The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

My favorite book is "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair because it gives readers a way to easily relate to an American tragedy.

The real story is the conditions of the meat packing houses in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century with no consideration of human life.  Mr. Sinclair attaches names and lives to the people working in the meat industry, so that we can feel the pain, poverty, and hopelessness.

The companies would take the unsuspecting wave of immigrants and put them up in corporate housing and charge them rent and fees, so that they were so far in debt that they could not leave.  As the next wave of immigrants came ashore, they could pay them less and just kick the others out on the street.

If you got hurt on the job or the worker was killed, the family would become homeless.  The book is graphic about these accidents and also, what went in to our meat.

Due to this graphic nature, the government intervened and it brought about many of our food inspection and labor laws and gave strength to the development of unions.

I first read the book while in high school and reread it every few years.  At the end of the 20th century my first job was in a meat packing house that did slaughter which was nothing like the book, but it gave me insight on the inspections and processes that occurred due to the book.

Also, my hobby is genealogy which I loved the book describing the wave of immigrants knowing that some of my own relatives went through some of these battles.  It is a true part of American history.