Book : The Jungle - Sinclair, Upton

-Titulo Original : The Jungle

-Fabricante :

Ancient Wisdom Publications

-Descripcion Original:

Sinclair had spent about six months investigating the Chicago meatpacking industry for Appeal to Reason, the work which inspired his novel. He intended to set forth the breaking of human hearts by a system which exploits the labor of men and women for profit. The novel featured Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant who works in a meat factory in Chicago, his teenaged wife Ona Lukoszaite, and their extended family. Sinclair portrays their mistreatment by Rudkus employers and the wealthier elements of society. His descriptions of the unsanitary and inhumane conditions that workers suffered served to shock and galvanize readers. Jack London called Sinclairs book the Uncle Toms Cabin of wage slavery. Domestic and foreign purchases of American meat fell by half. Sinclair wrote in Cosmopolitan in October 1906 about The Jungle: I aimed at the publics heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach. The novel brought public lobbying for Congressional legislation and government regulation of the industry, including passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. At the time, President Theodore Roosevelt characterized Sinclair as a crackpot,writing to William Allen White, I have an utter contempt for him. He is hysterical, unbalanced, and untruthful. Three-fourths of the things he said were absolute falsehoods. For some of the remainder there was only a basis of truth. After reading The Jungle, Roosevelt agreed with some of Sinclairs conclusions, but was opposed to legislation that he considered socialist. He said, Radical action must be taken to do away with the efforts of arrogant and selfish greed on the part of the capitalist. Review From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Originally published in 1991 as part of a short-lived revival of the Classics Illustrated line, this adaptation of Sinclairs muckraking socialist novel succeeds because of its powerful images. When Kuper initially drew it, he was already a well-known left-wing comics artist. His unenviable task is condensing a 400-page novel into a mere 48 pages, and, inevitably, much of the narrative drama is lost. Kuper replaces it, however, with unmatched pictorial drama. The story follows Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkis and his family as they are eaten up and spit out by capitalism (represented by Chicagos packing houses). Kuper uses an innovative full-color stencil technique with the immediacy of graffiti to give Sinclairs story new life. When Jurgis is jailed for beating the rich rapist Connor, a series of panels suffused with a dull, red glow draw readers closer and closer to Jurgiss face, until they see that the glint in his eye is fire. Jurgis, briefly prosperous as a strong-arm man for the Democratic machine, smokes a cigar; the smoke forms an image of his dead son and evicted family. Perhaps most visually dazzling is the cubist riot as strikers battle police amid escaping cattle. Kuper infuses this 1906 novel with the energy of 1980s-era street art and with his own profoundly original graphic innovation, making it a classic in its own right. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library Journal Grade 10 Up-In 1906, Sinclair published The Jungle, a realistic and scathing portrayal of the life of an immigrant worker. Kupers revised adaptation focuses solely on its hero, Jurgis Rudkus. Readers follow him from his emigration from Lithuania to downtown Chicago, eager to find the American Dream hes heard so much about. But the harsh world of Chi-town quickly shatters his hopes; forced to take a job at a slaughterhouse, he performs the most menial and vile tasks. An injury pushes him to unemployment and, unable to provide for them, he leaves his family in shame. Rudkus transforms from a starry-eyed dreamer into a cynical but valiant man who fights for workers rights. Kupers artwork effectively mimics some of the major art moveme