An enthralling, epic piece of muckraking literature

books:


	• Oil! Upton Sinclair Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 35 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Enjoyable Story from 80 Years Ago

This is a great fictional story based on the real life of Edward Doheny, who was from my home town of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doheny was a larger than life character and is well known in California.
I somehow missed reading any of Upton Sinclair's work over the years and now I know what I have missed. This is a fast moving story that tells of the early years, and greed, of the oil industry. Sinclair's descriptions are so real that I can smell the orange groves and the oil from a gusher and his characters are portrayed as real people. This is a very informative and enjoyable read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the oil industry in California.

for more information click here

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.

for more information click here

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.

for more information click here

Saw the movie

I saw the movie and thought the book would be a good read. While I appreciate the classic talent of the writer, I could not read this book due the "density" of the prose.

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

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Progressive Maryland
Movies of 2007

search for books
oil

Impressum / about us