Earth and Germinal

These are two naturalist novels of a pronounced sociological stamp: almost social inquiries.
In La Terre, Zola depicts, ruthlessly and without the slightest concession to idealism or optimism, the economic and social reality of French agriculture at the close of the nineteenth century.
Nothing is spared; in particular, the family and human relationships are shattered by the greed for property and an ingrained habituation to violence.
In Germinal, which portrays the plight of the miners and one of the earliest workers' strikes, the style remains strictly realistic, yet idealistic notes emerge, tied to the conviction that one is witnessing the first steps of a great movement—the labor movement—destined to achieve social and political gains.
Although the novel’s conclusion is tragic, the reader comes away with a certain optimism.
Contemporaries favored Germinal over La Terre, but today it is undoubtedly the latter that stands out with greater validity, particularly for its narrative pacing (that of Germinal is somewhat tedious) and its depiction of the French countryside.
These are two great social novels that place Zola among the greatest writers of this genre.