Upton Sinclair (1878–1968)

Jed Rusher was born in cattle-country but had his eye set on those who were privileged enough to ride trains. Due to circumstance, his older sister Liza had to take care of her three younger siblings. Liza dotted on Jed the most and had great expectations of him. Opportunity arose to move to sugar-beet planation but that was a temporary boon. Earning a free scholarship at his high school, Jed went to university. When his university was in dire circumstance and needed funding, everyone was asked to try and obtain donations. With this aim, he went to a rich family of Warrener. Although the university would not accept Warrener request for his money, Jed was able to talk his way into Warrener’s graces. Within these conversations he was able to obtain wealth, power, knowledge, and a wife. Becoming the president of an oil company.

This is not a narrative with that many shocking moments. It just shows an unrelenting rise of a person from a poor laborer to a rich person. Sinclair shows the frenzy around social standings of the rich even though the rich make their money through other means than what is published. Legal and finical manipulation are the norm of this book. The different backgrounds people come from show themselves in how they view everything, how they behave, and their expectations. The books theme is a question, can moral righteousness be aligned with money and power? This is a question Jed has to struggle with in order to achieve his aims in becoming and maintaining a rich standing.
… (meer)

This is a great book that follows a Lithuanian in the early part of the twentieth century. The situation of poor production, working condition, and the lack of proper living conditions are the major focus points. An explanation of the bribing and overall detrimental negotiating environment is vividly given. The theme of the book is a socialist account of what is happening to the people. This is where the author goes wrong. If someone is bribing, in a capitalist system, nobody will trade with them anymore. There is a severe cost of dishonesty. Only in a socialist system is there no cost to discrimination. The author does a very good job with at times reminding the reader what had happened before in a succinct way. The best part of the book which makes it great, is that the author does not keep to a linear story line, meaning that the main character goes from doing bad to worse than to better than to worse to best to bad and so on. The fluctuations in the story make this book very believable. There is a slight difficulty in reading the book initially as many people and their respective backgrounds are given in a short few pages that it makes it difficult to keep track of who is who.… (meer)

Functions as more of a political treatise of sorts rather than a straightforward narrative, which exposes the ill-treatment of low-wage workers, particularly cheated immigrants, in early 20th century America. Through the medium of a tragic fable, Sinclair strives to represent Capitalism at its worst, and with bitter and explicit detail, sheds light on the injustice and evils that would be potentially concealed by the untrained eye. He advocates the cause of Socialism in its place and he makes a remarkably convincing argument for the undecided.

Personally, I found the story itself too tedious and predictable, and the characters a bit cold and detached; too much of a cautionary tale to make for a pleasurable read (like Black Beauty or The Red Pony for people). Nonetheless, the book is well-written with a sense of poignancy, and the concepts are both significant and inspiring.
… (meer)

Entertaining and an interesting (albeit sarcastic?) description of the life of a would-be millionaire in the 1920s. However, I was confused by the plot: it doesn't follow the hero's journey or other story arc structure; instead it is an almost linear narration of events without much conflict. The conflicts that do happen are relatively minor and don't impede the main character in any way. I guess the main focus is the slow corruption of the main character, without much opposition from or interaction with other parties.

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… (meer)