3rd Reading of Germinal by Émile Zola #Zoladdiction2024

❤ Time and again I have mentioned that Germinal is my all time favorite book. I haven't yet found any other which is as compelling and eloquently written as this Zola's chef-d'œuvre - magnum opus. This was my third read (listen, actually) of it, and I still hold on to my conviction, that Germinal is the most magnificent work I've ever read.

❤ Germinal is about the life and struggles of mining workers in a small town of Montsou, where Étienne Lantier (offspring of the Macquart line, with history of drunkards in the family), is looking for a job. He serves as the outsider's point of view of the local struggles (this is Zola's usual trope - a newcomer who changes or stirs the existing ground). Germinal has quite many facets of the story, the social injustice towards the working class; their hatred to the bourgeoisie; the struggles of the bourgeoisie - sandwiched between their inferior and superior of the "bosses" in Paris. It also touches on the socialism dream, and, of course, Zola's pet topic: naturalism.

❤ The strong point of Germinal lays in, as are with Zola's other books, his vivid narration of the landscape. You'd feel suffocated just by reading about the condition in the coal mine, hundred meters below the earth, which Zola brought to life through his magnificent research and detailed description. Another strong point is the eloquent prose with which he told this drama of human nature with its raw emotion. You'd feel the characters' anguish as if you are their kin.

❤ I think Germinal is one book that has to be read, not listened to. Either the audiobook I listened to uses edition with less qualified translation, or Zola's words are more eloquent read inside my head, rather than narrated. I don't blame the narrator, though, Leighton Pugh do a great job. I have listened to his narrating The Ladies Paradise, and really liked it. Germinal is just too eloquent to be narrated, that's what I think. Other than that, I think I wasn't supposed to read this book during my current mental condition. It conveys a huge amount of sorrows and helplessness (though with a little sparks of hope of brighter future in the end), and now just isn't a good time to read about these dark elements. Thus, I decided to give Germinal a rest for at least five or ten years before taking it again for the fourth time. Or maybe.... a great book is supposed to be read not more than twice, to preserve its magnificent quality? I don't know... 

Read this book for:

Zoladdiction 2024

Germinal: My Second Reading

It is almost three years ago when I first read Germinal, and instantly fell in love with the book—and much more with the author! This year I have decided to give it a second read; to see if I will still find it as great as my first reading. The interesting thing of rereading is that you know what you’re going to get throughout the book, and especially in the end, you know how the story would go. In the case of Zola books, you might not feel the “blow” as intensely as when you read it for the first time. That is what I got from my Germinal second reading.

I also found out that when the blow was softened, the second read allowed me to feel more of the emotion of each character, and to relate to them better than before. Moreover, I could see now why Germinal has become Zola’s masterpiece. From eight of his novels—seven from The Rougon Macquart series—I have read so far, Germinal is the most beautiful in term of writing. It is more flowing; not as intense as Zola’s other books, and Zola did not put his focus entirely on the working class, but also on the bourgeoisie. It put more emphasizes on how the society needed to change; because both sides were slowly crumbling. If the system remained unchanged, the Voreaux tragedy will crush everything in it; just like a giant beast who swallowed them up greedily—as Zola put it. The tragic incident between old Bonnemort and the daughter of Voreux’ stock holder highlighted the faulted system. It happened naturally, it’s nobody’s fault it seemed, but the old corrupted system.

One thing that perhaps distinguished Germinal from its siblings in The Rougon-Macquart series is the hopeful ending; it really effaced the dark tragedy of the Voreux, as if to say that the miners’ sacrifices will not be useless after all; that there is always new and brighter hope which is germinating from the debris of a revolution.

