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L'Assommoir The Dram Shop Penguin Classics Émile Zola Robin Buss 9780140447538 Books

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L'Assommoir The Dram Shop Penguin Classics Émile Zola Robin Buss 9780140447538 Books

"L'Assommoir" is widely held to be Zola's masterpiece, and it is certainly true that in his brilliant depiction of the rise and fall of the laundress Gervaise Macquart he manages to leave behind for once the sometimes annoying baggage of his ideological and "scientific" preoccupations. The novel was designed to be a condemnation of the conditions facing the working poor in the Paris of the Second Empire, and Zola's usual methods of intensive linguistic and sociological research are very much on display. But above all, "L'Assommoir" is a book of unfogettable portaits that transcends the specific moment in time when it was written and has captivated readers for nearly 130 years. Gervaise is a truly memorable creation, drawn with loving care; the city in which she lives, the Paris of Haussmanization, is just as vividly rendered; the supporting cast of Lantier the scoundrel, the doomed Coupeau, the admirable but odious Lorrilleux and all their fellows combine to form a whole that really does deserve the sadly degraded encomium of "masterpiece." Read this one, and be captivated in turn!


Tags : L'Assommoir (The Dram Shop) (Penguin Classics) [Émile Zola, Robin Buss] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. With its naturalistic description and street argot, L'Assommoir vividly evokes the poverty and squalor beneath the superficial glamour of Parisian life under the Second Empire. But in telling the story of the rise and downfall of the laundress Gervaise Macquart,Émile Zola, Robin Buss,L'Assommoir (The Dram Shop) (Penguin Classics),Penguin Classics,0140447539,Literary,19th century fiction,Classics,Fiction,Fiction General,Fiction Literary,Literature - Classics Criticism

L'Assommoir The Dram Shop Penguin Classics Émile Zola Robin Buss 9780140447538 Books Reviews

I absolutely loved this book. It was successful both as a thrilling story and as a devastating commentary on the plight of the Parisian working class in the nineteenth century (although I am sure that it still has a lot of validity). You can't help getting drawn into the story-and you won't be able to put the book down-I don't think it aged at all.

Gervaise is a heroine you can't help rooting for. She's poor and hardworking, and like the other proletariat in the story, often referred to by her profession-laundress. She wants a better life for herself after her lover abandons her with their two sons. Pretty and industrious, she soon gets a suitor, who works on roofs. She doesn't want to give in to his advances because she doesn't want any more illegitimate children to deal with on her own.

However, her suitor has noble intentions and marries her. They so want the dignity and security of middle-class life that you ache for them. At at first they seem able to achieve it. They work hard, save, and begin to have a nice home and a happy marriage. However, when Gervaise's husband has a tragic accident, we soon realize how precarious working class life is-then, as it still inexcusably is NOW. Without his income, Gervaise will be living very precariously.

The real tragic pull of the story is that they almost made it-but then this accident plunges them into all kinds of problems-financial ruin, and ultimately alcoholism, adultery, broken health, and misery. It was so sad to see this family once desperately clinging to decency when all odds were against them, and then surrendering to poverty and humiliation, filth and addiction. I loved this book so much, and found its ending so sad and haunting.

I had to get the sequel, about Gervaise's ill-fated daughter "Nana", who becomes a courtesan, which is kind of predictable since she was so neglected and happened to be beautiful so she had a way out of her poverty-at least temporarily. (Gervaise's son is the hero of Germinal). It was good, but not as good as this. I think this is a magnificent book, and Zola at his best.
L'Assommoir was a scandal and is a novel of shocking horror.

According to one critic "Not realism, but filth; not crudity, but pornography."

Zola's depiction of society in the Paris slums is a grueling narrative to experience. As there seems to be no redeeming value or great political or sociological statements, one has to wonder what possessed Zola to put this story like this to paper. However, it should scare some readers with alcohol or co-dependency problems to get out if you can.

The sequences in which a drunken father tortures his eight year old daughter are the most punishing I've read in serious literature.
I like to get French literature in my first language. Hope you contine to offer more that I may be interested in.
This represents Zola at his best!
It is intended to be a real depiction of Parisian working class society in 19th century. criticized after publication for its vulgar language and over exaggerating the alcohol addiction among working people .
the story is tragic and predictable. it is about Gervaise; a pretty young girl who will be abandoned by her lover, Lantier shortly after moving to Paris from the country, leaving her with 2 children and no money .she recovers and starts a new life working as laundress with strong determination not be tempted by another man again. however, in the magical world inside the L'Assommoir (a French pub that sells cheap alcohol), she will be soon dragged to another relationship with Coupeau,an honest looking roofer,that will end up in marriage.
Zola's mastery of "naturalism" is shining in the beautiful detailed description of the wedding feast and the cheap ceremony(that has a chaotic trip to the Louvre).
happy years pass and the family thrives, they buy their dream workshop and life looks sweet till a tragic fall from high building leaving Coupeau temporarily disabled.The fate of the family changes afterwards to the worst with rapid decline after the monster of alcohol prevails.
The husband becomes alcoholic and dies in misery, their daughter becomes ,in sequel novel, a prostitute, their workshop will be closed and worst of all she will be lost at the end to alcoholism leading to the expected poverty,starvation,weariness, destitution and degradation.
"L'Assommoir" is widely held to be Zola's masterpiece, and it is certainly true that in his brilliant depiction of the rise and fall of the laundress Gervaise Macquart he manages to leave behind for once the sometimes annoying baggage of his ideological and "scientific" preoccupations. The novel was designed to be a condemnation of the conditions facing the working poor in the Paris of the Second Empire, and Zola's usual methods of intensive linguistic and sociological research are very much on display. But above all, "L'Assommoir" is a book of unfogettable portaits that transcends the specific moment in time when it was written and has captivated readers for nearly 130 years. Gervaise is a truly memorable creation, drawn with loving care; the city in which she lives, the Paris of Haussmanization, is just as vividly rendered; the supporting cast of Lantier the scoundrel, the doomed Coupeau, the admirable but odious Lorrilleux and all their fellows combine to form a whole that really does deserve the sadly degraded encomium of "masterpiece." Read this one, and be captivated in turn!