Steven Godin's Reviews > The Jungle

Polarizing views on this one. I get why it's seen as such an important novel in regards to the early years of 20th century America - the swift development of a capitalist society; economic inequalities; mistreatment of workers; dehumanization - but I found it longer than need be, with too much graphic detail of killing livestock - no I'm not a vegetarian, while the constant drilling of socialist propaganda gets in the way of good storytelling. Little wonder the conservative press condemned it. Would it not just have better to write a shorter non-fiction piece - after going undercover with workers to gather material, that would still highlight deep issues within the meatpacking industry, thus still getting the reforms. As a novelist, in my opinion, Sinclair is more corned beef than prime steak. So much so that later on I had the urge to start skimming as my head was beginning to hurt.