Germinal 1.6

The chapter starts out with Étienne firmly resolute to never enter “that hell-hole” again. After being washed into this hostile and terrifying landscape in the middle of the night, getting his job by chance, and experiencing the descend into the mine and struggling through his first work day, this beginning seems “sobered up” in a sense that gives everything that happened underground a somewhat surreal, nightmare-ish feeling. “Now it was merely bare and dirty” -- it is described similar to something that would be frightening at night, but is something mundane upon waking up, or even something that seems other-wordly but the magic of which is lost in daylight. 

Tying back to the discussion about Zola’s animal imagery, there was a quote that caught my attention with respect to it: “he ought to get away from it there; for, with his superior education, he didn’t feel the same resignation as the rest of the herd...” I was wondering whether this is narrative commentary or how Étienne feels about the other workers. Additionally, this was definitely one of the times where it did feel condescending to me.

We get to know two new characters: Rasseneur, a former worker who was fired after being a protest leader in a strike three years previously, and his wife, who is described to want “to hold out for her rights, and settle for nothing less”. I hope she stays in the cast and we learn more about her!

Miscellaneous:

Germinal 1.5

The last chapter illustrated how physically taxing and hard the work in the mine is in general. The reader could already see that the workers gain an extremely low wage for the work that they have to do, that they are paid based on their team's output, and that they have to do upaid maintainance work on the mine (which is a very nice way to phrase it -- the corridors will collapse, burying them underneath, if they don't put up props and timber the walls during their regular work hours). In this chapter, there are several instances that show up how on top of that, they are treated unfairly and exploitatively, as seen by Négrels lines of argument:

We also get a glimpse of some interesting characteristics of the people we already know at this point:

The pit is organised by a "military command structure". Throughout the chapter, we see several instances of the effects of it, with the deputy pretending not to hear the protest until he can no longer ignore it or the person operating the elevator refusing to get the team up out of fear of punishment for it. Interestingly, the pit engineer Négrel holds more power than the overman Dansaert, but Dansaert seems to be more hated among the workers. Maybe it's because Dansaert is more present or because he has to actually oversee the measures inflicted by his superior.

Miscellaneous:

Germinal 1.4

In this chapter, we get a first impression of what working in the mine actually means. Especially the hewers’ work is horrible: they have to lie on their backs in a narrow space in order to be able to hack away the coal, leading to them literally walling themselves in. On top of the physical work, temperatures can go up to 35°C, there is not enough air to breathe, they constantly breathe in the coal dust, “vapours which [hang] heavy on the eyelids”, and the apparently ever-present methane gas. In Maheu’s case, water is dropping on his head constantly, making it difficult to see and getting painful as time progresses. But even the supposedly “easy work” that Catherine and Étienne do is extremely physically taxing: Catherines “joints [are] creaking, but she [doesn’t] complain” as she pushes the tub, and Etienne is completely exhausted and needs to lie down by the time they have lunch.

We learn that the mine (or at least the chimney) is roughly ten years old. The area where the characters are working is in constant danger to collapse -- we see Zacharie being worried about it, but also Maheu being completely desensitized to it. “Alright, so it might cave in!” The oaken supports propping up the ceiling are beginning to cave in, while in vicinity of the seam, no new ones have yet been put up even though the workers are progressively hollowing out the walls. The reason for this is given immediately: The workers have to do it themselves during their working hours, and as they work in teams and have to meet a certain tally of tubs, there is simply no time for it. We also learn that the recording clerk can reject a tub of coal if Catherine and Étienne are not careful to only load clean coal, and that not meeting the tally might result in "the return of their contract [being ruined]”.

Étienne goes to a series of emotions rather quickly when it comes to Catherine. One moment, he thinks she’s twelve and that “he [isn’t] attracted to her”, seemingly two minutes later he assumes she’s fourteen and wants to “grab her in his arms and kiss her on the lips”. And here I was, thinking we were safe. To make it worse, Chaval then kisses her “brutal[ly]” to ~stake his claim~ in front of Étienne. To make it even worse, Étienne is v sad and wounded because she ~led him on~. To make it even more worse, Catherine thinks that she doesn’t even have a chance to make a decision here.

When Étienne explained that he had hit his former boss in drunken rage, my first thought was that it was probably a story to cover up something else. Maybe it’s due to the translation, but he sounded to me very much like he was making it up on the spot in that moment. (I don’t know, I just thought it was interesting that this was my reaction.)

