Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, leads you through the heart-wrenching tale of a family of poor Lithuanian immigrants. His description is so amazing that you can actually envision the filth of the stockyards, smell the stench, and feel the pain and suffering of the poor, good-hearted immigrants. From the minute they arrive in America, they are faced with nothing but hardships, struggling to survive. The characters and the storylines were very realistic. This story was so real to me, that I actually got nightmares. My only dissappointment with the novel was the ending. I was hoping for something more about Jurgis and the family, but instead got a heavy speech on socialism. Socialism was a good turn for Jurgis, but I feel the story would have been a bit better if it had ended more personally, on his part. Overall, this was an excellent book. I think that everyone should read it becuase it has so much to offer. It not only gives us a vivid depiction of that period in time, it is overwhelming with emotion. It is a major contribution to our history.

The Jungle is a very well written book, particularly for an author who was only 28 years old when he wrote it. The story features an early twentieth century family who has just immigrated to Chicago from Lithuania, and their struggles to survive in America. This is not an inspirational story about the American Dream. Quite the contrary, it is a story about how the American Dream was a nightmare for many poor and uneducated immigrants. The Jungle chronicles the travails of Jurvis and his family, as they struggle to learn how to survive. It is depressing to read about the disasters which befell this family, and how their ignorance was taken advantage of on so many levels. One would hope that this no longer happens to immigrants, but of course, it does, just in different ways. Jurvis and his family work in the meat processing district of Chicago, and the book details the working conditions of the meatpacking plants. Those details led to investigation and greater regulation of the meatpacking industry, as well as modern child labor laws. In the last several chapters, we witness a transformation of Jurvis, as he learns his entire family has either died or is selling themselves into prostitution. Jurvis stumbles upon socialism, and quickly becomes a supporter of the movement to bring power to the working class people, and end the wage-slavery taking place in the meatpacking plants. Jurvis' transformation into a socialist is a classic pro-socialism story, and it was particularly interesting to read that part. This pre-communist account reminds us that socialism is really simply a political theory, which was never really properly introduced in supposedly socialist countries. I did find the last few chapters dealing with socialism to be hastily written, and not nearly as engaging as the first part of the book. The Jungle is a classic, and for so many reasons, it should be required reading in college, if not high school (but sadly, it is not).

The Jungle is a hearbreaking story of an immigrant family's struggle to survive in America. The family of Jurgis and Ona came from Lithuina in hopes of a better life. However, after months in America, their faith in America was torn to little pieces. Ona and Jurgis's lives as a married couple was nothing like expected. The pressure of work, poverty, and illness stilfled their spirits. This book also accurately revealed a sound historical document of the life and suffering of factory workers during the early years of this century. Antanas had to shovel the residues of chemically treated meat onto a truck headed for the cannery. Jurgis saw pregnant cows butchered and their unborn calves illegally mixed with other carcasses. Jurgis began to see how the packer operate. They sold spoiled or adulterated meat without qualms. Their workers were exposed to awful occupational diseases, yet the packers took no steps to protect the employees. They stole water from the city and polluted Chicago, and the city government turned their heads. After the death of Antanas, Ona, his two sons, and the lost of the house the family had struggled so hard to keep, Jurgis entered the world of crimes. He learned how Chicago's criminal underworld helped to corrupt the city's government.

Marion Chesney books seem to run hot or cold with many readers. Her characters are not fully developed in the books that I have read, but it does make for easy reading. This novel is the 2nd in the Waverly sister's saga. Three "orphans" raised by a man- hating Mrs. Waverly grow to adulthood with a very skewed view of society and gentlemen in particular. Though we never find out why Mrs. Waverly feels so strongly, we do come to understand she only wanted the three girls to assure company in her old age and set out to make them rivals to each other. She remained cold and emotionally remote throughout this book.

Frederica makes a delightful heroine because her views are strong in wanting to be an equal to men but not radically so (at least in today's standards). She seemed rational compared to Felicity, her younger sister. Lord Harry Danger (Danger??) is not dangerous at all but a true gentleman in every way seeking to capture Frederica's heart by solving the mystery of who the "orphans" really are. That mystery is NOT solved in this book. Maybe it is solved in the sequel about Felicity which I hope to obtain.

I enjoyed this book and hope to find the prequel also. There are some escapades involving drunks, thugs and thieves which add a rather odd element but seemingly the only way to introduce a little adventure into the dull Waverly's lives. Other characters are introduced but they are not fully developed -- one is Harry's mother -- very strange woman who does not appear to have a good head on her shoulders due to the constant bullying of her late husband.

Oh well, take the book as it is -- a light read with some appealing people.

This is one of the better Chesney's of the few I have read. The characters are appealing, especially Lord Harry Danger who is a delight. The book is very short however and would be much better longer and more developed. I enjoyed reading it though, even if the pleasure only lasted a few hours!

This book is the third in the Waverly series. Three sisters are raised by their adoptive mother to disdain men. The third, and last, of the sisters still resists romance. However, there's a mystery about her adopted mother that she needs to solve. A fun, whimsical book.

Jenny was a 20 year old who was promoted as secretary to the shipyard manager, Justice. She had a married sister, Ede, who was having an affair with Justice. Jennny thought she could divert him and show Ede what a cad he was. Both were living with their grandmother. Steve, who was older than Jenny, was a very good friend, and was fighting in the war. He had planned to be a surgeon when he got out of the service. He had injured his hand during the war and would not be able to be the surgeon he had dreamed of. In fact he would have to be a GP. This book did have an ending different than I imagined. It was better than I thought it would be.

Little man, little man, actually took me a while to read. The language in the book can be confusing and often times the reader is unaware of what the author (James Baldwin) is talking about. The book does get better as it progesses and the end is somewhat suprising...I promise. I recommend reading this book for leisure and not for a book report (you would have a hard time writing about it). Hope I helped.

A 20th Century parallel to the legend of sleeping beauty -- doomed to imprisonment until the man who really loved her should waken her with a kiss. The heroine wears a nurse's uniform instead of a long dress, and the prince is a struggling doctor.