The Germinal - Emile Zola

I wanted to read this novel since a year or so and finally made it. I absolutely loved Zola's writing. Germinal is a masterpiece and I am happy to have read it. It is the thirteenth novel of the famous 'Rougon-Macquart' series.  This is my first book in the series and first by Emile Zola. There is no need to read the series in order. But I would love to read it so, somewhere in the near future.
It was first published in 1885. Zola wrote this book after a year of research and travels to the mining countries in Northern France. It exposes the pathetic life of mining community in a small French town called Montsou. The novel's title comes from the name of the 7th month in the revolutionary calendar. Germinal was the period of April-May, symbolizing the spring time of revolution.
The protagonist Etienne, having lost his job, reaches Voreux, a coal mine near Montsou in search of a job, almost dying of hunger. Though he is a mechanic, he takes the job as a miner and becomes part of Maheu's crew. The mines are described in detail. Zola describes the village of the mining community, which is named Two hundred and forty. He shows vividly the horrific living conditions of the mining community describing in detail the house and the daily routine of the Maheu family. Etienne is attracted towards Catherine, Maheu's daughter who is friendly. But Chaval takes Catherine as his girl friend. Though Catherine is not fond of Chaval, she thinks that it is her fate and she has no alternative. Chaval is a brutal man, and injures Catherine whenever he gets chance. Etienne and Chaval become rivals straightaway and Zola goes on to tell a disturbing triangular love relationship. Etienne is educated and is disturbed by the near slave life of the miners. He stays at Rassaneurs, where he befriends Sauvarine, a Russian anarchist. Etienne seeds revolutionary ideas among miners. He finally leads the workers to strike, when the wages are reduced. The strike which starts as silent revolution, soon turns violent. Though the strike ends with no imminent change in the living conditions of the miner, zola ends the novel with hope.

"Now the April sun, in the open sky, was shining in his glory, and warming the pregnant earth. From its fertile flanks life was leaping out, buds were bursting into green leaves, and the fields were quivering with the growth of the grass. On every side seeds were swelling, stretching out, cracking the plain, filled by the need of heat and light. An overflow of sap was mixed with whispering voices, the sound of the germs expanding in a great kiss. Again and again, more and more distinctly, as though they were approaching the soil, the mates were hammering. In the fiery rays of the sun on this youthful morning the country seemed full of that sound. Men were springing forth, a black avenging army, germinating slowly in the furrows, growing towards the harvests of the next century, and their germination would soon overturn the earth."

 

The Turn Of The Screw - Henry James

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is a gothic ghost story published in 1898. An unnamed governess was appointed by a handsome and wealthy man to take care of his nephew and niece, whose parents have died in India. The man gives the governess full charge and with a condition not to bother him at all. The governess goes to his country estate house, Bly at Essex. The story is in first person narrative by the governess. The previous Governess and a servant had died recently at Bly. Apparitions are seen by the governess. I am not going to tell the story...
I admit that there are not much of ghost actions you expect in a ghost story to give you the horror and chill. Yet, the narrative is vivid giving an eerie chill, and keeping you in mystery. Definitely it is a thrilling read.

Hospital Sketches - Louissa May Alcott

I read this book last year for LMRC, but didn't blog about it then. As it is in my Classics Club List, I am writing about it now. This is a novella where the author writes about her experiences as a nurse during the civil war. Alcott fictionalizes her short career as a nurse and gives herself a pseudonym, Tribulation Periwinkle.
Tribulation Periwinkle looking for something to do follows her brother Tom's advice and decides to become a nurse for the union army. She does get an appointment, not at her desired place, but at Hurly-burly hotel which is running as a temporary hospital. She goes on to describe her hardship in reaching the hospital at Washington DC. She then describes her job as a nurse. She was called upon to wash the wounded, immediately on arriving. Though she was embarrassed at first, she masters the art of nursing. Soon, she was promoted as head nurse of the night shift. She calls her patients, her boys and treats them motherly. She tells about her boys and the process of nursing. I was moved particularly by the story of John, a blacksmith from Virginia. Though the horror of war is felt, the narrator's tone alleviates the depressing mood.  Nurse Periwinkle was forced to leave the hospital when she falls ill and her father brings her home. In the last chapter, "A postscript," she answers the questions her readers had raised.
In her own words, Hospital sketches showed her what she called "her style", the telling, with heart and humor, of life as she lived it.