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This is a dark story, and although I appreciated it, it did not have the same impact on me as the other Zola novels I‘ve read. In this story of lust and guilt, there were strong feelings of dread, but I didn‘t really have any sympathy for the characters due to their choices.

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I chose this book because I wanted to read something controversial and provocative. Unfortunately, Submission did not live up to my expectations. The book mostly (re-) tells the life story and struggles of two characters: the narrator, a fictional French university professor, and the actual author Huysmans. Overall, a too overly academic story for my taste.

I finished Part 1 of My Struggle Book 1 and needed a break. KOK is as intense as the way he looks! 😏 So I‘m back to 19th century France with Zola. I don‘t think this is a stroll-in-the-park kind of read, either 😅

Its one of those books that has always haunted me ever since and I have always wanted to re-read some 30+ years later.On my second reading I found it to be just as haunting, thought provoking and disturbing as I remembered it to be.This book touches me in so many ways and still leaves a footprint in my mind.Told from the main characters point of view we delve into what are the demons drive her, a college-aged student to eat herself to death? ⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of my issues with 19th-century novels is how many of them began life as serialized publications. When you get paid by the word, you're going to use a lot of words, and while I don't begrudge anyone trying to make a living, even a writer of Balzac's level can't make me care about the topography of the Indre River valley for four whole pages. The first 50-75 pages of this were like literary Ambien, but there were enough compelling parts...

I knew, we knew, that what we were experiencing was anything but the grand historical event, the vain, colossal judicial spectacle that we all had good reason to fear at the beginning. No: this was something else: a unique experience of horror, pity, proximity and presence. It was only very late in the day that I realised that the white box resembles a modern church, and that something sacred had been taking place there.
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Image: BBC news site

5⭐️ I expected Germinal to be crazy, but I didn‘t expect it to be THIS crazy. Zola went all out. His graphic descriptions could be horrific at times, and he pulled his readers to experience it along with the characters. Coal mining is a messy business, and working as a coal miner is basically living in hell. Pour in the disparity and conflicts between the bourgeoisie and the workers, and you‘d get an unforgettable read.

"To explain society through a theory of individual happiness expressly sought at the expense of others is a lethal doctrine, the harsh connotations of which drive man to believe everything he secretly gains, without the legal system, society, or individuals perceiving the damage done, is properly and duly acquired."

This book may be a slog, but there are some great (and painfully relevant) quotes scattered throughout.