SFG75
Well-Known Member
About to dive into this one. Germinal has quite an interesting history.
More to come from what will definitely be an awesome read.
By the time of his death, the novel had come to be recognised as his undisputed masterpiece. At his funeral crowds of workers gathered, cheering the cortège with shouts of "Germinal! Germinal!". Since then the book has come to symbolise working class causes and to this day retains a special place in French mining-town folklore.
Zola was always very proud of Germinal, and was always keen to defend its accuracy against accusations of hyperbole and exaggeration (from the conservatives) or of slander against the working classes (from the socialists). His research had been typically thorough, especially the parts involving lengthy observational visits to northern French mining towns in 1884, such as witnessing the after-effects of a crippling miners' strike first-hand at Anzin or actually going down a working coal pit at Denain. The mine scenes are especially vivid and haunting as a result.
More to come from what will definitely be an awesome read.