Germinal (Les Rougon-Macquart, #13)
Emile Zola's attention to the natural forces which affect human life as well as his meticulous observation of the social forces which mold human behavior revolutionized the novel. In Germinal, the artistic genius he brought to his method found vital expression. Its hero, Étienne Lantier, leaves the shambles of his Paris life and joins the victims of poverty and industrial Emile Zola's attention to the natural forces...