Rating: 
Summary: a complex tale of labor and strife, told with efficiency
Review: After "L'Assommoir" and "Nana," I was accustomed to Zola's "naturalist" style of reporting the details and constructing a story to make a point about Second Empire society. But "Germinal" surpasses those two, mainly due to Zola's efficiency. Middle-class readers in his day were likely to have invested more time than contemporary readers in reading (no search engines or video games in the late 19th century), so it's understandable why "Germinal" is so saturated with detail. That being noted, this is a masterfully written and passionate book that makes for fast reading. Zola is at his best evoking the coal elevator, the movements of an enraged crowd, the gossiping wives of miners, etc., giving the reader a clear description of the sights, sounds and smells of the moment.
A few reviewers have interpreted this is a tale of oppresive capitalism. While much of symbolism (the mine that eats the workers, the sufferings of Catherine and so on) could give that impression, this is story of disasterous ideology. Set in 1866-1867, when the Civil War in the U.S. exacerbated the coal industry's overcapitalization in France, Etienne falls in love with the proto-socialist movement (instead of Catherine) and sets off catastrophe. The episode in which Etienne, Chaval and Catherine wait underground for their rescuers is a potent metaphor for his relationship with the miners.
There are a number of very interesting characters in this book, who evolve to the decaying situations around them and often end up doing some very shocking things. Sprinkled with references to Darwin, "Germinal" features multiple characters that seems to revert to animal-like behavior. Whether Zola was not into economic progress as some suggest here is debatable, but there can be no mistake that he wanted to show the tremendous sacrifices that are involved. The change to the timbering rules by the company, the charge by the miners to Jean-Bart, and the act of sabotage by the Souvarine all have their disasterous unintended consequences. And it has been unintended consequences that defeated Marxism. In this way Zola was prophetic.
Chaval is mostly portrayed as a cruel man who represents the natural urges that Etienne constantly battles. A very good website by a professor at Washington State mentioned that "Chaval" resembles "cheval," which means "horse." So the practicality, beast-of-the-mines existence of Chaval is linked by name to the very sympathetic horses in this story. In this way Chaval is a fully-developed character in "Germinal."
Does this book have contemporary interpretations? During the week that I read this, there were two newspaper stories about coal mining. One in the weekend Milwaukee paper, told of a labor shortage in American coal mines, where in Pennsylvania and Ohio, veteran miners are returning to the towns they once had to leave. Soon afterward, the N.Y. Times described a tragic collapse in a coal mine in the central Henan province of China, showing a picture of thin, grey-clad family members crowding a building next to the entrance to the mine, waiting for names of the survivors and the still missing. Given the (capitalist) history of the U.S. and the (Communist) history of China, would Zola be surprised by the content of these two newspaper stories in 2004?
Coal mining in the U.S., of course, is a segment of the economy of which many environmentalists disapprove; its fate may be decided by the upcoming presidential election. Zola's "Germinal" is a masterpiece (I enjoyed the translation by Leonard Tanock), but its lessons may not be as simple as some readers may hope.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting book
Review: Émile Zola's Germinal is a disheartening account of many people who work in the mines of the town of Montsou in France. In the beginning of this account, a young man called Étienne comes in to Village 240 in Montsou looking for a job that he finds in the Le Voreux coal mine. Here he meets the Maheu family. But during this work of fiction, Étienne becomes an instigator of a strike of the mining workers. This all due to the sneaky wage cut made the Grégoires mining company. The company has changed around the payment to make it look like the workers are getting the same amount of money, but the workers realize that it is a wage cut and end up striking. Almost all of the workers in the mine are already in terrible poverty and it only gets worse.
In the first part of the novel, Zola explains in great detail the condition and appearance of the mines. Also, we hear about the experiences' of the characters in the story, such as Grandpa Bonnemort always coughing up black !saliva. Additionally, we meet Levaque, Pierrones, and Mouque who are fellow miners. In Part Two, we are introduced to the wealthy Grégoire family in great descriptiveness as well as other top executives in the mining company. During Part Three, we meet Souvarine, a Russian who is a violent anarchist who wants to destroy many things. This begins the line of tragedy for the Maheus.
The story begins and ends in the spring; beginning in March and ending in April. These parts all show the germination of the characters in the story. In the beginning, many people were surviving with what they had. Even though the company decreased the wages, it would still be more money than the people made striking. During the 1880s in France, times were hard and things didn't change very quickly. The strike didn't make things any better for the workers; it just made things worse.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: Emile Zola reminds me very much of D.H. Lawrence. Both authors were deeply affected, and sympathetic to, the plight of the working class, particularly the colliers. Unlike Lawrence, Zola appears to have actually spent some time either working in, or studying, the actual physical experience of being underground. His descriptions of these excursions into the "earth's belly" are so affecting, that you actually begin to feel clausterphobic.
I've never read anything so descriptive to actually cause a physical sensation of pure repulsion.
This is an excellent story about the dismal, grinding poverty of the working class in 18th century France, where the miners had
seemingly no options, no political support, no social safety-net or regulatory body established for any sort of protection against exploitation. The sheer inhumanity of their situation is appalling - this is an excellent read, and intertwined is a love story that is equally compelling. I highly recommend this classic.