Zola is always good at painting irony in his novels. He described events so perfectly detailed that you would get the irony without further explanations. When the strike was on going, the manager and the stock holder (the bourgeois) were having a luncheon. While the miners were starving and risked their lives by doing the strike to ask for justice, their masters’ concern was at whether the pâtissier’s delivery boy could deliver the vol-au-vent crusts on time for lunch, despite of the strike. The bitter irony lays in the ending of chapter six-part five; it was the scene after the strike was over, when the sun had set, and everything was calm again:

“…The plain was drowning beneath the thick night; there were only the black furnaces and the coke ovens ablaze against the tragic sky. Heavily, the gallop of the gendarmes approached; they landed up in an indistinguishable somber mass. And behind them, entrusted to their care, the Marchiennes pâtissier’s vehicle arrived at last, a little covered cart out of which jumped a small drudge of a boy, who quietly went about unpacking the vol-au-vent crusts.”

What an ending!—and Zola was great in closing each of the chapters in exactly that beautiful-bitter-ironic way. Some are more beautiful than others, but my favorite remains still in the very ending:

Now the April sun, in the open sky, was shining in its glory, warming the earth as it went into labour. From its fertile flanks life was leaping forth, buds were bursting into green leaves, and the fields were quivering with the growth of the grass. On every side seeds were swelling, stretching out, cracking the plain, filled by the need of heat and light. An overflow of sap flowed with whispering voices, the sound of the germs expanded in a great kiss. Again and again, more and more distinctly, as though they had come right up to the soil, the comrades were hammering. In the fiery rays of the sun, on this youthful morning, the country was pregnant with this rumbling. Men were springing forth, a black avenging army, germinating slowly in the furrows, growing up for the harvests of the next century, and their germination would soon overturn the earth. 

Again—what an ending!

On my previous post I have written about my first impression on (second reading of) Germinal; particularly about Étienne. Well, I think, apart from his personal inherited weakness and indecisiveness, Étienne is a kind man. I liked him for his ability to move forward from past faults, for his kindness towards others; in particular Catherine and the Maheus, and for his principles.

My favorite passage is the one concerning Bataille, the old horse. The way Zola portrayed its agony is brilliant! I think I shed tears for the horse more than for the Maheus’! Zola’s words can be very touching too at times. And reading this passage, only now that I realized that what Bataille felt actually reflected the agony of the miners. And that came in this poetic passage:

“…He galloped on and on, bending his head, drawing up his feet, racing these narrow tubes in the earth, filled with his great body. Road succeeded to road, and the junctions opened into forks, without any hesitation on his part. Where was he going? Back, perhaps, towards the vision of his youth, to the mill where he had been born on the bank of the Scarpe, to the confused recollection of the sun burning in the air like a great lamp. He desired to live, his beast’s memory awoke; the longing to breathe once more the air of the plains drove him straight onwards to the discovery of the hole, the exit beneath the warm sun, into the light.”

It was the agony of a creature who had been used from his early days; who never knew other existence besides what he was submissively forced to take; but one day a longing for a better existence would stir deep in his heart; which made him galloping furiously into the light. It made one reflect a lot, didn’t it?

