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The Jungle  By  cover art

The Jungle

By: Upton Sinclair
Narrated by: George Guidall
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Editorial reviews

Before there was Eric Schlosser, Michael Pollan, or Morgan Spurlock, there was Upton Sinclair. Sinclair's classic novel - an exposé of the Chicago meatpacking industry at the at the turn of the twentieth century - achieves new life as an audiobook. Narrator George Guidall's passionate rendering of the text makes it possible to visualize the vicious and grotesque conditions inside the slaughterhouses, and the impoverished immigrants who worked there, in a way that reading the text alone might not convey.

Publisher's summary

Few books have so affected radical social changes as The Jungle, first published serially in 1906. Exposing unsanitary conditions in the meat-packing industry in Chicago, Sinclair's novel gripped Americans by the stomach, contributing to the passage of the first Food and Drug Act. If you've never read this classic novel, don't be put off by its gruesome reputation. Upton Sinclair was a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who could turn even an exposé into a tender and moving novel.

Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant, comes to America in search of a fortune for his family. He accepts the harsh realities of a working man's lot, laboring with naive vigor - until, his health and family sacrificed, he understands how the heavy wheels of the industrial machine can crush the strongest spirit.

Public Domain (P)1994 Recorded Books, LLC

What listeners say about The Jungle

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    3 out of 5 stars

Why We Have Unions

The book followed by a political Rant
I agree with Shawn and McCarirk, the book is too long and not engaging enough. I applaud Sinclair trying to mix fact with story, but it came out as a slow moving tragedy, that was so tragic, I lost interest. It was one bad thing on top of another, on top of another, on top of another.

Rant
It's a time, where White people are upset because Black people calmly and quietly kneel during our anthem, to draw attention to the plight of their people. Privileged white people get upset, because they have been brain washed in our public school system to believe we are perfect and have always been perfect. Read!!! Read something besides the text books white society has brain washed you with. Learn that we are not now and have never been perfect. Understand this so that we can work to make ourselves as close to perfect as possible. Being brainwashed by white culture is no different than being brainwashed by a society organized by a dictator. Read various works by various authors from different parts of life and different parts of history.

Guidall was excellent

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45 people found this helpful

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THIS is an American Tragedy

I know it's not actually titled "An American Tragedy" (that's another classic), but this book really details a tragic life in tragic circumstances. In fact, I found it so painfully dismal, I had to stop half way through to listen to another book before coming back to it because it was so intense. Don't let that stop you, though, because it's a book well worth listening too.

It's best known as a muckraking book about the appalling conditions of the Chicago meatpacking plants at the turn of the 20th century, and almost all of the descriptions in the book were found to be true - and two important pieces of food safety legislation were enacted because of it. In fact, Upton Sinclair spent almost 2 months "undercover" working in the meatpacking plants before writing this book - which was originally published in installments.

What struck me more, though, was the horrific situation of the workers, not just in the meatpacking plants themselves, but also their housing and social situations. How new immigrants had been targeted in Europe and encouraged to come to work in the Chicago plants, lured with promises of a land of plenty -- only to find a different reality when they arrived unskilled, unable to speak English, and unprepared for the scam artists of an unregulated marketplace. Wickedly dangerous workplace conditions (resulting in gangrenous wounds, chemical burns, and respiratory failure), ridiculously crowded living conditions (sharing a mattress to sleep in shifts at the boarding house), and high district unemployment that resulted in men begging for work each morning and low wages.

Upton Sinclair, with his clearly socialist leanings in this book, says he aimed for the heart of his reader (with these depictions of unfairly harsh circumstances), but hit the readers' stomachs instead (with depiction of the meatpacking situations). I see that what he means, but truly it was my heart, not my stomach, that was hit by this book.

However, there are no heroes in this book - the hardworking, striving family man who is the protagonist becomes a vandal, mugger, thief, and corrupt political worker who abandoned his extended family after a tragic loss. The employers are corrupt, the unions are corrupt, the police force is corrupt........the only thing left to root for is the Dream itself (or Socialism, if you believe in Sinclair's premise). The book did inspire me to do a little more research and learn a bit more about Chicago at the time - about the Beef Trust, the Chicago freight tunnels, and the scandals, investigations, and legislation that came about because of the horrific practices of those meatpacking plants.

