Germinal

Emile Zola

Okay, I've finally finished Zola's Germinal, and I really enjoyed it. I wish I had read it at a less busy time in my life, as I think I could have polished it off in a couple of days. It is dense writing, and let's face it, coal mining by poor, starving people is not likely to be an uplifting read, but the story captures you and carries you along, like just another miner in the crowded tunnels. Zola gives such excellent descriptions of the mine works that you can see and hear, and unfortunately, taste, the coal mine itself. The details can get in the way of the story at times, but overall, you come out of it feeling as though you have lived through it. Poverty like that leaves you forever glad of what you have, however humble your possessions.