Now, I have been praising this book over and over again, here, as well as in other comments/thoughts, and I don’t think there would be enough words to describe how I love Germinal! I love the beautiful narration, love the vivid description of the mines (Zola took much efforts in doing observation in this), and love the hopeful atmosphere. In short, I love everything about this book! If you aren’t yet convinced to read it by now, try at least!

~~~~~~~~~

I read Wordsworth Classics paperback

This book is counted for:

Zoladdiction 2015 and “Germinal” Read Along

The Classics Salon (1): My First Impression of “Germinal”

The Classics Salon is another weekly meme, hosted by Mangoes and Cherry Blossoms, to discuss or blog about current classics that we are reading. This post should be published on Friday, however I was so hectic around Easter, that I missed it until today. OK, I’m four days late, but it’s better late than never, isn’t it? Plus it is a good idea to boost my blogging mood.

The question for the first Salon is:

What are your first impressions of the current classic you are reading?

I am now reading Zola’s Germinal for Zoladdiction 2015. It is my second read, but my first one was three years ago, so it feels like I’m reading a fresh novel but already knew how it would end, and some of the characters were quite familiar.

Starting a novel for the second (or more) time is a unique experience, specifically when it is your most favorite book, on which you have high expectations of a great reading. I feel the same way with Germinal, but I promised myself to take more time in this reread to devour things I have probably missed on my first read. So, since the beginning I have been paying more attention to the main character, Étienne Lantier. I have praised him after my first read; and even made him my most favorite book boy friend for Book Kaleidoscope 2012. My first impression on him was an adorable and brave young man (I quite forgot why I loved him!).

Now that I am following him, I realized that Étienne is an indecisive man. He couldn’t decide whether he supposed to ask for job upon arrival at the Voreux, jobless and penniless as he was. He has a crush for Catherine; he is jealous of Chaval, yet always keeps a distance from Catherine (out of shyness?). Apart from the indecisiveness, so far I am pleased with Étienne, he is a hard-worker and polite. Although he inherited the intolerance to drinks from his drunkard parents, he could refrain himself well enough.

Other than that, Germinal is mostly regarded as Zola’s masterpiece. Now I see more clearly why; it is the way he wove his sentences. Each chapter is always ended so beautifully and satisfyingly, that you’d be torn between staying where you were and devouring it, or continuing to the next as you were excited of what will happen next. I remember that the ending was great, but now let me enjoy each sentence with its own little greatness. Oh….I think I’m going to fall in love more deeply with Germinal after this!

Have you read Germinal? What do you think of it?

Book Kaleidoscope: My Top Five Most Favorite Books & Farewell 2012!

And here we are…on the last day of this year. 2012 has been my most important year in term of reading. This year (on March) I joined The Classics Club and it really helps me to delve deeper into classics works. In fact, most of my readings of this year were dominated by classics, most of my blog posts were in this blog (Fanda Classiclit). For 2013 I’m planning to start reading books from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list; the works will be slightly mixed between classics and non classics.

After discussing my Top Five Book Boy Friends and Top Five Best Book Covers of books I've read on 2012, now the Book Kaleidoscope will rewind the most important aspect in reading: the book itself. 

Speaking of my readings of 2012 (I have read around 37 books), I have found a lot of great books and/or authors that for years I have only seen the title/the name, but now I am proud to say that I have read several of them. It’s been difficult to rank only five of my favorites, but I finally came to this composition…

5. Beloved

This was one of the strongest books I’ve ever read in my life, depicted a black woman’s struggle to protect her children. Beloved was quite difficult to read, as the story flowed forward and backward without clear signs, and only after reading few chapters I could be more familiar with it. And this book is not a nice reading too, although it makes us deeply touched. Therefore, fifth place is fair enough for Beloved.

4. Twenty Years After

Not known as much as The Three Musketeers, this second sequel is much better than the first. As its title, Twenty Years After was a reunion of the four friends when they were older and wiser. This is one of the books which I fully enjoyed the reading, every page of it, even every word.

3. L’Assommoir

