Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
The thirteenth novel in Émile Zola’s great Rougon-Macquart sequence, Germinal expresses outrage at the exploitation of the many by the few, but also shows humanity’s capacity for compassion and hope.
Etienne Lantier, an unemployed railway worker, is a clever but uneducated young man with a dangerous temper. Forced to take a back-breaking job at Le Voreux mine when he cannot get other work, he discovers that his fellow miners are ill, hungry, and in debt, unable to feed and clothe their families. When conditions in the mining community deteriorate even further, Lantier finds himself leading a strike that could mean starvation or salvation for all.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Germinal, the Tancock translation best of three
Customer Rating:
There are three really good translations of Emile Zola's Germinal. I have read all three and believe all of them have their merits. The 1996 Collier translation, published by Oxford World Classics, is brilliant; however, in saying that, it is very British. The Collier translation, Germinal (Oxford World's Classics), does flow extremely well and, if you don't mind the numerous Britishisms in the translation, you will love this edition. The 2004 Penguin translation by Roger Pearson,Germinal (Penguin Classics), is also brilliant; however, there are numerous editing errors in the text. The translation, again, brilliant, but the editing is horrid. For me, the 1954 translation by Leonard Tancock and published by Penguin, Germinal (Penguin Classics), is absolutely brilliant, and it seems to be more appropriate for the time in which it was written. However, in saying all this, any of these three editions will be excellent reads for anyone interested in Zola.
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Customer Rating:
The book came in GREAT condition and was shipped at the speed of light! I'll gladly buy here again.
superb political and social analysis of working class
Customer Rating:
although slightly dated because of the progress that labor has made in most of the world, zola does a superb job of analyzing the problem from the workers perspective. By looking at generations of coal miners in the same family, he is able to reflect the changes each generation has gone through and where they appear to be going in the future. incorporated into this, is a comparison of the different theories of labor revolt from evolutionary to revolutionary to anarchy. the personal struggles of the labor leaders and their true ambitions are almost prescient as to what they are today.
intermixed in this interesting political analysis is a very interesting story of this family and what happens to them. the end is a page turner with very interesting twists.
the one place where it lacks is from the perspective of the business owner. the story is clearly onesided. i'm sure he meant it to be that way.
story is similar to grapes of wrath by steinbeck. the difference is that in steinbeck, i see the story as an affirmation of what makes america great. yes, the migrants were abused and the thirties were a time that demanded the unionization of workers for protection. however, it also shows the determination of the american family to work hard to succeed; take risks for opportunity; and never give up. just look at california today to see what happened to all these migrants. in zola's germinal the family unit is not strong and the future is just another generation going into the mines. their only hope is social change. but that is a whole new discussion.
this book, however, is a better book than steinbeck's in that it is a more complex study of the political side, better written, and has a better storyline.
Zola Fan
Customer Rating:
How can one like a bleak story about the haves and have nots in the mining industry in France so much? Emile Zola depicts the story with such precision and detail that the story strikes one with gut wrenching impact. At their best the lives of the miners lack in comforts, privacy, food, sanitation and health care. With strikes and disasters, these lives break like brittle twigs, and death, drama and tragedy become the norm. I have read one other Zola book of a completely different subject matter, but both bear the same historical vividness and social comment.
Utterly fantastic....
Customer Rating:
Others have already been more eloquent in their descriptions of this novel than I have time to transcribe here from my neural attic. I happened across this book at a church fair and had (somehow) heard of the name Zola. I have frequently traveled to France and after brief scan of some of the pages, noting the French names, decided to shell over the 50 cents for it. I started reading and was impressed by the deep descriptive abilities Zola had at his disposal; describing Etienne's initial perusal of the maw of the coal mine in the early hours of the morning with the inclusion of such descriptions as to how he shifted some of his arm held belongings from arm to arm under his elbow uncomforably. I was hooked and read the whole thing in less than 5 hours in one afternoon after setting aside the time due to the impressive beginning I espied that night at the church where the lovely rapture began.
As usual, the characters more than make the story. Each person is important! What a breath of fresh air. Most authors shrink at such a daunting task; but Zola performs the trick as though he loved each human in the world so much that set out to find out everything about them. The delicious social interactions are interspersed with the young man "coming to age" with his philosophical ideas actually being forced to germinate and yield fruit (hence the title). His germination is only one of many you see in the story; and not every plant that germinates lives to bear fruit. Or even if it does, it may rot on the vine; the ending is not important. The possibility of changing what is, for the betterment of many is the ever sought after and seemingly unreachable goal....
I highly recommend this book. Enjoy! You'll find yourself wishing you could meet the people in this book. :)
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