate the fact that even though my job isn't some place I'd like to be all the time, it's not even a scintilla of what people had to go through 100+ years ago. Read it.
bamboochik avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 54 more book reviews
This is the way it was during the early years of imigration by Europeans and the hell they had to put up with in order to make a living. You think there is a problem with todays meat processing? You haven't even got a clue!!!!!
calevanik avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 31 more book reviews
I read parts of this in high school, and picked it up again years later. It was surprising to me how much of it was still relevent. There were things I learned about our modern world that dates back to when this book was written. While some of the conditions may have improved, the desires and greed have remained in our country today.
mrswiggs avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 51 more book reviews
I don't recommend reading this if you have a weak stomach. Other than that, it's an interesting, if fairly depressing read. I think it's good to have at least dabbled in the classics.
bnc620 avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 3 more book reviews
This book is an interesting look at the way immigrants were treated in Chicago's meat-packing industry in the early 1900s.

I didn't like the way the book just sort of ended.
reviewed The Jungle on + 13 more book reviews
Great book. Powerful, heart breaking and depressing at times. Upton Sinclair did a preeminent job exposing the reality of meat factories during the early 20th century.
Bernie avatar reviewed The Jungle on
put to the American public the fundamental questions raised by capitalism in such a way that they could not escape them. When it was first published in 1906, The Jungle exposed the inhumane conditions of Chicagos stockyards and the laborers struggle against industry and wage slavery. It was an immediate bestseller and led to new regulations that forever changed workers rights and the meatpacking industry.
reviewed The Jungle on + 6 more book reviews
this is not the cover of the book, my book is an older copy
reviewed The Jungle on + 10 more book reviews
This book, about the life of a poor immigrant who finds a job in a meat processing plant, was fantastic - heart-breaking, hopeful, and disgusting. The only problem I had with it was the ending...I won't spoil it for you, though. Everyone should read this book.
reviewed The Jungle on + 28 more book reviews
1960 edition. A wonderful, yet very disturbing tale.
Summer6ft avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 77 more book reviews
Follows the life of one immigrent working man in 1906 Chicago. The incredible things this man endures are heart wrenching but you can't put the book down for the need to know what happens to him. The inside look at his life in the meat packing plants also spurred the pure food acts that still affect us today.
katethegreat avatar reviewed The Jungle on + 69 more book reviews
This is a great novel even though it depicts the ugly side of capitalism.


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