Buying a Home in “The Jungle”

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2/23/2008, 10:36 am

Buying a house has always been stressful. Few who buy houses are expert enough in all the different aspects of buying a house that it can be done with complete comfort. If you find home buying stressful, you’ll want to read one of my favorite tales of home buying in American literature.

Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel, “The Jungle”, is about the corruption of business in the early 20th century. The novel centers around the struggling Rudkus family who arrive in Chicago from Lithuania. (The University of Virginia’s web site offers the electronic text of “The Jungle” and other great American hypertexts.)

Chapter 4 of the Upton Sinclair’s, “The Jungle”, describes the Rudkus family’s purchase of a home. Sinclair skillfully describes the stress and even terror that can be associated with buying a house. It’s a great read and it may help you feel better knowing that home buying was as stressful 100 years ago as it is today.

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