Germinal

by Emile Zola
I last read this book in 2007 and was reading in a relatively new translation,
It is the thirteenth book in the Rougon Macquart series charting second empire France.
This is the story of Etienne Lantier, the son of Gervaise from L'assommoir. It is a heartbreaking story of a family's and community's struggle through a mine strike. As ever the key characters are fleshed out wonderfully and Zola uses the contrast between the Bourgeoisie and the working class to great effect, It was a great read still and ties in very well with my reading around Marx. 9/10

The Beast in Man

by Emile Zola
A rereading of this novel, which was even more powerful than when I first read it, exploring mental illness and psychosis to a devastating conclusion. 9/10

Zola and the Victorians

by Eileen Horne
This is the story of the Vizetelly publishing house and the trouble it got into by publishing the novels of Emile Zola. It highlights the sheer madness of a society that allows a bunch of people with extremely clear views of what is right and wrong to drive public opinion over the edge of a cliff. The outcome of these 2 cases which resulted in Henry Vizetelly being imprisoned for 3 months had long repercussions in England with many books banned/destroyed. This was not reversed until the 1960's and the new laws on obscene publications together with the Lady Chatterley case.
The author of this book covers the ground really well but I found the novelistic style a bit much at times. I also would have to complain again about the poor editing, with words missed out or spelt incorrectly or merged together. Who does read these books before going out?
The dustjacket cover is fabulous! 6/10

Money

by Emile Zola
My second reading of this book and still very enjoyable. One cannot help feeling Zola would have loved to have been around in the years following 2008 and have written about unscrupulous bankers and a corrupt financial system. There is nothing new under the sun! 9/10

L'Argent

by Emile Zola
A very timely read of this the 18th novel in the Rougon Macquart series. It deals with the rise and fall of a bank toward the end of second empire France. It has many parallels with the current financial crisis and is perhaps a warning not to over react too much. These things are cyclical after all even if the scope widens to a global level.
Some of the book gets bogged down in technical stock dealing and the English reader suffers from there only being one translation in existence. Now would be a good time for a new full translation! Not one of Zola's greatest by any means but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would from some of the comments I had read earlier. 7/10
www.emilezola.info