Book Cover of The Jungle

The Jungle

by Upton Sinclair

The Jungle is a 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair (1878–1968). The novel portrays the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. However, most readers were more concerned with several passages exposing health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meat packing industry during the early 20th century, which greatly contributed to a public outcry which led to reforms including the Meat Inspection Act. Sinclair said of the public reaction, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach." The book depicts working-class poverty, lack of social supports, harsh and unpleasant living and working conditions, and hopelessness among many workers. These elements are contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption of people in power. A review by the writer Jack London called it "the Uncle Tom's Cabin of wage slavery." Sinclair was considered a muckraker, a journalist who exposed corruption in government and business. In 1904, Sinclair had spent seven weeks gathering information while working incognito in the meatpacking plants of the Chicago stockyards for the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason. He first published the novel in serial form in 1905 in the newspaper, and it was published as a book by Doubleday in 1906.

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

English

Published In

1906

Authors

Upton Sinclair image

Upton Sinclair

United States

Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. was an American writer, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for Governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in several genres. Sincl...

Books by Upton Sinclair

Listen/Download Audiobook

Read by:
00:00
Playback Speed 1.0
00:00
  • Select Speed

Related books

What is Property? An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government Cover image

What is Property? An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

What Is Property? is a foundational work of anarchist philosophy that explores the concept of property and its relationship to individual liberty and...

Crystal Age Cover image

Crystal Age by William Henry Hudson

A Crystal Age explores a utopian future where humanity has achieved a state of perfect harmony with nature. The story follows the journey of a young...

The Sleeper Awakes Cover image

The Sleeper Awakes by H. G. Wells

The Sleeper Awakes is a dystopian science fiction novel by English writer H. G. Wells, about a man who sleeps for two hundred and three years, waking...

Hartmann the Anarchist, or the Doom of a Great City Cover image

Hartmann the Anarchist, or the Doom of a Great City by Edward Douglas Fawcett

Edward Douglas Fawcett's *Hartmann the Anarchist* is a thrilling science fiction novel set in a near-future London. It follows the story of Stanley, a...

Progress and Poverty Cover image

Progress and Poverty by Henry George

Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy is an 1879 book...

Mystery of the Caribbean Pearls Cover image

Mystery of the Caribbean Pearls by Andy Adams

The Mystery of the Caribbean Pearls is a Biff Brewster story full of adventure and intrigue. Biff Brewster meets up by accident with Derek, after bein...

Indian Story Book Cover image

Indian Story Book by Richard Wilson

This book, written by Richard Wilson, retells classic Indian stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics. It aims to introduce young English-speak...

Men Like Gods Cover image

Men Like Gods by H. G. Wells

In H.G. Wells's *Men Like Gods*, a journalist named Mr. Barnstaple finds himself unexpectedly transported 3,000 years into the future. He arrives in a...

Mathilda Cover image

Mathilda by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Mathilda, or Matilda, is the second long work of fiction of Mary Shelley, written between August 1819 and February 1820 and first published posthumous...

Animal Farm Cover image

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The animals of the Manor Farm lived badly because their farmer Mr. Jones, a mean and always drunk man, exploits them. One day Old Major, the old pig w...

Reviews for The Jungle

No reviews posted or approved, yet...