Man, socialism in the twentieth century is going to rock! That's the ultimate message of Sinclair's preachy tome, which is remembered for its nauseating depictions of the meat trade in Chicago and its influence in getting food laws enacted and trusts busted.
He had a chance to make a great vision of bleakness, and would have if he'd ended about four chapters earlier. It would have been "The Grapes of Wrath," but less subtle. In fact, you know what would make for the shortest essay ever? The title, "The Subtle Aspects of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle." This thing is not subtle. Out hero, Jurgis, goes through an increasingly unlikely set of events so that we can see every facet of the meat industry in Chicago at the turn of the century (hint: it's not pretty). You just see the inevitability of the downward journey from the very beginning, and there's just no way out of it.
Then, for the last four chapters, we get several sermons disguised as conversational dialogue among very smart and good socialists.
Still, the thing is worth a read, and I dearly thank Sinclair for writing this every time I open a can of meat.
He had a chance to make a great vision of bleakness, and would have if he'd ended about four chapters earlier. It would have been "The Grapes of Wrath," but less subtle. In fact, you know what would make for the shortest essay ever? The title, "The Subtle Aspects of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle." This thing is not subtle. Out hero, Jurgis, goes through an increasingly unlikely set of events so that we can see every facet of the meat industry in Chicago at the turn of the century (hint: it's not pretty). You just see the inevitability of the downward journey from the very beginning, and there's just no way out of it.
Then, for the last four chapters, we get several sermons disguised as conversational dialogue among very smart and good socialists.
Still, the thing is worth a read, and I dearly thank Sinclair for writing this every time I open a can of meat.
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