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| Book Cover via Amazon.com |
Opinion
I have had a few very long books that I have tackled as of late, but nothing in the emotional battering sense that I got with reading "The Jungle." This is honestly one of the most intense books I've ever read. I forgot about it; I forgot what a toil it was. I don't think I will make that mistake again.
"The Jungle" is a story about a man who moves to America from Lithuania with his family, his fiance's family and several others that group together. Over time, this group of immigrants becomes subjected to the damage that comes from ignorance of what dangers they face in a new country. Primarily it follows one member of the family. That MC goes through utter hell as does the rest of the family. The story arc is a negative change arc.
Let's go with some critiques here, and the first is in my "Story Structure, Foundation, and Presentation" portion of my scoring. Pacing is the chief issue. There are portions of this book that drag, but they drag over topics in a heavy tone. It's slow, methodical and takes it's time to detail out every painful aspect of the tale. I don't recommend anyone tackle this book thinking they can read it in a day, even if you usually can because the weight of the subject matter is going to delay you. The pacing ensures it.
Next, let's go into "Whole Story" for my critique. The story tells a whole story for the most part, but then at the end, it feels that it's an advertisement for something. I'm not giving spoilers, but I felt a bit duped. That may have been the entire point, but to me, the story could have and should have ended with the main character's arc being completed.
Now for the "Lost in Translation" part of my critique. There are sections of the story in the beginning specifically that are in another language. Thankfully there is some translation to explain it. I'm grateful for those bits, but I am pointing this out in case anyone else noticed it.
Here is what I enjoyed about "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. The image and details are very well done. I think the descriptions, for the most part, are masterful. Even the terrible things were horrible, and the beautiful things were beautiful in their details.
The other thing I enjoyed was the tension. Though the pacing is slow, the tension is very high, and it really doesn't relax much. It's just one terrible thing after another with pauses of rest sometimes. I enjoyed that the consistent tension is present after a while, but it can be exhausting.
Let's talk about this e-copy for a moment. This is clean and well cared for a copy of the book. The pacing is excellent in the lines, the margins are beautiful, there are no misspellings, the grammar is perfect, and I loved it. Though it's a long book, my eyes weren't tired from reading the presented text. This is a model on how to do a proper e-copy of a book. If you are writing a long book and want a template, pick this up for ideas.
Lastly, I just am glad this book prompted changes. I'm so happy we have meat and food regulations, I'm delighted we have laws about water and ice, and I can't tell you how I am pleased about full disclosure agreements on contracts. But at the same time, there are elements of the world that this shows and today. The things have changed sure, but we still have wage slaves, and it became apparent in the shutdown that things are very slanted. When news reports such ridiculous things from politicians such as "Why can't they get a loan" well, read chapter 2 - 12 specifically if you’d like some insight.
Score
It took me a couple of days to do the math, but after calculating it out, I am giving "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair an 80/100. That's a 4-star review on Goodreads and Amazon.
Do not read this when you eat. Do not read this when you are already feeling blue or down. This is not a book to read when you are melancholy. If you are happy, do something happy AFTER you read this. But, you should read this book, for a lot of reasons. Only you can figure out what you took from it.
