With dark and moody anticipation, I pulled open the covers of this book. But almost immediately, I realized I had to adjust my hopes. An intriguing mystery is set up that is quickly abandoned and almost never referred to again. This mystery is only the reason why all the characters are in one place and why each one of their lives has been derailed—so why should that be considered important. A case could be made that a touch of Divinity did away with such mysteries. That rings hollow when the sacrifice made is more self-serving than self-sacrificing. There is a real mystery that evolves amidst the chaos involving Colonel Kane that engrosses and involves. And there is a wallop of a scene at the end of the book but it only made me look over my shoulders at the previous pages and wonder what that was all about. Written like a play, there is a plenty of good dialogue—I had trouble keeping the characters apart because they are all over the top insane. As a play or movie (and there is one) having faces attached would help. The book is so short, it begs for more fat. Feels like the author was so sure of the point he was making, he didn’t feel the need to make space for the reader. Setting and atmosphere could have been worked to greater affect (how could you not better use a castle where it is always storming)—let alone character development. (For an example of a setting not being wasted, read THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson—one of the best books ever written.) An interesting missed opportunity.

The main character, the “mark” of the title, is constantly being conned and never learning—until miraculously midway through this novel he starts to catch on. While there might be some merit to that premise, having that apply to the main character was more annoying that amusing. Thankfully, that annoying naivete falls away fast enough to let the rest of the novel shine through. My second Westlake after reading and thoroughly enjoying THE HOT ROCK. Humor is quite sly in parts and the female characters are particularly vivid and funny creations amidst the amusing mayhem and smart plotting. The ending was abrupt and a bit of a last minute information dump. I enjoyed the ending of THE HOT ROCK so much that I may be tad harsh concerning this work but that’s where we find ourselves.

Difficult to fight your way past the word CLASSIC when reviewing this book. THE JUNGLE is easily one of the most socially influential books of the American 20th century. What I was concerned might be a stifling academic exercise turned out to be an engaging straight-ahead narrative. The perils faced by the extended immigrant family tossed into the slaughterhouse life of the early 1900‘s Chicago stockyards are grinding, grueling and overwhelming but still I wanted to keep reading. No mean feat. Sinclair creates an all senses plunge into the time period—contemporary to him, vivid horrifying history to me. This marvelous immersion put me in mind of Jacob Riis HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES—a fabulous look at similar degradations going on in New York tenements of the era. Though famous for spurring many of the earliest food safety regulations, simple human dignity is the spine of this novel. The immigrants that flesh out this story face their own slow motion slaughter--their naivete replaced by disbelief, horror and eventual resignation--are fleshed out as real living moment to moment people. I was gripped entirely until the last 50 plus pages of the novel when the savior appears in the form of turn of the century socialism. Many positives can be credited to this socialist movement, (and full disclosure if I had to label myself at all Socialist would not be far from the mark) but the pie in the sky presentation here represents a return to naivete the immigrants began with. I would like to think that is an intentional “caught in a cycle” theme but no. During this part of the book, the main character moves through the inner workings of the socialist movement the way he moved through the slaughterhouses. Written today, this passage would be leavened with some perspective, but Sinclair writing in the flush of times smothers the reader with optimism. That being said, still a marvelous read—don’t be afraid.