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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN num: 9780486419237
ISBN number: 0486419231
Label: Dover Publications
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: November 09, 2001
Publishing house: Dover Publications
Sale Popularity Level: 63360
Studio: Dover Publications
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Product Description:
1906 bestseller shockingly reveals intolerable labor practices and unsanitary working conditions in the Chicago stockyards as it tells the brutally grim story of a Slavic family that emigrates to America full of optimism but soon descends into numbing poverty, moral degradation, and despair. A fiercely realistic American classic that will haunt readers long after they've finished the last page.
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Rated by buyers 
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This novel does a wonderful job of painting scenes from the daily life of a family of Lithuanian immigrant workers in the early 1900s. Sinclair produces memorable characters and captures the spirt of the times well. However, it is not a great novel from a purely literary perspective due to its lack of depth and rather uneventful plot. This novel carved out its niche in history by exposing the unsanitary conditions of the meat packing industry of the day. Many credit this novel with setting in motion the wheels that ulitmately led to the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. This is a book that is worth reading because of its historical impact, but it is does not contain the ingredients of a literary masterpiece.
Rated by buyers 
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First off, I'd like to express my opinion that this is one of the most brilliant novels of all time, eloquent in its own hyper-literal and miserable way, and though a hard read(400 pages of pure sorrow and exposure of our dark world) is one of the most fulfilling literary experiences available.
Now then, this book reformed and improve meat laws. It also deals heavily with the meat packing industry. But it even states within its walls that eating meat is virtually unnecessary, it supports the abolishment of such industry altogether, not to change any laws to better it. Though better than nothing, the accidental achievement of improving FDA standards of meat is a complete joke, and it was accomplished out of the pure lack of deep thought which Americans have possessed in the past 100 years. This novel is an example of the highest brilliance of political commentary, and everyone thinks its a ****ing book on nutrition. This angers someone as passionate about the work as I am, so excuse the hostility, but really... Its not just about health code problems. The boy eaten by rats, the death of Jurgis' entire family, the traitorous nature of politicians, how often Jurgis is conned without ever realizing it, the fact that his wife, one of his few lingering purposes for life, is violated and dies, because of foolish decisions he was forced into and must cope with, the imprisonment, the poverty, starvation, loneliness! The meat industry is almost irrelevant, its simply one symbol of the thousands of possible ones which can epitomize the cruel nature of capitalism. It didn't end with the improvement of meat quality, its the idea that in this world, we are slaves to money, and those who by either chance or folly fail to achieve wealth will be tossed aside as garbage. Don't you see, this poverty still goes on today, that it did not end with the simple improvement of cleanliness? It is an expose on the sick nature of capitalism, of this merciless dog-eat-dog world which confuses superiority with circumstance, not a suggestion of how we should prepare food. Women are still prostitutes, children are still starving, politicians are still crooks, men are still alcoholics, and we are still owned by monetary garbage. At least recognize these socialist themes, you don't need to do anything about it, its radical, its insane, it would never work, sure, think what you will, but if you're going to praise a book written by a genius such as this, I'd appreciate that you didn't completely destroy his point. Notice, also, how he speaks of the world as a whole at some points in his book. Despite apparent increase in our quality of life here in the grand ole USA, the world is still quite ****ed, if I may say so myself, as Sinclair DID, and everyone failed to notice because they've sort of forgotten than an entire planet exists outside of ourselves. Please, with the numbers who have read this book, you'd think that quite a few may have been reached, but this focusing on the trivial and denial of the extreme has hardly done this book any justice.
And Dr. Barry Sears has absolutely no place in the book... he states in the afterword in so many words that Sinclair would have to admit that the current strides in the meat industry have done more for the American working man than "any political movement could have ever accomplished." This nutritionist is going to say that Upton Sinclair, obviously one of the most convicted socialist figures of all time, would be happy that his grand vision of a utopian brotherhood was instead interpreted as something so shallow as 'cleaner meat means happier America'? Complete and utter ignorance! And he has the gall to plug The Zone, and the foolishness to say that The Jungle and The Zone are similar, passing The Jungle in the same boat as some dieting garbage and The Zone off as some world-saving, revolutionary book. Complete and utter ****ing ignorance.
If Sinclair were alive right now, no doubt he'd be insulted. You should all give the book a good second reading, and this time pay attention to the last half, you know, the one that has nothing to do with the meat industry at all. This is a book of brilliance...
"I wrote with tears and anguish, pouring into the pages all the pain that life had meant to me." -UPTON SINCLAIR You can comprehend this pain, and understand it, and do something about it, if you simply read the book with a mind beyond an adolescent stage. And I guarantee you, the pain is not a simple matter of unsanitary steaks and chops.
This book is enlightenment for the philosopher stuck in the capitalist world, the one who thinks in the midst of all those who work. For those who fail to understand, its simply something to read because it is marked as a "classic," and I have noticed that. It is by no means pleasant to read but by all means essential to those wishing to comprehend the true genius of literary expression. ... Read More
Rated by buyers -
This is one of my top reads. If you read and liked Fast Food Nation then you have to read this. This will motivate you to want to take a stand, start a social movement. The story is written extremely well and sucks you in. This one kept me up late and left me wondering about a lot of things. I also wonder how much is different then from now. The family in this story are very endearing and I found myself attached to them. This really brings the dark to light. Loved it.
Rated by buyers -
On the socialism one needs to heed "the times" they were in. well before the information age of how we can now see and listen and freely read about all things that are happening around the USA and the world. 1900, news papers, that's it. No TV, no radio, no internet, and even the papers were "controlled", no free speech back then. All this means that when your hurting, and hurting real bad and for many years, you are looking for some way out, anything can come along and sound good.
And as bad as all this was, imagine how even WORSE it was for the disabled! blind, deaf, etc. oh man, you don't even want to "go there" truly must have been treated like animals..... and the ADA? What?
Lastly, why is SPAM still being sold in the 21st Century? Because people will buy it, amazing isn't it? GROSS
Rated by buyers -
This is so far my favorite book. Mr. Sinclair's articulation of the English language has made the book one of the jewels in the American literature history. He was a true investigative journalist, one of the heroes in modern journalism. Sometimes I would find myself very moved and even depressed because of the vivid and harsh social image he described in the book. This book has a great impact on my life. I stopped buying products produced by big companies who do not practice ethical business. I also strongly recommand reading "Fast Food Nation" (as a matter of fact, "The Jungle" was mentioned in "Fast Food Nation", and that's how I knew it.)
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