I remember that I was shocked after finishing this book. Unlike any other books I have read, this one is very honest—extremely honest. Then I just knew what ‘naturalism’ in literature meant, that I instantly fell in love with Zola! I think my first strong impression of this book that makes L’Assommoir becomes one of my favorite books of all time, at least until now.

2. Great Expectations

Great Expectations is almost perfect as a reading companion. Dickens has been famous for writing entertaining tales, that although his wordings are often tedious, we can’t help to keep reading to know what will happen next to our favorite characters. I enjoyed every word of this book, and rewarded also with the moral value of this bildungsroman.

1. Germinal

Have I mentioned that I’m a big fan of Emile Zola? Well, it’s not surprising then, that I granted the most exclusive place in this Book Kaleidoscope to Germinal. Sharp as it always is, Germinal also offers variety of amusements in the story—romances, fights of the poor against the have, and a bigger hope that the oppressed could get a better future. I always like stories about hope! And that makes Germinal to be…

FANDA'S MOST FAVORITE
BOOK OF 2012!

And this post would also be my last post to close this remarkable year of 2012. Thank you for all of you who has been joining me in this 2012 Book Kaleidoscope yearly meme. I had actually created it to amuse myself, and I'm so surprised that there were a lot of you who'd joined in. It had been wonderful because I could find new blogs and new books (although I'd never read them, but at least I know about them), and I'll positively host another Book Kaleidoscope for next year.

I would like also to thank all my followers, most of you followed me around this year. I hope you'd been enjoying my posts. I'm sorry if I could not return all your visits and comments, as I must keep the balance between reading, posts writing, events hosting, and blog walking. I wish I could be interacting with you more often next year. Meanwhile.....I wish you a Happy New Year of 2013! ...and I just can't wait for starting  reading my 2013 piles of books!

Maheude in Germinal

Among many female characters on Germinal, the most interesting one is Maheude. Maheude is a wife of a mine worker named Maheu. Actually Maheude was only in her beginning of forty years old, however poverty, child laboring and hard-working has made her body loose and looked like she was fifty. Maheude represented women on the lower social class in 19^th century (in France in this case). Like other women, Maheude went to work at the pit since she was very young. Then after having seven children, her strength was decreasing and became not too productive for the Company so that she was forced to stay at home. Being the household manager was not an easy thing. Maheude should manage to feed ten mouths (the father, the mother, the grandfather and seven children) from whatever they earned from the mine, and it was sooo very little that they often must ask for credit from the groceries store.

In the early chapters, I have asked myself why the Maheus kept ‘producing’ children if they could hardly feed them all? I realized then that part of the purpose of having children was to bring home as much money as they can get by sending the children to pit when they grown up enough to do it. I know it sounds weird and unfair, but that’s how they survived against the extreme poverty at that time.

Maheude in 'Germinal' movie

Maheude was a woman with a strong character and a better moral compared to other women around the pit. Despite of her poverty, she still had a pride not to beg for anything, a principle that she persistently hold to; for Maheude, hoping for other’s generosity by telling them how hard your life was, was not begging. When Maheude received a bag of fine clothes from a rich family, while what she needed most was food, she could not ask for money to buy food, because it would be begging. The shopkeeper of a grocery store near the settlements was a playboy, he used the women’s poverty for his own benefit. When a woman asked for credit, he would grant it if she or her daughter agreed to sleep with him. When Maheude came with no money to have groceries, she was forced to give the man a false promise of sending for her daughter Catherine to him sometime, a promise that she never kept and resulted to no more credits from the store afterwards, even when the families left in hunger.

In short, it was Maheude that protected and supported the family in the whole story. Unfortunately, it was also Maheude who suffered the most from the miners’ strike. **spoiler alert** Maheude lost, one after another, her husband and three children, while another son got limped from an accident, which meant he brought home less money. Here you would see Maheude’s extremely strong personality; instead of breaking down, she managed to keep living her life. **spoiler ends** She knew how to put first things first. Although at first Maheude—in her rage towards the Company who put them all into extreme poverty—detested the idea of going back to work until the Company has fulfilled their requisition, in the end she obliged to act the opposite. Not only letting the children back to work, Maheude herself must get to work, even if it was the lightest job with the lowest wage in order to survive.

