Before I even had this book in my grips I wasn't excited about reading it. My sister had read it awhile back and never seemed to be able to get through it. She would always complain about having to read it so I reluctantly started in on it. I half expected to be moved by an emotional tale of misfortune and toil and half expected a riveting story of success and fortune of this immigrant family, but in the end found neither. I was often confused on where the story was taking me and wondered what the underlying story really was. In the end it wasn't about this particular person as I was led to believe, but human nature in general and the politics behind them.

The Jungle follows the journey of a Lithuanian immigrant named Jurgis Rudkis and his family. Set in the depths of the Chicago...