What I'm Reading

WHAT I'M READING

2008-06-15
AMERICAN LITERATURE

Oil

by Upton Sinclair

Publisher Note:

Upton Sinclair's novel grew out of the oil scandals of the Harding administration, providing in the process a detailed picture of the development of the oil industry in Southern California.

Troy Note:

The road ran, smooth and flawless, precisely fourteen feet wide, the edges trimmed as if by shears, a ribbon of grey concrete, rolled out over the valley by a giant hand. The ground went in long waves, a slow ascent and then a sudden dip; you climbed, and went swiftly over - but you had no fear, for you knew the magic ribbon would be there, clear of obstructions, unmarred by bump or scar, waiting the passage of inflated rubber wheels revolving seven times a second. The cold wind of morning whistled by, a storm of motion, a humming and roaring with ever-shifting overtones; but you sat snug behind a tilted wind-shield, which slid the gale up over your head. Sometimes you liked to put your hand up and feel the cold impact; sometimes you would peer around the side of the shield, and let the torrent hit your forehead, and toss you hair about. But for the most part you sat silent and dignified - because that was Dad's way, and Dad's way constituted the ethics of motoring.

this was the first paragraph of a 548 page novel. they have yet to make the film that can come close to conveying the deep and vast imagery of a gifted writer.

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