Boston: A Documentary Novel of the Sacco-Vanzetti Case
by Upton Sinclair
On This Page
Description
A wealthy dowager confronts the brutality of the class system and fights for justice in this dramatic account of the Sacco and Vanzetti case With the publication of The Jungle in 1906, Upton Sinclair became the literary conscience of America. Two decades later, he brought his singular artistry and steadfast commitment to the cause of social equality to bear on the case of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian anarchists accused of armed robbery and murder. Boston, a "documentary show more novel" published one year after Sacco and Vanzetti were executed, brilliantly combines fact and fiction to expose the toxic atmosphere of paranoia, prejudice, and greed in which the two men were tried. Recently widowed sixty-year-old Cornelia Thornwell abandons her Boston Brahmin family to take a factory job in Plymouth, Massachusetts. She witnesses the crushing poverty and heartless bigotry endured by immigrant laborers, and befriends the charismatic fishmonger Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a committed anarchist and atheist. When Vanzetti and his fellow countryman Nicola Sacco are arrested and charged with murder, Cornelia's belief in the fairness of the American judicial system is shattered. Joining the public outcry heard from Boston to Buenos Aires, she demands a fair trial-but it is too late. As Sacco knew all too well: "They got us, they will kill us." This ebook has been authorized by the estate of Upton Sinclair. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Tak toto bola pred rokmi moja srdcová záležitosť. Román je politický a veľmi kritický voči establishmentu a pomerom vládnucim v USA v 20. rokoch 20. storočia. Autor tu dopodrobna rozoberá prípad, ktorý nezapadol prachom ani po toľkých rokoch. Odsúdení na smrť a popravení Nicolo Sacco a Bartolomeo Vanzetti za čin, ktorý nespáchali boli presvedčení anarchisti a zároveň talianski prisťahovalci, čo bolo ich hlavné previnenie v očiach policajnej a súdnej mašinérie. Autor tu odhaľuje ich motívy pre činnosť, ktorú vyvíjali na pozadí otrasných pomerov v chudobných robotníckych štvrtiach, opisuje ich charaktery aj nedostatky a predkladá fakty. Áno, kniha je politická a autor ľavičiar, preto je show more odôvodnené tvrdiť, že príbeh má tendenciu skĺznuť do kritickej roviny jedného politického spektra, je ale zároveň piesňou o nevine dvoch ľudí, ktorí sa ocitli v nesprávnom čase na nesprávnom mieste. Čo sa týka tendenčnosti, autor je tendenčný do takej miery ako napr. Jack London, ktorého mi svojim štýlom písania v tomto románe dosť pripomína. show less
Aug 3, 2013Slovak
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Best Books of 1926-1935
403 works; 10 members
Novels with a city or town in the title
61 works; 1 member
Author Information
246+ Works 21,967 Members
Upton Sinclair, a lifelong vigorous socialist, first became well known with a powerful muckraking novel, The Jungle, in 1906. Refused by five publishers and finally published by Sinclair himself, it became an immediate bestseller, and inspired a government investigation of the Chicago stockyards, which led to much reform. In 1967 he was invited by show more President Lyndon Johnson to "witness the signing of the Wholesome Meat Act, which will gradually plug loopholes left by the first Federal meat inspection law" (N.Y. Times), a law Sinclair had helped to bring about. Newspapers, colleges, schools, churches, and industries have all been the subject of a Sinclair attack, analyzing and exposing their evils. Sinclair was not really a novelist, but a fearless and indefatigable journalist-crusader. All his early books are propaganda for his social reforms. When regular publishers boycotted his work, he published himself, usually at a financial loss. His 80 or so books have been translated into 47 languages, and his sales abroad, especially in the former Soviet Union, have been enormous. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Boston
- Original title
- Boston
- Original publication date
- 1928
- People/Characters
- Bartolomeo Vanzetti; Ferdinando Nicola Sacco (as Nicola Sacco)
- Important places
- USA; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Massachusetts, USA
- Related movies
- Sacco e Vanzetti (1971 | IMDb); In Search of History: The True Story of Sacco and Vanzetti (2000 | IMDb)
- Original language*
- Englisch
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 96
- Popularity
- 335,191
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, German, Slovak
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 10
