The Jungle - first thoughts

My first thoughts for the book The Jungle by Upton sinclair were that this book was a well written piece of work that accomplished what it had set out to do. It brought attention to the meat packing process and the poor conditions the workers labored in, and it promoted Socialism. Howerver, I'm not sure if this book should be called a classic, I think the book was written only to stir attention and not intended to become a literary "masterpiece". The books main character Jurgis' (pronounced your-gis) life kept goiung from bad to worse and when there was improvement, Jurgis' luck somehow always got even worse in the end, but when he discovered Socialism everything somehow went right. This is surely a grand coincidence and one of the reasons I think the book is an OK read but not quite up there with the big-time classics.