© Bridgeman Art Library / Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris, France /
Archives Charmet [source]

What I like most of her was despite the great suffers she must endured because of the strike, Maheude never hated Étienne who had transplanted the idea of striking in the miners' minds at first place. She did not treat him badly after the event, like others did, she kept the friendship with him. Other than that, it’s only Maheude—a woman who suffered the most—who still hold a vague hope of a better future, who rejected to surrender just like that. It is Maheude who could see that it was just the beginning of something bigger than that, the germination!

I would always see Maheude as a very brave woman, who never lost hopes for the better, and hold to her principle to the last. She was poor in life but not poor in soul.

Étienne Lantier on Germinal

Étienne was the protagonist in this book about mine workers in their struggle under the bourgeoisie’s power. Étienne was the son of Gervaise and Lantier in L’Assommoir, born from the drunkard parents. Without any money he came to the settlement after having thumped his former boss. Étienne, despite of his poverty and unlike any other miners, was quite an educated man. He liked to discuss politics with his comrade and read a lot of books, especially books about socialism. And not only reading, he was thirsty of all the new knowledge and absorbed them all in his leisure time.

Although not described in detail in this book, I choose to imagine Étienne as a quite handsome young man with a polite manner. He had a shyness towards a woman, that when it’s obvious that Catherine (one of the female protagonist) also liked him, Étienne still wordlessly in front of her. In short, Étienne was an outsider. Not only that he came from other town, but he had a manner of self respect and of ‘higher level’. Maybe if his parents did not that poor, he could have been educated and being one of the bourgeoisies. It was he who first felt the need to do something against the unfair treatment towards the mine workers, while the workers themselves had been accustomed to submission and passive obedience.

So with the combination of his concerns and his knowledge, he started to share his ideas about demanding their rights against the bosses. Then suddenly Étienne became a leader (and I imagine that he seemed to fit that position, with his handsome face, educated mind and he learned fast the skill of effectively talking to a crowd). Little leader at first, then the snow ball rolled, and there he was, ready to lead a strike, a big strike of thousands of men and women! Here I then saw his weakness. He became proud of himself, he enjoyed the sense of being a leader, of overpowering his comrades, when everybody listened to what he said, and did what he told them. He overestimated his own capability though, with his only short self-education, he just thrown the theories into practices, never having thoroughly calculated and planned his movement.

I don’t know whether alcoholism was hereditary, but Étienne noticed himself that when his body has contaminated from certain numbers of alcohol, he would lose control, and brutality would came to him out of nowhere. That was why he thumped his former boss, and that’s why he lost his temper during the strike. Was that because he inherited some bad cells from his drunkard parents? I don’t know…. Through the entire story I have been hoping that Étienne won’t fall at the temptation of drinking. Let him always be in his consciousness that had prevented many killing attempt from his comrades.

One thing I like from him was how he loved and treated Catherine. Unlike his comrades, Étienne treated women tenderly, he had a respect for them. Especially with Catherine, although he knew that men often bumped at their women just like that, and although he knew that Catherine had a crush on him and would be submissive enough to him, he never forced her. It might partly because of his shyness, but I prefer to believe that somehow Étienne had a respect to Catherine because he really loved her. Étienne  never blamed Catherine for choosing Chaval, and on the day of the disaster on the pit, Étienne—despite of his decision not to go down again and calling them who did that a coward—decided finally to go working only to protect Catherine from the angry Chaval.

And when the disaster came, Étienne always protected Catherine, covering her with life as best as he could. How sweet those scenes were….