As for La Mouquette: @arcadianambivalence asked for thoughts on her characterization and I’ve been thinking about it in this chapter -- mostly because I really can’t judge the tone with respect to her. My first impression in the last chapter was that the narrative treated her pretty much neutral and didn’t present any kind of judgement. However, after this chapter, I’m not sure anymore -- I kind of felt like now Catherine (talking of an evil spirit who strangles “naughty girls”) was set up as a sort of morally upholding counterdraft to her? This also tied in with her telling Étienne “the most awful stories” about La Mouquette -- possibly, this is Étienne being shocked at Catherine knowing about ~these things~ though. I’d really like to know how the tone here would have been perceived by a contemporary reader.

“...her expression was gently submissive, as if she were getting ready to submit to the ways of the world and its menfolk” is another line where I’d like to know the authorial intent. Is it...supposed to sound...slightly creepy?

(woops, I totally thought we were doing a chapter each day, not every other... sorry for rushing ahead everyone!)

Germinal 1.3

Aaaand with this chapter we’re descending into Hellmouth. Dinner’s ready!

I didn’t understand whether the deputies telling Étienne to “wait for Monsieur Dansaert, the overman” held any significance -- it seemed almost ominous at the time, but in the end, he got the job by chance alone without the overman playing much of a role. So I’m a bit confused as to whether this was foreshadowing of some kind or not.

The next bullet point from my notes just reads “I’m probably imagining everything all wrong” which refers to the machinery, so...I’ll try to look up some pictures on the weekend and move on for now. “...without Étienne gaining any idea how these complex manoeuvres were achieved” -- at least I’m not alone in this! On a side note, here’s a picture of a Davy lamp. I suppose the introduction could have told me this, but all of the descriptions sound like they were written based on notes Zola made when actually visiting coal mines for research. Étienne’s confusion while first descending into it sounds like it might be the author’s own.

I picked up on the workers walking barefoot -- in the last chapter, I was actually confused because it was described in some detail what everyone was putting on, but the shoes seemed to be missing. 

I also haven’t quite understood how everyone’s work is actually organized. Maheu hires Étienne (with the overman’s consent) because otherwise “their output would suffer”, so it seems like he is responsible for this group -- but is this an official responsibility or a case of “if no one sees to the group being complete, we just won’t bother hiring replacement"? Related to that -- Fleurance’s death being announced in such a nonchalant conversation, then Étienne being hired on the go and “[her] shovel ready waiting for him” heavily drove the point home that they’re all replacable -- tying in with the cattle and food comparisons throughout the chapter.

The deputy (I really am confused by the different jobs and hierarchy), Richomme, an ex-miner, warns Maheu not to complain too loudly because the “walls have ears”.

The mining shaft is 554 metres deep and the descent takes a minute -- meaning they go at 9.2 m/s or 1811 feet/min which is roughly in the range of what I’ve seen skimming through a “The world’s 8 fastest elevators” article. So it's no exaggeration that it must feel like falling. As an illustration, 9.2 m/s equals the maximum speed you reach when free falling from a 4.3 m tall object.

Germinal 1.2

With the first chapter ending with Étienne changing his mind and asking for a job at Le Voreux, this chapter seems like we’re supposed to get a glimpse into what he is signing up for. At the same time, through Bonnemort we already have a connection to the family we’re seeing now. What stood out for me throughout the chapter was mostly how realistic the dynamics and relationships between the siblings seemed to me. All of their interactions seemed very vivid to me.  Additionally, Catherine and Jeanlin seemed very much the age they’re supposed to be -- there was no sign of the narrative depicting them as “old for their age”. When Catherine was first described, I was worried for a second that we were in for another paragraph à la Hugo on fifteen year-old Cosette. Therefore, I’m wondering now if this paragraph was intentionally subversive, as in wanting the reader to believe it was going to be a flowery description of a young heroine, but then describing the tolls her life has already had on her instead -- or if it’s just a case of me being traumatized by Hugo.

I’m also wondering to what extent the family we see in this chapter is a typical example of household organisation. Apparently, the children start working at a certain age (some time between nine and eleven) together with their father (and, in this case, grandfather). Maheu says that his wife’s job, on the other hand, is to stay home, “rake up the food”/handle the financials, and to take care of the children that are too small to work yet. Does anyone know how exemplary this is?

Apart from that, the complete lack of privacy stood out to me, as well as -- for some reason -- the brightly coloured walls. I suppose I had some other image in mind that clashed with them. Is this something, like, the mining company builds and furnishes the houses and while at it, paints the walls apple-green to lift the spirits? They did donate the picture of Napoléon III and Eugénie after all...

