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Liked It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “It is hard not to be moved by the plight of the French coal miners whose story is told in Zola’s Germinal. They are exploited by the mining company they work for, and live in terrible squalor and hereditary indignity. They are only vaguely aware of their situation - that they should expect more -...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Ug. How are there so many books in this series? One was waaaay more than enough.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Ug. How are there so many books in this series? One was waaaay more than enough.”
Kate Castle wrote this review 3 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Kimberly F said: 4 stars
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Shelf wrote this review Monday, January 30, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
A clear work of naturalism that seems melodramatic at times, but like all melodramas, captivates and has great emotional power. The ending is devastating. This novel is more complex than it may seem on the surface -- a gritty, often depressing, frequently disturbing, but compelling read.
TrainWreckB said: 4 stars
What Can I say. Human disintegration!”
“Spectacular novel, although it took so long for this reader to finish. Zola captures the essence of his characters and the gritty hardships faced by coal miners at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in France. Pitting working class vs. bourgeoisie, the story represents the class struggle against such injustices as overcoming a legacy of generational poverty and unsafe mining conditions. Zola tries but fails to answer the question as to what is the best possible way to achieve social justice: peaceably or through violent revolution? The Naturalist prose was so rich and illustrative of the day, the locale, the backdrop, sometimes I felt as if I were viewing vast Impressionist paintings.
Stacey D wrote this review Saturday, November 5, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Zola throws every kind of horrible torture into the nightmarish ending - jealousy, murder, claustrophobia, slow death of humans and animals, hunger, panic, rage, unrequited love - followed by the DTs.
What a masterpiece.”
“3.5 STARS I read this for a history course and actually liked it even though I HAD to read it. It is a great novel that is rich with descriptions and shows us what was happening during the time it was set”
Kris wrote this review Saturday, November 5, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Prima facie, it's a story of French class struggle in the early Industrial Era. But if you want historically trace the birth of all modern political ideologies, this is definitely your book.”
loonybird wrote this review Wednesday, August 17, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Novel of french miners and turmoil in their lives, scraping by, owners vs. workers.
Jerry W wrote this review Monday, August 8, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
very good”
“A clear work of naturalism that seems melodramatic at times, but like all melodramas, captivates and has great emotional power. The ending is devastating. This novel is more complex than it may seem on the surface -- a gritty, often depressing, frequently disturbing, but compelling read.”
Kimberly F wrote this review Thursday, July 21, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“As a teenager I found the works of Theodore Dreiser engaging and read through several including his massive novel An American Tragedy. It was only through later study of the development of the art of the novel that I learned that his style was called Naturalism, at least an American variant of the style. So it was with a sense of recognition that I began to read Zola's Germinal, the first of his novels that I read, discovering a French writer with a similar style.
jwhenderson wrote this review Monday, July 18, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Emile Zola writes about Etienne, a a young man who lost his job as a mechanic for slugging a foreman, who travels to the north of France and obtains a job in a coal mine. He soon learns the ways of the poor mining families of that area, especially the children of the family with whom he lives for a while including a 15-year-old girl named Catharine, who becomes the subject of a bristling romantic rivalry between Etienne and another young miner, Chaval. Germinal chronicles the social woes of the miners and their attempts, with the help of Etienne, to better their situation. The union also enters the scene and romance is not the only source of tension for Zola's protagonist. This was an exciting book to read as I found Zola's style felicitous and lucid. While I have not read even half of the many novels in which he chronicled the lives and mores of French society I have enjoyed those like this one that I have read.”“I really enjoyed this. It should have been depressing but thoroughly fascinating description of working in French coal mining, all the injustices, pathos, absolutely down to the last detail.”
Victoria J wrote this review Friday, January 21, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
