A review by d_audy
Germinal by Émile Zola

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

A dark, raw, merciless journey into the rough, most often miserable lives of coal miners in Northern France in the 1860s, focused on a violent workers strike that takes no prisoners. Still today a must-read novel on early capitalism and workers conditions.