This is an interesting paralel to the 1920´s (as you have spoken about Nana, that she was popular, because she was expensive), the same fact I have read in a book about Coco Chanel, when she dated Dimitri Romanov - she "left him" to a girl- friend with saying: "You can keep him, I cannot afford him anymore". :)
Very interesting, I must admit that I love Zola, but Germinal was too negative for me. So as I am reading Balzac and Hugo over and over again...I just cannot read Germinal for the second time. Else, I really like him, although he is sometimes very brutal. He is very naturalistic, which we can still apply to these times.
"Germinal" was my 'growing up' novel. I read it in a hayloft while holidaying with friends in the 'Massif Centrale ' around 1975. Just going into third year at university, "Germinal" defined my politics: the embryonic trade unions (Syndicats) the evil infiltration of Communism, the struggle to redress the balance between workers and capitalists - it's all there. A triumphal novel, even for a giant like Zola!
Thank you for sharing this brilliant lecture!
This is an interesting paralel to the 1920´s (as you have spoken about Nana, that she was popular, because she was expensive), the same fact I have read in a book about Coco Chanel, when she dated Dimitri Romanov - she "left him" to a girl- friend with saying: "You can keep him, I cannot afford him anymore". :)
Very interesting, I must admit that I love Zola, but Germinal was too negative for me. So as I am reading Balzac and Hugo over and over again...I just cannot read Germinal for the second time. Else, I really like him, although he is sometimes very brutal. He is very naturalistic, which we can still apply to these times.
"Germinal" was my 'growing up' novel. I read it in a hayloft while holidaying with friends in the 'Massif Centrale ' around 1975.
Just going into third year at university, "Germinal" defined my politics: the embryonic trade unions (Syndicats) the evil infiltration of Communism, the struggle to redress the balance between workers and capitalists - it's all there.
A triumphal novel, even for a giant like Zola!