The Jungle

Upton Sinclair 1906

Devastation Rating

Existential Dread
poverty injustice literary fiction historical political

Our Take

Jurgis Rudkus comes to America and America processes him. Sinclair's novel about the meatpacking industry is also the most complete account of capitalism as a machine for consuming human beings. The political ending is almost beside the point — the damage has already been done, catalogued, made permanent.

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