![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrIXA23MY0Qd10eRog68JiA04RDzddVFk9cdLa7FDOf6EEGP2upcTO6iglXG9y9lRJFcuQ5rt8MJk2mT2Dnf3hoU6oIRo_NynMitPAY-CU_Wfni3dac2XqbQO66X3p_h0EmiHoIEa0kh-X1QREkuWdpQ1ldZAX2IRQWc5z64rZscN_JY16R7SRI9ROkrs/w421-h640/Germinal.jpeg)
Germinal
by Émile Zola
Genre: Fiction
Published: 1885
Page Count: 592 pages
Summary:
"Etienne Lantier, an unemployed railway worker, is a clever but uneducated young man with a dangerous temper. Forced to take a back-breaking job at Le Voreux mine when he cannot get other work, he discovers that his fellow miners are ill, hungry, and in debt, unable to feed and clothe their families. When conditions in the mining community deteriorate even further, Lantier finds himself leading a strike that could mean starvation or salvation for all."
"Over the open plain, beneath a starless sky as dark and thick as ink, a man walked alone along the highway from Marchiennes to Montsou,2 a straight paved road ten kilometres in length, intersecting the beetroot-fields. He could not even see the black soil before him, and only felt the immense flat horizon by the gusts of March wind, squalls as strong as on the sea, and frozen from sweeping leagues of marsh and naked earth. No tree could be seen against the sky, and the road unrolled as straight as a pier in the midst of the blinding spray of darkness."
THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice, but Freda is currently taking a break and Anne of Head Full of Books is filling in. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky.
'AT FOUR O‘CLOCK THE moon had set, and the night was very dark. Everything was still asleep at Deneulin’s; the old brick house stood mute and gloomy, with closed doors and windows, at the end of the large ill-kept garden which separated it from the Jean-Bart mine. The other frontage faced the deserted road to Vandame, a large country town, about three kilometres off, hidden behind the forest."
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July 26th-August1st - Do you have a favorite novel that captures the enchantment of summer nights or has unforgettable moments set under the stars? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)
If I ever get it written, my memoir about my summer working in Yellowstone Park will capture the enchantment of summer nights and have unforgettable moments set under the stars. If I ever get it written...