Product Description

Zola's masterpiece of working life, Germinal (1885), exposes the inhuman conditions of miners in northern France in the 1860s. By Zola's death in 1902 it had come to symbolise the call for freedom from oppression so forcefully that the crowd which gathered at his State funeral chanted 'Germinal! Germinal!'. The central figure, Etienne Lantier, is an outsider who enters the community and eventually leads his fellow-miners in a strike protesting against pay-cuts - a strike which becomes a losing battle against starvation, repression, and sabotage. Yet despite all the violence and disillusion which rock the mining community to its foundations, Lantier retains his belief in the ultimate germination of a new society, leading to a better world. Germinal is a dramatic novel of working life and everyday relationships, but it is also a complex novel of ideas, given fresh vigour and power in this new translation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89963 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Customer Reviews

Rubbish Translation of a fine book by Zola
First of all, it's important to say that Zola is one of my favourite Authors, and someone that should be read by a lot more (English speaking) people. As with all foreign authors, a good translation is necessary. Unfortunately, this isn't it. You really can't afford to read a book this length in this poor a rendering, not least as you'll have to re-read section after section just to understand what's going on.

A far better translation is given by Roger Pearson, who's generally reliable when it comes to Zola:
Germinal (Penguin Classics)

Don't put yourself through unnecessary pain! Read this book in a recognisable form of English - if this translation was your only experience of Zola you'd be left wondering why he's generally regarded as one of the finest writers ever.

TERRIBLE TRANSLATION OF A MARVELLOUS BOOK
I reviewed this book when I read it as a Penguin Classic and in another translation done in the 1940's ( I do not know by whom) it is a marvellous read, evocative of the dreadful, life searing times that the characters lived through.

The Penguin edition is excellent but this one is awful - I have read it in the original French and the translator here just does not do the great tale justice. As I said in my other review this story has a salutary effect on anyone who reads it - but this may not be so with this Oxford edition. To be perfectly honest, I only read about half of this edition and gave up and went to my original Penguin one.

I just do not know how it came to be published - what a shame - Zola was a great writer and observer of his times and I feel that this translation could have put potential readers off reading other books by him.

Please do not allow this to happen - all of his enormous output is wonderful and, hopefully, if you manage to obtain a decent translation, you too will find a new source of great literature.

Germinal
First book that shook me to the extent that couldn't sleep for a week. Zola at his best.