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Product Description
Germinal (1885) is the thirteenth in Émile Zola s cycle of twenty novels about the Rougon-Macquart dynasty. It tells the story of Étienne Lantier, from the illegitimate Macquart branch of the family, who arrives in the mining settlement of Montsou, and witnesses at first hand the appalling conditions in which miners live and work. Gradually becoming embroiled in a bitter dispute between the miners and their employers, he eventually leads the strike which is the centrepiece of the novel. But this is more than the struggle of labour against capital. It is also the struggle of the hungry against the well-fed, against the passivity and resignation passed down over generations of starving people, and ultimately against hunger itself, represented by the fantastical devouring monster of the mine, which swallows up men, just as the beast of the modern industrial economy relentlessly swallows up capital. This apparent pessimism about society is offset by the possibility of rebirth and regeneration. For all the inherited misery of the downtrodden, the old order may some day be overturned.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Wow what a find...a real revelation about working practice in France...women miners.....whats more the English translation reads like any English book, no hang-ups in the translation nice and smooth reading...only sorry when it finished...
Format:Paperback
Well it's in my Top Ten novels of all time! This is a dark book set in a 19th century French mining community. It's not a feel-good book! It is generally regarded as Zola's best novel and I think that is right, although he wrote many splendid novels.
The hero is Étienne Lantier who turns up in at least one other of Zola's novels in the "Les Rougon-Macquart" series. I guess you might say that it is a "socialist" novel as it tells the story from the workers point of view but it is generally regarded as being pretty accurate about the appalling working conditions of the time. The plot is great and the mining scenes are gripping and it has an exciting ending. A great read!
The hero is Étienne Lantier who turns up in at least one other of Zola's novels in the "Les Rougon-Macquart" series. I guess you might say that it is a "socialist" novel as it tells the story from the workers point of view but it is generally regarded as being pretty accurate about the appalling working conditions of the time. The plot is great and the mining scenes are gripping and it has an exciting ending. A great read!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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1 review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Changed my view of human society.
8 Jan 2011
Format:Paperback
Admittedly, I only read this book in college because it was a reading assignment in a humanities class, but it changed my life. I am forever grateful that I read this book. I had never before considered the power of a company over its employees until I had read this book. Granted, this book is a work of fiction, but many of the details about the living conditions of the miners are true. If you doubt this, please investigate for yourself. Also, this book is not completely one sided for the main protagonist does nothing to further the cause of socialism for at the end of the story, it clearly depicts his willingness to sacrifice the lives of others to further the cause of the greater good. But who can say that their own version of "good" should be the only version of the "good". Read this book, it will make you think!
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