Reviews

Germinal by Émile Zola

callie_loves_to_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

I didn't think I'd get into it at first but once the second half hit I was immersed

daimencianci's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

theoissocool's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

deep_in_the_reads's review against another edition

4.0

REALLY close to 5 stars. One of those books I'll be reflecting on for a long while, and I might adjust my rating accordingly. Intense, still relevant, harrowing, atmospheric.

an_library_stan's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Parts are very well written. The descriptions of work in the mine was vivid and claustrophobic. The political discussions were interesting. Hearing other socialist, communist and anarchist thinkers cited alongside Marx shows there was more diversity of theory and thought before Marx and Engels became the authority. The fights scene between Etienne and Cheval was also well written. I was on the edge of my seat. 

Zola does not write women well. Pretty standard obsession with boobs for a historical male writer. The language around sex was extremely gendered, with women being "taken" or "laid flat on their arses." One of the more ridiculous scenes

is when Etienne and Catherine are stuck underground after the mine sabotage, and have been starving and soaking in cold water for days. Catherine is close to death, and they barely have room to move bc they are so cramped on the wall. Chavals body has been floating up and bumping against them. Somehow they still manage to have sex, and Etienne is excited he may have gotten her pregnant. And then she dies pretty soon after. 🙄

krobart's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

jmordock's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

hadeanstars's review against another edition

5.0

Powerful, brooding, brilliant, one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. The 19th century really was the golden age of literature, and the French produced so many works of genius. I would rate Zola as being on a par with Hugo and Proust. This novel is about a mining community that engages in a protracted struggle for fair pay and conditions with their employers, although the struggle soon widens and becomes desperate. Zola uses this as the basis for a broad critique of rapacious capitalism, and the indignities it inflicts on the powerless and innocent.

There are uncomfortable future echoes that make this story still relevant today. Capitalism has not changed, but protections have been put into place to curb the worst excesses of the greedy. But this novel really makes you think about the importance of those protections at a time where unions are being effectively outlawed, if not by statute, then by public and corporate pressure.

This novel is very gritty and dark, and lies somewhere between Dickens’s Hard Times and Tressel’s Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. It builds to an inevitable and sickening catharsis, dragging you, reluctantly to its conclusion. You can’t help but be shocked and appalled, yet you cannot put it down. A work of absolute genius.

prusche's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

camiloalcantara's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Incredible story that shows how long and painful has been the worker's struggle and how necessary is to change the current system.