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The Jungle: A Signature Performance by Casey Affleck

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The Jungle: A Signature Performance by Casey Affleck

By: Upton Sinclair
Narrated by: Casey Affleck
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About this listen

Upton Sinclair's The Jungle is a visceral and tragic story of immigrants trying to scratch out a living in the meatpacking plants of Chicago. The resulting public outcry led directly to the US government enacting changes in food and workplace safety practices still in place today.

With food production, business ethics, and immigration back in the news, Academy Award nominee Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone) taps into the emotion behind these issues to breathe life back into the struggling inhabitants of Packingtown. Affleck, a committed vegan and animal rights spokesman, delivers a moving performance that connects with the book’s enduring legacy.

The Jungle revolves around the life and family of Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant whose dreams of a better life are crushed by punishing work in gruesome stockyards and an unforgiving city. Brilliantly written and vividly described, it provides a poignant and incredibly detailed snapshot of a striking point in American history.

Public Domain (P)2010 Audible, Inc Classics Family Life Genre Fiction Fiction Tear-jerking American History

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Editor reviews

Originally best known as Ben Affleck's little brother, Casey Affleck has firmly established himself as a talented actor in his own right. Roles in the Ocean's Eleven trilogy and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award), have made their critical mark in Hollywood. In his Signature Performance of Upton Sinclair's classic The Jungle, Affleck's diverse family ancestry (English, Irish, French, Swedish, German, and Scottish) is on display in his command of the multifarious languages of immigrants in early-1900s Chicago. In his distinctive boyish timbre, he even pronounces Lithuanian like a native.
All stars
Most relevant  
Saddest book I’ve read since my reading of the wrath of grapes.

But it’s a great read to understand what people from other walks of life go through

Highly recommended

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This is a famous book and rightly so. The tale of Jugis Rudkus is both compelling and eye-opening. The description of Chicago's stock yard is reason enough to listen to this audiobook. Throughout the consistent bad luck of Mr Rudkus, the reader is waiting for something bright to happen and the author does intend to deliver this in the final chapter when our hero is introduced to socialism. Given that this book was written in the early 1900s, it is fascinating to listen to the hopes this movement harboured, not too long after Marx's great work. However, sadly for Jurgis (and Marx) the great socialist experiments of the 20th Century, revealed the true horrors of this system. So not really a happy ending!

Highly Interesting

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What did you like most about The Jungle: A Signature Performance by Casey Affleck?

His reading is exceptional. He sounds weary, which lends itself nicely to a story of immigrants being slowly worn down.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Jungle: A Signature Performance by Casey Affleck?

Everything. The story is BRUTAL. As a listener, you are the steer and you're waiting for the hammer of misery to fall.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole book

Finally got around to it

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What an inspiring book to listen to during Veganuary. Detailing the horrors in the meat packing industry as long ago as 1906, things haven't changed much it's heartbreaking to say, I would hope readers would consider renouncing animal products after reading this. But as the protagonist finds out when he becomes a socialist, people are very closed minded even when they know the truth could set them free and benefit the masses. Upton Sinclair was himself vegetarian and Casey Affleck who is vegan must have found it so hard to record.

veganuary

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A good book and an excellent performance but became inured to the relentless tragedy and preaching. I know it was important at the time but felt a bit too much.

Exhausting

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marked down for the gabbled monotone delivery, the vocal creak at the end of each clause, and the stumbling over unusual words

incredibly grim, graphic and tragic but surprisingly gripping

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The richness of the description is fantastically vivid. Casey Affleck's narration was however flat, almost monotone leading to a disappointing overall performance. One to read, rather than listen to.

Rich in detail flat delivery

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Upton Sinclair intended to introduce his readers to socialism. The amoral and unsympathetic characters don't really help his cause, but plenty of people have taken up vegetarianism after reading the gruesome abattoir scenes.

More importantly, this dark and depressing story is utterly gripping. Casey Affleck narrates it brilliantly, bringing exactly the hopeless, depressing tone that much of this novel needs.

The plot surrounds Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant in Chicago. He takes a job in a slaughterhouse and experiences brutal working conditions, unemployment, jail time and homelessness. It isn't jolly, but it is utterly engrossing.

An Engrossing Story with Superb Narration

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This is a very interesting look at what it was like for immigrant's coming to America years ago, I didn't think it was as bad as it was, horrific, but I'm glad I heard it and the narrator is fantastic.

Very Good

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