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19 people found this helpful

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Life in the stock yards of Chicago in late 1800s

The corruption in the meat packing industry and in the government in Chicago in the late 1800s was very informative in this story. However, the last part of the book is just a long lecture about socialism and I kept waiting for the lecture to end, but it never did. That was the conclusion of the book!!

We never got to get back into the story itself about the Lithuanian immigrant named Jurgis. The conclusion was the preaching of Socialist principles. Very disappointing.

Narration, however, by George Guidall was excellent.

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a socialist manifesto

This has been on my reading list for years. I didn't know, but now think of it as the antithesis to Atlas Shrugged. Replete with its own ponderous and myopic "John Gault Speach". Narration was great, just felt the story was a bit over the top in favor of the message.

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8 people found this helpful

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This is a view in to America before the New Deal

Classic book. Sometimes a novel can have a truth that no work of history can have. This book influenced the creation of the modern FDA. It is based on real conditions at the time. It is scary and this is an important book to read. I don't think you should be reading Ayn Rand without getting this as balance. Narration was good. Didn't like having to stop listening.

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Hard to Get Invested in this One

What did you love best about The Jungle?

The best part of The Jungle was the narrator. I could listen to George Guidall read a dictionary. He is very good.

Would you be willing to try another book from Upton Sinclair? Why or why not?

Sinclair has an ability to write that I would never seek to disparage. I picked The Jungle because it is regarded as a classic and I wanted to expand my knowledge of the classics. I didn't get particularly involved in this story and had trouble finding interest in listening to it, but the writing was well done, masterful even. I would give Sinclair another try, but I think I would be a bit choosier next time around.

Which character – as performed by George Guidall – was your favorite?

George Guidall's narration was fantastic, but I can't say that I had any favorites from this story. I would say that I did not particularly like any of the characters.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I struggled to find time to listen to this one. It did not compel me in that way.

Any additional comments?

Lots of soapboxing in this one. Seems that in the early 1900s life was terrible for most and not great for the rest. Makes me thankful for the life I have.

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7 people found this helpful

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Case Study for Socialism

I always believed that the primary purpose of this book was an exposé on the meat processing industry in Chicago during the 19th century. However, the horrors of the industry only serve as context to chronicle the life of Jurgis - which was the true horror. Jurgis arrives in the US with hopes and ambition only to be ground down to nothing. There are several moments when you think his life can't get any worse, and then it does.

Near the end of the book, he discovers socialism. It becomes the solution to all of his problems, eventually becoming almost like a religion to him. I can appreciate the arguments for socialism set down by the book. My biggest concern was the comparison between corrupt capitalism and perfect socialism. With that context, yes - I can see how socialism might seem pretty good. I enjoyed listening to the argument from a perspective that I don't have. Socialism or not, the book highlighted several social ills to be aware of.

And yes, I'll be eating less meat!

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Enough to put you off meat for life!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Jungle to be better than the print version?

I found both to be very good. The audio more convenient when unable read the print

What did you like best about this story?

How he described the conditions in the meat industry and how the immigrants struggled

Which scene was your favorite?

The buying of the home, i got a bad feeling about it was lulled into thinking it would be OK then realized it was a con.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I couldn't put it down and was able to read or listen to it through out the day listening on my phone, while doing housework, in the car etc.

Any additional comments?

Though it is over 100 years since this book was first published so many of the issues are still relevant. With the current news about horse meat being found in processed meat products and the obesity crisis it makes you wonder about the food production industries and the working conditions for low income workers today.

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More timely every day

Lewis gives a wrenching picture of the excesses of unbridled capitalism. I found the socialist dreams at the end very sad sibce we have seen their corruprtion. We did succeed in saving capitalism from its excesses for nearly 50 years. We know it can be done, but we are losing ground day by day.
Love

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A complete 180

First, let me start out by saying that I am neither an intellect or a scholar. I am just someone who enjoys historical fiction. I found it absolutely fascinating to hear about Chicago’s early development and it’s immigrants through the eyes of Jurgis. I feel that the greed and corruption in the story are still so Pertinent today, 2017. When I read the description of the book, it described the effect that this book had on the federal drug and safety act. Therefore, I was hoping that the end of chapters would touch in that impact and change. I was totally taken aback and felt I was spun into 180° turn with the lecture regarding socialism that came in the last two chapters. The diatribe of the character who you’ve just met was way too long and boring. And not an enjoyable way to end the book after going through the heart wrenching ordeal of the main character. The narrator was fantastic and this will still be a book that I would recommend to read, just to be aware the end is like a separate novella.

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