I'm reading this too right now, and getting pretty into it. Sure, it's fairly dark, but there's a point to the darkness, and Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped. (The fact that the book was instrumental in creating food safety regulations is pretty cool, in my opinion.) I guess the closest you could get in modern-day media would be something like The Wire.
First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.
I get that Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped, but after the tenth Diabolus ex Machina or so, it almost stops being horrifying and starts being Eugene Horowitz-esque, you know what I mean?
I'm kind of creeped out by Sinclair's treatment of the Irish, as well.
I liked it at first. But then Sinclaire kept dropping shit on the family and I stopped caring. In fact in the end I wanted them all dead because then the book would be over. The messages needed to be sent but dear god...
edited 18th Feb '12 12:17:29 PM by Aondeug
If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan ChahUh, I had no apathy but what he went through was sad. But stuff like that happens. There were some improbable events that I won't spoil but again, no apathy.
My only problem is that he pretty much demonized the other two political parties and made socialist sound like loyal angels, and I kind of am a socialist myself but all political parties have their problems. People do still write books like this, of course I can't think of any others right now, edit:Children of the Sea? What book was that a part of?
edited 11th Mar '12 2:46:05 PM by Cider
Modified Ura-nage, Torture RackSold and Princess are two more books kind of like this one if you want modern social commentary. Admittedly, I'm more likely to read real events than "realistic fiction" so that's why I'm having so much trouble finding books that read like the Jungle(because things rarely go that wrong.)
edited 11th Mar '12 2:54:49 PM by Cider
Modified Ura-nage, Torture Rack

I'm reading this now; has anyone here read it? It's pretty good, very moving, but I must admit I'm falling prey to Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy, as the entire plot is essentially one Diabolus ex Machina after another. Sinclair seems to want us to believe that the entire universe essentially exists for the sole purpose of screwing over this one family, and I'm having difficulty suspending my disbelief on that. Then again, I've never been utterly destitute before, so maybe it really feels that way to that sort of person.