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The Jungle
This book may be one of the most important novels for the socialist movement in America, but did Upton Sinclaire over-do it? This has been the debate for years.
For myself, I loved the message of the novel, as well as really most of the plot, but it seemed that Sinclaire almost tried too hard. The whole last four chapters, consisting of nothing but socialist philosophy, seem random and forced. That, and how many more horrible things could honestly have happened to Jurgis and his family?
Still, despite these things, there's something endearing to me about the novel. It's imagery, symbolism, and sense of humanity is certainly heart-wrenching. I loved it.
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"A woman who writes feels too much,
those trances and portents!
As if cycles and children and islands
weren't enough; as if mourners and gossips
and vegetables were never enough.
She thinks she can warn the stars.
A writer is essentially a spy.
Dear love, I am that girl."
- Anne Sexton, "The Dark Art"
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