What I love the most of him was that he always found new hope from the bitter falls. People do make mistakes, but at the end it’s how they do out of it that’s important. When he knew that the comrades turned away from him with hatred, he did not give himself long time to regret, he knew what he must do, going from there to renew his knowledge and to make himself useful at other place.

Germinal

[conclusion in English is at the bottom of this post]

Germinal adalah buku ketiga belas dari dua puluh novel dalam seri Rougon-Macquart karya Émile Zola. Bersetting di kota daerah pertambangan di Prancis pada akhir abad ke 19, di mana industri sedang mengalami kelesuan. Yang paling merasakan dampaknya (seperti biasa) adalah para pekerja pertambangan yang setiap hari harus bekerja keras di lubang-lubang kecil ratusan meter di bawah permukaan tanah untuk menambang batu bara; dengan resiko kehilangan nyawa setiap saat, demi mendapatkan upah yang sangat minim untuk sekedar dapat melanjutkan hidup dari hari ke hari.

Étienne Lantier tiba di distrik Montsou, pengangguran yang sedang mencari pekerjaan untuk menyambung hidup. Ia tiba di pertambangan Voureux, berkenalan dengan keluarga penambang bernama Maheu, yang kebetulan sedang membutuhkan seorang pekerja. Jadilah Étienne si pendatang baru dari kota lain, seorang pria muda yang lumayan tampan, suka membaca dan berpendidikan, menjadi salah satu penambang di situ. Lewat mata Étienne kita diajak melihat betapa kerasnya pekerjaan mereka, betapa penuh bahaya, dan betapa tidak manusiawinya perusahaan pertambangan itu memperkerjakan mereka.

Kemiskinan dapat terlihat di mana-mana, yang akhirnya menjalar pada kemerosotan moral keluarga penambang. Dengan upah yang pas-pasan mereka mempertaruhkan nyawa, dan seringkali karena kesalahan kecil mereka, upah yang sedikit itupun harus dipotong. Étienne mulai merasakan ketidakadilan di sana, dan mulai timbul dorongan untuk membuat perubahan. Ia mulai belajar dari beberapa buku, termasuk dari pelopor serikat buruh yang memperjuangan nasib pekerja di Paris. Bisa ditebak, Étienne mulai mempengaruhi para penambang dengan ide-ide perlawanan terhadap perusahaan untuk mendapatkan hak mereka. Sedikit demi sedikit, lewat rapat-rapat dan orasi-orasi, Étienne mengumpulkan partisan.

Kemudian momentum itu tiba, perusahaan memberlakukan peraturan baru, yang pada akhirnya menurunkan upah yang mereka terima. Upah yang sudah tak cukup itu harus kembali dikurangi. Maka mendidihlah kemarahan mereka, dan dengan segera mereka memutuskan untuk mengadakan demonstrasi dengan Étienne sebagai pemimpin mereka. Demonstrasi ini segera menyebar hingga hampir seluruh pertambangan harus berhenti berproduksi. Akankah mereka berhasil mencapai tujuan mereka, agar perusahaan makin memperhatikan kesejahteraan mereka, sementara perusahaan dan pemegang saham pun terkena imbas kelesuan dunia industri? Akankah yang lemah akhirnya menang?

Meski tampaknya novel ini dipenuhi ide-ide sosialisme, namun Zola berhasil meramunya dengan cantik. Selain Étienne, ada keluarga Maheu yang menjadi pusat cerita, belum lagi para penghuni kompleks pertambangan itu. Di sini kita seolah menyaksikan sendiri suka-duka mereka semua, bukan hanya soal pekerjaan, namun juga tentang cinta, keluarga, dendam, harapan, amarah, dan semua kompleksitas yang terajut dalam benang kehidupan manusia, dengan kemiskinan sebagai awal dari segalanya. Lewat Germinal kita bisa menyadari bagaimana kebejatan, nafsu membunuh dan kriminalitas biasanya bermula dari kemiskinan dan ketidakadilan. Sementara kita mengutuk tindak anarkisme dalam sebuah demonstrasi, lewat Germinal paling tidak kita tahu bagaimana kemarahan yang lama terpendam, dari generasi ke generasi, akan meledak hebat pada suatu saat, bak gunung berapi yang telah bertahun-tahun tidur, padahal selama itu sedang menggodok magma di perutnya, untuk suatu saat memuntahkannya dengan penuh kekuatan. Salahkah mereka? Atau siapakah yang sebenarnya bersalah?

Germinal menggabungkan ide Darwinisme (yang kuat akan memakan yang lemah) dengan sosialisme, menghentak dalam penggambaran dashyatnya kekuatan ‘yang lemah’ ketika mereka menggalang persatuan, serta dahsyatnya kemiskinan dalam merenggut hidup manusia. Kekuatan itu lalu dilembutkan Zola dengan metafora-metafora cantik, juga kisah cinta yang menyesakkan dada dalam thriller drama penyelematan di area tambang. Dan gabungan dari semuanya membuat Germinal sebuah kisah yang selalu relevan hingga kapanpun, bagi siapapun. Tak heran Germinal masuk (dan ia lebih dari layak untuk masuk kategori ini) dalam 1001 Books To Read Before You Die di urutan ke-824, karena memang, entah kapan, anda HARUS membaca buku yang dahsyat ini sebelum anda mati!

Lima bintang untuk Germinal!

Judul: Germinal [in English]

Penulis: Émile Zola

Penerbit: Wordsworth Classics

Terbit: 2007

Tebal: 478 p.

Conclusion:

