The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

 

8/10

I read this one 4.5 months ago. It was my last book of 2024, so I'm getting closer to getting caught up on this blog once and for all. I really liked this one. I'm a sucker for books about the unjust sufferings people have to go through, like Grapes of Wrath or Les Miserables. Something about them just lets you connect with the characters in a more compassionate way. I found this book to be incredibly fascinating. It was super interesting learning about the sufferings of the working class in the Chicago meatpacking plants around the early 1900's. Sinclair paints such a clear picture that you feel pretty immersed in the time and place of the story. As it turns out, this book is one of the more impactful books of all time in that it eventually led to changes in more effective oversight in ensuring the proper sanitation of food production. Which, I think, is not quite what Sinclair was aiming for. I think he was hoping to draw more attention to the unjust nature of wages and labor more so than food sanitation. Sinclair said about this book that he aimed for the public's heart but instead hit it in the stomach. Anyway, really good book. The only thing keeping it from a 9/10 or even possibly a 10/10 is the over-the-top socialism toward the end combined with the out of place, seemingly never-ending, socialism speech at the conclusion of the book. I like my socialism in more subtle doses, Grapes of Wrath style, than the in-your-face socialism presented here. Too preachy and off-putting which I felt spoiled a lot of the message he had effectively established through the characters and story. Still enjoyed this one overall even though I didn't decide to become a commie because of it. 

The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Stories by Henry James

 

6/10

I read this one about 5 1/2 months ago. First off, The Turn of the Screw is a pretty sweet title for a story, but I didn't like the story as much as a few others which were slightly better. This is my first time getting back to Henry James after the disappointment of The Bostonians from like 7 years ago. I can't quite put my finger on Henry James. He is clearly a talented writer, but something about it just doesn't quite do it for me. Doesn't satisfy me in the way that Dickens or Thomas Hardy do, just to name two examples. That being said, I liked these short stories more than the previously mentioned novel, but that was a low bar to overcome. Here are the stories: (1) An International Episode which was a 7/10; (2) Daisy Miller, another 7/10; (3) The Aspern Papers was my favorite at 8/10; (4) The Altar of the Dead was 5/10; (5) The Turn of the Screw didn't quite do it for me and gets a generous 6/10; (6) The Beast in the Jungle with another generous 4/10. As you can see, I enjoyed the first three stories more than the last three, so I was initially fairly excited that Henry James was proving more enjoyable until the last three stories where it fizzled out and I couldn't wait to finish the book so I could move on to something else. The Aspern Papers was a great surprise as I had never heard of it and found it very interesting. It's about a biographer of a famous poet, Jeffrey Aspern, who goes incognito to an old lady's secluded mansion who had once had a fling with the poet when they were young. The biographer is trying to secure some of Aspern's papers, letters between the young couple from many years before, that no one has ever seen. Pretty fascinating how he went about trying to secure those papers on the sly without being discovered as a biographer of Aspern. It's a slow burn but was interesting and well done throughout. I'll probably need to take another lengthy break from James but hopefully not a 7-year break like last time. I own several of his highly regarded novels but just need to muster the courage to launch into it. Maybe in a few years.