Rating:
Summary: A graphic blast of naturalism
Review: 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: 
Summary: an excellent portrayal of this time in history
Review: I read this book after watching the movie in my Modern European History class. At the time, we were studying that particular era in France. I loved the movie, and if I hadn't seen it, I don't think I would have been able to read the book. The story of Germinal is about the struggles of the working class in a coalfield of France during a time when industry was taking over. Lives were changing, and this class suffered greatly. The Maheus are the family that is the main focus of the story (the struggle). Etienne Lantier is a young man who comes to the coalfield searching for a job. He represents the guiding force throughout the novel. A complicated mass of events are occuring, and Zola does a great job making it sound realistic. By the end of the novel, few have survived, but that adds to the reality of the story. I love his writing style, which is illuminated by imagery and stunning metaphors. I found Germinal difficult to read, so if you don't read a lot of these types of books I recommend that you watch the movie first- you'll follow it a lot better. I found it hard keeping focus on the main theme in the midst of all the characters and happenings. But all in all, it is a classic and I would suggest it to anyone interested in european historical literature.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: I read this book one summer at a pool and was so engrossed that I failed to notice anything around me! It is a superb human interest story about how miners were forced to work in dangerous conditions facing black lung to earn a meager living to buy food. If you enjoyed The Grapes of Wrath or Upton Sinclair's The Jungle you will truely enjoy this book!
Rating:
Summary: The classic fiction of capitalism and its effects
Review: Now part of the canon, this story of a failed coal miners' strike is truly evocative of the wretchedness of life of the lowest of the low on the social scale. It paints a dire picture of work far below in the mines balanced against the misery going on above. Life is nothing but having desultory sex and scraping a living for the miners and their families, with no room for sentiment. The life of the mine-owners is also shown for all its inequality. Zola manages both the individual character studies - wretched Catherine, who at 15 moves to live with her cruel lover for if not him, it will just be another; Etienne, the stranger who comes to town and in his grasping to advance his position in society drags a township down; and a town full of individuals - contrary, differing and very much alive. Zola also writes brilliantly of the thinking and actions of a mob. It is almost as though the mob has its own individual character and actions. This is a brilliant, if pessimistic tale of the evils of capitalism in which the author also explores important universal themes - love, power, suffering, individuals and communities, the purpose of existence. Sadly, this book is as relevant today as the day it was written.
Rating:
Summary: Germinal by Zola
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A Depressing Masterpiece
Review: This brilliant novel depicts the endless struggle between rich and poor, here personified by coal miners and mine owners. Etienne, a down and outer, arrives at the mining village begging for work. Within a year he has convinced his fellow miners to go on strike. The company refuses to back down. The miners slowly starve and after a confrontation with the militia, which results in the death of many of the main characters, the striking miners give in. They have won nothing.
Catherine, the main female character, elects to return to work in the mines regardless of pay or conditions because the alternatives of starving or working in a brothel are worse to her than pushing heavy wagons underground. Etienne decides to go with her. They are both trapped when the pumping mechanism of the mine breaks down and the mine is flooded, trapping them both. After many days Catherine dies but Etienne is eventually rescued.
A well written and well-plotted book that in its narration of an unsuccessful workers' strike and its' aftermath brilliantly depicts the endless struggle between rich and poor, and also puts are present day petty problems into painfully stark relief.
Rating:
Summary: Unveiling the proletarian's world
Review: This penetrating, almost lurid novel, exposes the brutish life of the coal miner in late nineteenth century France. This well-written, detailed story, exposes the appalling conditions of the workers, at a time when labor was just starting to organize. The failure of organized labor to ameliorate these conditions, at the time, made many, including Zola, feel that a socialist revolution, if not inevitable, was certainly desirable. Zola has been referred to as the father of literary "naturalism". His literary vision captures life as it exists for the majority of the persons then alive, rather than the elite, whose lives had been the subject of most literature written up to this point. Germinal vivdly portrays the monotonous, near hopeless, life of the laborer: long hours; miserable working conditions that considerably shorten life expectancy and routinely cause medical problems early into middle age; and the almost common manner in which many young girls encounter their first lover (and often future husband) in non-consensual circumstances- in the mine, behind the barn, etc. Many readers were shocked or even outraged. Zola's characters are fairly well-developed, and their patheticness is disturbingly believable. The plot (which seems secondary) details the counterproductive attempt to strike by the organized coalminers. The book is peopled with aristocrats and bourgeoisie as well as workers; but its most salient and revolutionary aspect is its primary focus upon the miserable lives of the oppressed. The particulary egregious plight of the workers in this story may slightly overstate the plight of Zola's contemporary workers, but the detailed and informed nature of Zola's description of the coal mine's operation leaves little doubt that the oppression faced by this generation of workers was all too real. As a work of fiction, it is marred only by its incomplete, or unresolved ending, and the feeling that the development of the main character, Etienne, has not been fully realized, for better or for worse.
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