The Book: The Jungle (1905), by Upton Sinclair. 413 pages
What if I have not finished reading this book, or have not read it at all?
That's okay! We hope you will come to this book club meeting, not matter how much of the book you have read. The Jungle is an historically significant book with themes that are fascinating to discuss even today. Everybody who comes to this book club meeting will be able to participate and enjoy the discussion.
I have talked with people who are planning to come, and I know that some have finished reading the book, some have read part of it, and some will attend without having read any of it.
NOTE: This book is in the public domain and can easily be found online for free:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/140
There are various audio book recordings of The Jungle available online, including on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRJ2-GKL1SQ
The Jungle is a novel by American author and journalist Upton Sinclair, who was known for his efforts to expose corruption in government and business in the early 20th century. In 1904, Sinclair spent seven weeks gathering information while working incognito in the meatpacking plants of the Union Stock Yards in Chicago for the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason, which published his novel in serial form in 1905. In 1906, the novel was published in book format by Doubleday.
The book realistically depicts working-class poverty, immigrant struggle, lack of social support or welfare, harsh living and dangerous working conditions, generating hopelessness or cynicism and cruelty among the powerless. These elements are contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption of people in power. A review by Sinclair's contemporary, writer Jack London, compared The Jungle to America's most famous novel written to expose a cruel system, by calling it "the Uncle Tom's Cabin of wage slavery." ...the novel's most immediate impact was to provoke public outcry over passages exposing health issues and unsanitary practices in the American meat-packing industry during the early 20th century. This led to sanitation reforms including the Meat Inspection Act and other product safety legislation.
What to Bring? You do not need to bring anything. Simply read the book or listen to the audio book. It can be useful if you bring your physical or digital copy of the book.
Who? This is a fun book club event that men and women from the neighborhood potluck list are invited to, along with everybody else who is interested.
Fun Book Club: This will be the 41st monthly meeting of this book club. We had so much fun at the all of the meetings so far, with wonderful, fascinating discussions with great neighbors and new friends. If you like books or interesting discussions... or simply want to have fun meeting new people, I highly recommend RSVP-ing for this event.