Germinal is my third book of Zola, and I can say that it already becomes one of my favorites. Germinal is not only a story about the classic fight between workers and company, the poor and the have, it is also about the agony of poor working class. Germinal was written from Étienne Lantier’s (Gervaise’ son in L’Assommoir) point of view. He was an engine man came to a coal mining town Montsou to find a job. From his eyes, Zola took us to watch the sorrows of coal miners who worked hard under poor conditions for very small wages which could hardly support their poor lives. And for generations this condition has never changed; and they seemed to just accept it; to be overpowered by the bourgeoisie and the industrial machines called capitalism.

“No matter how hard we might struggle, we probably wouldn’t change anything. The best is to try and live honestly in the place in which the good God has put us.” ~Maheude, p. 86

Until Étienne—a quite educated young man—appeared from nowhere, mingled with the settlemen, and little by little affected their way of thinking. They soon put him into their lead, with a dream to dethrone the wealth and to regain their freedom and rights. The question was, what was the best method to carry it; anarchism? Long term evolution? Or strikes?

Germinal was a combination of humanity, Darwinism and socialism, packed beautifully with metaphors and romance. This is the third Zola’s I’ve read so far, and compared to Therese Raquin and L’Assommoir (sorry, the reviews are still in Bahasa Indonesia). Germinal was less distressing and less striking. Yes, Zola still described poverty, hunger and moral degradation brutally to the most extremes, yet he still slipped a hope, a bigger hope for a better future in the end. Germinal was only the beginning, the seeds sowing of workers’ battle against the oppression of capitalism. Germinal would show the world that there is a possibility for the weak to fight the strong. It only took time and refinement, and one day the seeds that were now germinating would harvest perfectly and change the earth.

What interested me the most is the metaphors Zola used throughout this story. First of all, the way he described the surroundings in the mine from the eyes of the newcomer Étienne. Zola often used the terms of animal’s digestion in describing the mine pit.

“And the Voureux, at the bottom of its hole, in contractions those of an evil beast, continued to grind away, breathing with a heavier and slower respiration, appearing troubled by its painful digestion of human flesh.”

 “The shaft swallowed men by mouthfuls of twenty or thirty, and with so easy a gulp that it seemed not to feel them go down.”

I only think, that it is the way Zola described capitalism which swallowed people and crushed them in poverty just like a monster digested human flesh; and what a beautiful metaphor they are indeed!

Zola also closed the story in a very beautiful and touching way. The rescue drama in the tumbling pit near the end of the story was really breathtaking, but approaching the end it was also warming my heart with love. And the final ending was superb! I love the final quote which brought a new hope for a better future, and look how Zola crafted it with nature’s elements of a new spring for the world, the most beautiful metaphor from this book.

Five stars (obviously) for Germinal, which have just become my new favorite!

Germinal - A Classic Challenge August: Quote

The August prompt for A Classic Challenge is so far the one I like most! It’s the simplest and most exciting of all :)

Rather than a questions this month's prompt is to share a memorable

Quote

... or a few of them from what you're currently reading. Try to select one that are not so well-known but, of course, if you can't help yourself share it too!

I have just finished reading Germinal by Émile Zola, and  LOVED it so much! This time it’s not only distressing, but Zola slipped a hope for a better world at the end of the novel. It reflected on the ending—and I found myself reading this quote over and over again, always feeling warm after that. And I also enjoyed Zola’s beautiful metaphors here….

“Now the April sun, in the open sky, was shining in its glory, warming the earth as it went into labour. From its fertile flanks life was leaping forth, buds were bursting into green leaves, and the fields were quivering with the growth of the grass. On every side seeds were swelling, stretching out, cracking the plain, filled by the need of heat and light. An overflow of sap flowed with whispering voices, the sound of the germs expanded in a great kiss. Again and again, more and more distinctly, as though they had come right up to the soil, the comrades were hammering. In the fiery rays of the sun, on this youthful morning, the country was pregnant with this rumbling. Men were springing forth, a black avenging army, germinating slowly in the furrows, growing up for the harvests of the next century, and their germination would soon overturn the earth.” ~p. 478 (closing quote).

Don’t you just love it?