Oil!
by Upton Sinclair
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Book Reviews of Oil!
Book Review: Sweeping story with social overtones
Summary: 4 Stars
Great book! I enjoyed it! I really did! Seriously, reviewers noted that Sinclair tends to overuse exclamation points (it seemed silly after a while) and hammer his points home. That said, the book is a wonderful story about a basically decent self-made oil producer who lets his ambition impair his honor, and his son, who loves his father but doubts his ethics and is drawn to socialism. It is a wonderful picture of the times in which the story occurs. In fact, I think some of the annoyances of Sinclair's style were credible when the book was written.Book Review: Certainly nothing like the movie
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this book because I really enjoyed the movie 'There Will Be Blood', supposedly based upon this book. Well, it seems the only thing the movie took from the book was a few of the characters and the setting.
This book is a socialistic view of the supposed class struggle in the early 20th century. While interesting in the beginning, I was hard pressed to finish it, though I did. If you really want to read this liberal trash, rather than buy the book, I would borrow it from the library. Not worth owning...
Book Review: On every list, at every school
Summary: 4 Stars
The film "There will be blood" is a shameless travesty of the book, which analyses the corruption in the oil industry and the intimidation of the unions. Anyone who admires the works of Ayn Rand should get a dose of this by way of a cure. Even the well-intentioned main characters get sucked into the maelstrom of big business. Unfortunately after 300 pages it becomes a bit boring, as the author tries to put in too much, but by then 99% of the readers will have learned a valuable lesson.Book Review: well written fiction about a time long gone
Summary: 5 Stars
What a fascinating book. We are able to take a peek at life in the 1920`s as though we are there. The social milieu is described so much in depth that the interest in the book does not let up, even though it is somewhat long. Upton Sinclair of course was a master novelist, and his writing is such a pleasure to absorb. The plot is exciting, though it is secondary to the descriptions of life as it was 85 years ago.Book Review: Boring!
Summary: 1 Stars
Take about two chapters out of the book and make a movie that is 10 times better than the book was. I hate to start a book and not finish it, and I stuck with this one. But one of the worst books I have ever read. Characters were so silly and the whole book was a propaganda piece for socialism.