Fortnight pay day is shit. How are they going to make it through the week?

Germinal 1.1

Hello everyone, I'll be taking part in the Germinal book club. My Tumblr is @maraudeuselunaire but I'll be posting and reblogging from this blog to keep everything orderly for myself :D Just so you know that I'm the same person if I comment on or like a post. I'm going into this pretty much blind knowing only the rough basics on what this book is going to be about. Therefore, I'm actually not sure how much I'll be able to contribute and I'm expecting to state the obvious a lot of times. But I'll just share what comes to mind and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's thoughts! I'm reading the Oxford classics edition which was recommended.

In this first chapter, what mostly stood out to me (and gave a lingering impression) was the descriptions of the mining factory and the landscape and how they interacted. Instead of seeing what I suppose is going to be Étienne's future work place, it evoked the association of someone entering a fantasy or faery realm -- a "world of shadows", a "fantastic realm". I thought it was interesting how the factory towers didn't seem to interrupt the landscape, but that instead the description made it almost seem like it was a natural part of it ("northern lights hanging over the land of coal and iron") (Mordor?). All this was combined with a distinct feeling of "once you enter, you never get out again" which of course has a very real background that was also illustrated by Bonnemort, but to me, in this chapter and with the imagery used, it did feel almost like a supernatural element -- like you could slightly change the scenery and get the exposition to a gothic story. When Étienne decided to ask for work despite what he had heard, I found myself feeling like he should leave instead.

I found it interesting that Étienne commenting on Bonnemort's name almost broke the fourth wall considering that the name of the mine was a tell-tale as well. Would this be the one name that would stand out to a French reader of the time or is it a tongue-in-cheek remark? It almost seemed like one.

What we've learned so far about the unemployment as well as the conditions of employment is depressing already. With respect to Étienne, I'm curious when we will find out more about his background. So far, we know his age, name and profession, and that he hit his boss and was thrown out of Lille. But what happened there exactly?

A question: What do you think how Javert taking Marius for dead influenced his decision to bring him home? It’d make it easier for sure, but would he have done it as well if Marius was obviously going to recover? Or does Javert even really think he’s dead and not just say so?

In other news, I’m stuck with the mental image of Jean Valjean singing “Javert, that’s aaaaall I aaaask of yooooou” to the Phantom of the Opera tune.

Oh my god Is that Javert chasing Thénardier for whatever reason Is the reason Jean Valjean gets caught because Javert will stay outside the exit waiting for Thénardier to come back Is Thénardier going to send Jean Valjean right out of this exit I can’t believe this

5.2 - Leviathan’s bowels

So I definitely went into this with the wrong expectations because in the musical, when the sewer part comes up, I’m always like, “No. Not that. I can’t deal with that yet. Especially Thénardiers song. Just take it away from me, please.” Although recently, this overlaps with having to think about this post. Of course the part on which the Sewers song is based on probably comes up next, but a little break would be fine. What I’m saying is, the musical needs a song about the history of the sewers. I don’t know why but having this at this place in the novel is weirdly calming?? I was still in Distress when I picked up the book again, but this...I could do.

I didn’t expect to get emotional over this nevertheless, though. One second we’re talking about forgotten heroes, then they die, you think you’re reading just a little digression, and suddenly realise you’re reading about a forgotten hero again. Going on a dangerous expedition with the goal of betterment. Did Combeferre know about Bruneseau?

I’m still thinking about the part where Hugo is suddenly critical of the renewed sewer system. Maybe I’m getting it wrong, but to me it sounds like he’s basically saying (sorry for the phrasing), “shit stays shit even if you disguise it”. Like it’s a call for betterment not stopping when the necessary is done, but to start every work for betterment with a vision that goes beyond that. In a sense that improving the sewer was good, but it’s still based on the old (flawed) system (linking back to the first chapter where the idea of a drainage system was described), and that that is what makes it somewhat “dishonest”. Because it’s slowing down further improvement, maybe, as the worst flaws have been righted? But wouldn’t that be a very weird thing to say for Hugo considering all the Louis-Philippe talk we have already had? I might read too much into this.

“To go down into the sewers is to step into the grave”.  Is this the real life. Did Hugo just use that saying as the transition back to Jean Valjean and Marius. Do they literally step into the grave and out of it again. Didn’t Jean Valjean get enough of this back in the convent