Germinal (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Émile Zola (Author), Roger Pearson (Introduction)

Book Description

Release date: May 25, 2004 | Series: Penguin Classics

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.

• New translation
• Includes introduction, suggestions for further reading, filmography, chronology, explanatory notes, and glossary

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Émile Zola (1840-1902) was the leading figure in the French school of naturalistic fiction. His principal work, Les Rougon-Macquart, is a panorama of mid-19th century French life, in a cycle of 20 novels which Zola wrote over a period of 22 years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reprint edition (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140447423
• ISBN-13: 978-0140447422
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably my favorite novel. September 28, 2001

By GeoX

Format:Paperback

Mind you, I've only read five of Zola's books (I'd be plowing through the rest now, if not for the bane of schoolwork...grrr), so it's possible that the man's written something even better, but it's hard to imagine how that would be possible, really.

Germinal is such an amazing, multi-faceted piece of work that it seems difficult if not impossible to encapsulate the whole thing in a paltry review. If the concept of a novel based around a coal miners' strike in nineteenth-century France sounds off-putting to you, be assured, it's much more accessible than you think. Frequently depressing it certainly is, but it's never less than gripping, and with such a dazzling array of characters and scenes, you'll be riveted throughout. Who can forget the allegorical Russian anarchist Souvarine (who I always picture as looking like Xellos from Slayers, for some reason)? The lugubriously tortured sexual longings of M Hennebeau? Or the horses who work in the mine, doomed to live a life entirely devoid of sunlight? I don't think think anyone short of Tolstoy is capable of doing animals this well. And let's not forget about the awe-inspiring closing paragraph.

Germinal is frequently a melodramatic novel, but never in a propagandizing way--while Zola's sympathies clearly lie with the miners, he is careful not to pile the whole of the blame for their living conditions on the owners, instead making most of them into sympathetic, or at least comprehensible, people. The blame lies with the entire system, and Zola's determination not to resort to simple-minded scapegoating makes the novel all the more real.

Admittedly, Zola's writing and use of imagery isn't exactly subtle (how often does he characterize the mine as a devouring maw--or words to that effect--in the first chapter alone?), but he has a rare gift for portraying large, panoramic scenes, as well as endowing smaller ones with a great deal of atmosphere (which latter talent is really more evident in Nana--also highly recommended)--his strengths are well-suited to the story he's chosen to tell, and the strong focus prevents it from meandering, as his later--somewhat comparable--novel The Earth sometimes does.

I can't recommend Germinal highly enough. If you read just one nineteenth-century French novel, you really ought to be doing more reading. But if you're that determined to limit yourself to just one, make sure that it's Germinal.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Germinal, the Tancock translation best of three January 3, 2009

By Alexander Curtis

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best novel of the 19th Century May 1, 2006

By M. A. Krul

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is ?mile Zola's undisputed masterpiece in the Rougon-Macquart novel series. In each of the novels of this series Zola sketches in honest, human detail the life of the working class of 19th Century France; in Germinal, the center of attention is the mining industry of the far north.

The story describes the experience of an ex-machinist, Etienne Lantier (who appears as such in one of the other novels) in the Voreux and other mines around the town of Montsou, situated somewhat near Valenciennes. Starving and looking for a job in a period of industrial crisis, he is introduced to the reader as he arrives at the mine. Etienne soon manages to get a job there, and gets to know the great variety of characters that make up the local mining town. But his deep-felt social activism, combined with his somewhat higher education than the local miners, sets in motion a chain of events that changes both his life and that of the reader forever.

Zola's brilliant description of the reality of the struggle between classes and the effects, positive and negative, that zealous struggle for the improvement of the world can have on individual humans in dire straits is sure to haunt the reader for a long time. The author manages to describe both the miners, in their jealousy, pride, poverty and despair, as well as the local bourgeoisie in their misguidedness, personal issues and the pressures of capitalism with a deep understanding of the human psyche. The interactions between humans under pressure is described in powerful, terse dialogues and evocative passages.

The political and social background of the miners' desperate struggle for a decent living is the general theme of the book, but Zola avoids stereotypes and never clearly takes sides for any particular political position, deftly avoiding preachiness or sentimentalism. The incredible hardship and difficulty of the miners' lives and the degree to which the main characters manage to maintain a sense of dignity is sure to move even the coldest-hearted person, but Germinal is not a Dickens work and tear-jerking is more an effect of the book's quality than the goal of the writer.

Above all, however, Zola's best work is simply an incredibly riveting, exciting, deeply moving and tremendously powerful work of fiction. Read the rise and fall of Lantier, Maheu, Bonnemort, Deneulin, Catherine, Souvarin and the other comrades, and weep.