The Machine Upton Sinclair 9781161469691 Books
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This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
The Machine Upton Sinclair 9781161469691 Books
The Machine is a three-act play by Upton Sinclair, which was originally published in 1912 in the collection Plays of Protest. Although it contains some of the same characters who appeared in his novels The Metropolis and The Moneychangers, it is intended to be a stand-alone piece and requires no prior knowledge of those previous books.The play exposes the system of patronage and graft established by the Tammany Hall organization, a corrupt political machine which controlled New York politics through the early 20th century. Three socialist activists intend to educate a wealthy young woman who has expressed a curiosity toward their political views. This socialite and philanthropist, Laura Hegan, is the daughter of Jim Hegan, a railroad baron, who is in cahoots with the Tammany gang. When Laura's newfound friends conduct an investigation into some of Hegan's shady dealings, the daughter is rudely awakened to the corrupt activities of the father.
The plot revolves around the usual struggle of socialism against big business which dominates Sinclair's entire body of work. The one unexpected aspect to this story is a brief mention of human trafficking. Hegan supports Tammany Hall in order to further his business interests, while a white slavery ring supports Tammany Hall in order to protect their criminal activities, so it is implied that Hegan is inadvertently supporting human trafficking and prostitution. This thread, however, is little developed. Readers familiar with Sinclair's work will find few surprises here. That's not to say the piece is unworthy of reading. Though it covers familiar territory, it covers it well, and neither bores nor disappoints. As is common in Sinclair's work, the separation between the forces of good (socialism) and evil (capitalism) is as stark as black and white. In the third act, however, he introduces some refreshing shades of gray into the debate.
I don't believe The Machine was ever produced for the stage, and I'm not sure I would want to sit in a theatre for an hour and a half and watch it, but when read as a short story it makes for a brisk and satisfying read. It's almost all dialogue, with little stage direction, so it's very easy to forget that you're reading a play. I have not yet found a work of Sinclair's fiction that compares to his masterpiece The Jungle, and this play doesn't come close to attaining the literary heights of that great novel. Yet for those who enjoy Sinclair's writing, have an interest in the political history of this time period, and sympathize with the author's message, reading The Machine is worth the brief time spent.
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The Machine Upton Sinclair 9781161469691 Books Reviews
A short play by man-of-the-people author Upton Sinclair, the titular “machine” is the unholy union of business and politics that leads to widespread corruption and the exploitation of the poor disenfranchised by the rich elitist power-brokers manipulating the system for their personal gain. The Machine seems eerily relevant over a hundred years since its initial publication in 1912, with the United States now literally being run by a billionaire businessman. The weakest aspect of the short seventy page play is that the characters never have the time to be developed much beyond the sociopolitical ideologies they represent, so the father/daughter conflict and budding love interest serve as little more than vehicles for lengthy discussions about corruption and responsibility. But Sinclair’s argument and position is made crystal clear, and the utilitarian dialogue rarely feels bogged down. In today’s polarized political climate, there are those that would probably denigrate this play based solely on its socialist message, but this is probably why it is still has a literary resonance over a century later.
A must read....
The play became preachy. I'm like minded to Upton Sinclair, but he tends to tell rather than show his point of view.
Having devoured "The Jungle" year ago, I found this rare gem from the same author and rather enjoyed it. Book was well-formatted for kindle and a good buy short of finding it as part of a compilation. Very good book!
The Machine is a three-act play by Upton Sinclair, which was originally published in 1912 in the collection Plays of Protest. Although it contains some of the same characters who appeared in his novels The Metropolis and The Moneychangers, it is intended to be a stand-alone piece and requires no prior knowledge of those previous books.
The play exposes the system of patronage and graft established by the Tammany Hall organization, a corrupt political machine which controlled New York politics through the early 20th century. Three socialist activists intend to educate a wealthy young woman who has expressed a curiosity toward their political views. This socialite and philanthropist, Laura Hegan, is the daughter of Jim Hegan, a railroad baron, who is in cahoots with the Tammany gang. When Laura's newfound friends conduct an investigation into some of Hegan's shady dealings, the daughter is rudely awakened to the corrupt activities of the father.
The plot revolves around the usual struggle of socialism against big business which dominates Sinclair's entire body of work. The one unexpected aspect to this story is a brief mention of human trafficking. Hegan supports Tammany Hall in order to further his business interests, while a white slavery ring supports Tammany Hall in order to protect their criminal activities, so it is implied that Hegan is inadvertently supporting human trafficking and prostitution. This thread, however, is little developed. Readers familiar with Sinclair's work will find few surprises here. That's not to say the piece is unworthy of reading. Though it covers familiar territory, it covers it well, and neither bores nor disappoints. As is common in Sinclair's work, the separation between the forces of good (socialism) and evil (capitalism) is as stark as black and white. In the third act, however, he introduces some refreshing shades of gray into the debate.
I don't believe The Machine was ever produced for the stage, and I'm not sure I would want to sit in a theatre for an hour and a half and watch it, but when read as a short story it makes for a brisk and satisfying read. It's almost all dialogue, with little stage direction, so it's very easy to forget that you're reading a play. I have not yet found a work of Sinclair's fiction that compares to his masterpiece The Jungle, and this play doesn't come close to attaining the literary heights of that great novel. Yet for those who enjoy Sinclair's writing, have an interest in the political history of this time period, and sympathize with the author's message, reading The Machine is worth the brief time spent.
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