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Germinal

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Germinal

By: Émile Zola
Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
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With flawless construction and impeccable detail, Germinal chronicles the conflicts, lusts, and deprivation of life in the coal fields of nineteenth-century France.

A father and three of seven children work brutal hours, facing such hazards as landslides, fire, and poisoned air, to scrape together enough money for food. When their lodger, Étienne, shares ideas of a workers' revolt, the family gradually embraces his plans. Soon the settlement is aflame with resolve to strike for better wages and working conditions. Savage and horrifying events ensue as miners clash with management and with each other. Where people once merely struggled for food they are now dying of starvation. The hungry wage war against the sated, against the resignation of their peers, and ultimately against hunger itself.

Published in 1885, Germinal helped establish Émile Zola as the leading figure in the French school of naturalistic fiction. This masterpiece has been called one of the ten best novels in the French language.

(P)1996 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Fiction Espionage
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Critic reviews

“A great prose epic, as it has seemed to some, worthy to compare with the great verse epics of old.”

(Havelock Ellis, physician, psychologist, writer, and, social reformer)

“Zola’s novel is a fascinating document on the political movements of the time.”

(Dominique Jullien, Professor of French and Comparative Literature)

“Coal mines have become rare, but the miners of Germinal are immortal...[it] is an exquisite tribute to their work, their misery and their eventual revolt.”

(David Baguley, one of the most respected authorities on the work of Zola)

“Few readers of audiobooks can match Frederick Davidson’s remarkable skill…He’s equal to the task [of] rendering this complex, yet worthwhile, novel accessible to all listeners.”

(AudioFile)
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This is one of Zola's greatest novels: it is a moving depiction of the British mining industry in early industrial France. Davidson deals well with the diverse characters, but his voice as narrator is not particularly pleasing!

An exercise in realism

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At first I was taken aback by Frederick Davis rendering of the text but it didn't take long to settle into his cadence and now I intend to listen to everything he's narrated.

The title, Germinal, comes from French Republican Calendar; the seventh month named from the Latin word 'germen', which means germination - encapsulating the hope for a better life that the principal characters are lead to believe they can bring about through industrial action. That makes it sound rather dry but it isn't.

The story is an epic tale of downtrodden French miners and various other characters that influence their miserable lives to varying degrees. One of the best descriptions of mob incitement and ensuing violence I have read.

A relevant book to ponder in this day and age.

Love the book and the narration

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Would you try another book written by Emile Zola or narrated by Frederick Davidson?

no

Any additional comments?

a great novel totally spoiled by dreadful unsuitable English upper class drawl and utterly characterless and drab narration. A crime

Unspeakably awful narration

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Germinal was the first novel of Zola that I read, and I loved it. I went on to read everything else of his (in translation). I was looking forward to listening to an old favourite. However, the narration is dreadful and this is the first purchase from Audible that I have actually given up on.

Dreadful narration

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Frederick Davis mumbles in a monotone; it is almost impossible to make such a great novel sound boring but he manages the 'almost impossible'. To be honest I don't think he understands a word of it, he reads as though he's translating from a language he doesn't understand.

Narrator spoils it

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