Germinale by Émile Zola
Set in a northern coalfield, this naturalistic novel follows an idealistic young miner who becomes the leader of a desperate strike that exposes the brutal living and working conditions of miners and their families. As solidarity grows, internal rivalries, unrelenting poverty, hunger and violent repression by the authorities turn the struggle into a tragedy: lives are lost, homes and relationships shattered, and the attempted uprising is ultimately defeated. Yet amid the ruin there are moments of human courage and a sense that the suffering and ideas born in the pit will not be extinguished, suggesting the possibility of future social change.
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- Published
- 1885
- Nationality
- French
- Length
- Unknown
- Pages
- 400-600 pages
- Original Language
- French
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- Alternate Titles
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