Germinal (Penguin Classics)

Germinal (Penguin Classics)

by Émile Zola (Author), Roger Pearson (Translator)

Synopsis

Considered by Andre Gide to be one of the ten greatest novels in the French language, "Germinal" is a brutal depiction of the poverty and wretchedness of a mining community in northern France under the second empire. At the centre of the novel is Etienne Lantier, a handsome 21 year-old mechanic, intelligent but with little education and a dangerous predisposition to murderous, alcoholic rage. "Germinal" tells the parallel story of Etienne's refusal to accept what he appears destined to become, and of the miners' difficult decision to strike in order to fight for a better standard of life.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 592
Edition: Revised ed.
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Published: 29 Jan 2004

ISBN 10: 0140447423
ISBN 13: 9780140447422

Media Reviews
[Germinal] made me realize that when books are considered 'classics, ' most of the time they're actually very readable and exciting. --Daniel Radcliffe
Author Bio
Emile 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. Roger Pearson is professor of French at the University of Oxford. He is the author of critical works on Voltaire, Stendhal and Mallarme and has translated Voltaire, Zola and Maupassant.