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A review by teresatumminello
Germinal by Émile Zola
4.0
4 and 1/2 stars
I'm presently in an online group discussing this book, which is probably the reason I don't feel like writing a proper review.
This is my second Zola and I admired it as much as I did my first, [b:L'assommoir|92967|L'Assommoir (The Dram Shop) (Les Rougon-Macquart, #7)|Émile Zola|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309282204s/92967.jpg|741363], even if I subjectively liked the latter a bit more. The structure of the novel and the way Zola handed the complexity of the issues through the eyes of his main character, Etienne (son of the main character in "L'assommoir"), is impressive.
The group scenes are tense, thrilling, feverish and psychologically astute, as is the portrayal of hardships certain individuals endure, though the handling of one incident I felt was perhaps gratuitous and then treated as a throwaway. Though the book was written in the late-19th century, its language and issues are as gritty and contemporary as they would be in a book of today.
I'm presently in an online group discussing this book, which is probably the reason I don't feel like writing a proper review.
This is my second Zola and I admired it as much as I did my first, [b:L'assommoir|92967|L'Assommoir (The Dram Shop) (Les Rougon-Macquart, #7)|Émile Zola|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309282204s/92967.jpg|741363], even if I subjectively liked the latter a bit more. The structure of the novel and the way Zola handed the complexity of the issues through the eyes of his main character, Etienne (son of the main character in "L'assommoir"), is impressive.
The group scenes are tense, thrilling, feverish and psychologically astute, as is the portrayal of hardships certain individuals endure, though the handling of one incident I felt was perhaps gratuitous and then treated as a throwaway. Though the book was written in the late-19th century, its language and issues are as gritty and contemporary as they would be in a book of today.