num_pages: 504
description: Despite the grimness of his subject and the accuracy of his description, Zola tells an irresistible tale of life above and below ground among the mining families of Montsou. By turns heroic, comic, touching and bestial, the novel never flinches from savage reality while managing to paint a moving picture of humanity at its limit and beyond.
language: English
title: Germinal
titlecomplete: Germinal
characters: Paul Négrel, Pluchart, Jeanlin Maheu, Chaval, Rasseneur, Toussaint Maheu, Étienne Lantier, Cécile Grégoire, Monsieur Grégoire, Deneulin, Constance Maheude, Zacharie Maheu, Catherine Maheu, Souvarine, Father Bonnemort, Léonore Maheu, Monsieur Hennebeau, Alzire Maheu, Madame Grégoire, Madame Hennebeau, Maigrat
genres: Fiction, Historical, France, French Literature, Roman, Literature, Classics, Novels, 19th Century, Historical Fiction
ratings_count: 36391
series: Les Rougon-Macquart
publisher: Everyman's Library