Oil! | Upton Sinclair | An enthralling, epic piece of muckraking literature

Oil! | Upton Sinclair | labor vs. capital

books:

Oil!

	Oil! Upton Sinclair Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 37 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An enthralling, epic piece of muckraking literature

I came to "Oil!" for two reasons. One, I had recently read "The Jungle," and became enamored with Sinclair's wit and prose; two, I had watched "There Will Be Blood," and found it such a thought-provoking film that I had better read the book that inspired it. (This tactic worked recently for me, with "Blood's" ideological counterpart "No Country Old Men", which got me hooked on the writing of Cormac McCarthy.)

I hesitate to throw out a disclaimer, but I must assume that many potential readers will come to this book through the movie, so I have to say it: The book is nothing like the film (which directer Paul Thomas Anderson has stated); the movie gets its start from the first few pages of "Oil!"; which means, since there's over 500 pages left, that there's quite a bit of story yet to tell.

I say this simply as a disclaimer. By all means, buy the book and read it. Upton Sinclair was known for his Socialist sympathies ("Oil!", like "The Jungle," reads like a Socialist manifesto), but what interests me about his writing is how his prose is still poetic and witty. Yes, there are some political points that, now having experienced WWII and the Cold War, seem dated; but in 1927, Sinclair was a borderline-revolutionary, and his Socialist sympathies put him in danger. He managed to convey that fear to "Oil!", which details an oil tycoon's son, as he slips into the Socialist world and ends up fighting the industry that made his dad a success. I wouldn't say "Oil!" is as cutting-edge as "The Jungle" was, but it certainly is a social commentary/satire that cuts straight to the bone of American capitalism. Written eighty years ago, it still holds power today; if that isn't a sign of great literature, then I just don't know what is.

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labor vs. capital

I am enjoying this book. It's main character is the son of a rich self starter oil man. But how the oil man has become rich is the point of the book. He has become rich by taking advantage of the poor. The son befriends one of the carpenters who works for his father and learns what it is like to not have enough money. Then comes an inner struggle for the young man to figure out if he will take over the oil business and continue in the mode of his father, enjoying the wealth, or take care of labor and possibly not be able to sustain the business.

oil

Great book about the oil scandals of the 20's. Not the same story as the movie,much broader and better.

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Brilliant piece of politico-fiction

Much better than the movie, which was wonderful in its own way, and an interesting, though lefty, take on the early 20th century oil boom. Characters, plotting, dramatic tension, observations, critiques, dialogue, and narrative were all spot on.

Not recommended as history.

This was a current events fiction with a definite ideological skew. If you want history read history...if you want fiction read fiction....stop confusing the two as the post-moderns and post-structuralists have been doing for 40 odd years.

Highly Recommended...as fiction.

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reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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