Germinal (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

Really makes you think

Read this for my book club. It had me thinking about what we value in ourselves and those around us.

AMAZING!

Very easily the best book I've ever read. That said, it's not a particularly easy and light read. There are some very heavy, hard hitting themes that I had to keep putting the book down-- it was too much. The book can get a bit melodramatic, but at the core it never loses any of its grittiness. The Leonard Tancock translation is also probably the best of any; though it does have its slight problems, I think Tancock has very subtle nuances that really add to the story.

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Recommended 100%

This book is incredibly engrossing, and I have never been filled with so much suspense.

Emile Zola was able to produce a phenomenal storyline which provides the reader with an excellent perception of what life would have been like for a coal-miner in the 19th century. Although the story focuses in particular on one struggling family, you are also given a broad scope of the small mining village in which they live.

When reading this book be prepared to become completely enmeshed!

SEPTEMBER 2008 BY A MAN WHO LOVES READING

Here we are in the midst of a minning community
in 19th century France. Zola has the reader
engulfed in a rather difficult way of life.
Considering an upsetting intruder into beguiling
the inhabitants into a devasting wirlwind.
It was a pleasure to be treated to this
masterwork.

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No Better French Novel

As an aspiring author of regional fiction ('Suomalaiset: People of the Marsh' ISBN 0972005064)who was raised on liberal politics amidst the boom and bust of Minnesota's iron mines and timber industry, 'Germinal's' featured protagonist, Etienne Lantier, strikes a chord with me. There is much about the American labor movement and the plight of American workers to be found in Etienne's story. Though conditions in our factories, mines, and in our forests have markedly improved since the days of children working the coal fields of West Virginia and the iron mines of the Mesabi Iron Range, Zola's prose and his social observations about wealth, capital, and the exploitation of the common man by those in power rings true in 21st century America. A beautifully translated work, succinctly direct, wonderfully cast, with prose that makes you sigh. One of my ten all time favorite novels.

A powerfull Work

This is a brilliant story of life through the eyes of an 19th century French coal miner. This book gives insight into the lives of people who came before us, it also plays on the subtleties of human nature and character. This is a profound take on love life and power. It plays on what we are and the society that we live in. This work transends time and even gives insight into the times we live in.

One of the most powerful novels ever written

Zola's description of the coal mine as seen from the distance will haunt you, as will those describing life underground. There are moments of humor and touching scenes of first love contrasted with brutal scenes of hunger and revenge. When Emile Zola died, those lining the streets where his coffin passed chanted, 'Germinal, Germinal.' Everyone should read this book.

Interesting, but not extremely entertaining!

Sitting in the 21st century one cannot give a comprehensive view of every aspect of the novel. Let us take the very detailed explaination of the mining machinary of the 19th Century;surely one is bored with the same, and at the same time but admire the tenacity of the writer in obtaining the relevant information in such precise detail. But surely mining conditions and the exploitation of workers(children) in the 3rd world continous in the same way (or worse), as amply described in the book. Indeed, the book makes a fascinating reading, very much applicable in 3rd world countries like India , China etc.

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