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Title: Germinal by Emile Zola, Leonard W. Tancock ISBN: 0-14-044045-3 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: November, 1954 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.31 (36 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A window to the oppression of 19th century capitalism.
Comment: Emile Zola's Germinal tells of the class conflict between the miners of the Montsou Company and its' owners during the Industrial Revolution of France. Life for the workers had been continuing with mute suffering for generations until a newcomer named Etienne arrives, and becomes one of the countless workers who must endure the conditions of the mine to get his fortnights' pay. The tensions keep building as wages are lowered, and the catalyst that instigates the situation comes in the form of Etienne's zealous attitude to socialism. Germinal keeps accurate to the history of the time when new politics for the worker were being introduced; the International Working Mans Association is constantly referred to as a symbol of hope. Lastly, Germinal is a wonderfully detailed book which not one part of the dreariness of the worker's life is missed, one part of the superfluous luxury of the affluent is forgotten, and most importantly every emotion is expounded upon.
Rating: 5
Summary: A graphic blast of naturalism
Comment: Germinal, like many works grouped together as examples of literary naturalism, is not a novel one generally reads for enjoyment. It portrays the dark and oppressive world of 19th c. French coal miners and their attempt to free themselves through political awakening. The main character, Etienne, whips the miners into a socialist frenzy, leading them to strike against the company. As events unfold, Etienne begins to care less about the everyday details of the miners' existence and more about larger issues of socialism, anarchy, and world revolution. Etienne leaves the book a student of politics who has graduated. The miners return to their jobs -- with the hint that they will rise again. Germinal alludes to the works of Marx and Darwin, but detailed knowledge of those works is not required to get the point. The events are dark, sometimes base, and sometimes brutal. This is a book to be read, pondered, and (hopefully) discussed rowdily over beer. Start it and stick with it. It is not a particularly hard read, but it is a classic work that is not for wimps. Recommended.
Rating: 5
Summary: Germinal by Zola
Comment: Published in the 1880s, this book was one of a series of
works which Zola created over a 25 year period. It depicts the
struggles of coal miners in a classic pitting of the interests
of owners as against the workers. The author puts the
controversy well when he asserts that "the worker is the
victim of the facts of existence-capital, competition,
industrial crises ...
In the late 1860s, Zola set out to document societal conditions
in a number of important contexts including the principal
professions, trades, classes, political, religious, artistic
and so on. The idea was to craft a scientific or rationally
documented picture of every level of society during the
French Second Empire which ultimately lead the writer to
develop the character of Etienne Lantier. Zola's object was
to study the coal miners and extrapolate inferences for the
working class conditions in general. In the process, the author
attempted to draw fine distinctions in the historical
clashes between capital and labour. Zola commences with the
first days of work in the life of Etienne including a
description of the mining pits, the plight of workers, living
conditions and a wide circle of circumstances which beset
everyday miners in the conduct of their work. Zola is not
happy with merely demonstrating the dynamics of a socialist
theory of trade unions. He attempts to draw a universal theory
about human nature, the dynamics of self-interest, survivalist
motives and self-preservation which concern social scientists
up through Maslowe. Zola attempts to be fair. He criticizes
both rich and poor for laziness, bad faith and uncontrolled
vices. The book ends almost as it begins with a description
of Etienne travelling through a coal-mining territory in the
hustle and bustle of the early morning.
The book would be important reading for literary critics,
historians, economists, political theorists and a wide
constituency of readers in formal academia. It is
geared for students in late high school or early collegiate
studies in world literature or foreign language studies.
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Title: Nana. by Emile Zola, George Holden ISBN: 0140442634 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: September, 1972 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: L'Assommoir: The Dram Shop (Penguin Classics) by Emile Zola, Robin Buss ISBN: 0140447539 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 03 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: The Earth by Emile Zola, Douglas Parmee ISBN: 0140443878 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1980 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: La Bete Humaine by Emile Zola, Leonard W. Tancock ISBN: 0140443274 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: August, 1977 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Debacle (The Penguin Classics) by Emile Zola, Leonard W. Tancock ISBN: 0140442804 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: March, 1973 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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