Product Description

The seventh novel in the Rougon-Macquart cycle, L'Assommoir (1877) is the story of a woman's struggle for happiness in working-class Paris. It was a contemporary bestseller, outraged conservative critics, and launched a passionate debate about the legitimate scope of modern literature. At the centre of the novel stands Gervaise, who starts her own laundry and for a time makes a success of it. But her husband Coupeau squanders her earnings in the Assommoir, the local drinking shop, and gradually the pair sink into poverty and squalor. L'Assommoir is the most finely crafted of Zola's novels, and this new translation captures not only the brutality but also the pathos of its characters' lives. This book is a pwerful indictment of nineteenth-century social conditions, and the introduction examines its relation to politics and art as well as its explosive effect on the literary scene. This book is intended for students of French literature from A-level up; students of Realist novel, 19th century novel.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1614588 in Books
• Published on: 1995-01-19
• Original language: French
• Binding: Paperback
• 520 pages

About the Author
Robert Lethbridge is Fellow and Director of Studies in Modern and Medieval Languages at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Margaret Mauldon lives in Amhurst, Massachusetts, and is working on other World's Classics translations.

Customer Reviews

A desperate tale of poverty and hardship in the 19th Century
The books of Emile Zola were recommended to me by a friend so I decided to try this one. It exceeded all of my expectations; I was prepared for a difficult, laborious read and instead found myself instantly engrossed. I find it incredible that a book written over 125 years ago could be so enjoyable today. I don't often read classic literature, finding it sometimes to be a struggle, but can honestly say that this entire book was a pleasure to read (even if some of the scenes were unbelievably disturbing).

The book ultimately recounts the life of Gervaise, a young French woman. We see her climb high and achieve happiness and success, but then witness the downwards spiral of her destruction. But the book isn't solely about Gervaise, as Zola introduces many other characters, whose traits all juxtapose with one another, creating a melting pot of comedy, drama and tension. He also depicts the most dreadful scenes of poverty and hardship, scenes that are almost unbelievable to imagine living in the luxury of the 21st Century. Zola's talent in slowly building up characters and plot make the book the success it is; he takes his time to describe scenes, for example he spends the whole of Chapter 7 describing Gervaise's great feast. But these lengthy scenes don't hinder the novel in the slightest, instead they give the reader time to slowly and gradually absorb all of the details. I felt as though I had stepped into the pages of this book.

Overall a remarkable piece of writing. This will certainly not be my last novel by Zola.

L'Assommoir is the greatest work of an unapreciated genius
This is probably Zola's greatest work combining his overpowering skill as a descriptive author alongside the empathy for his characters that he inspires. In L'Assommoir, Zola achives an intricate portrayal of Parisian life in the nineteenth century through the intentions and thoughts of his characters without getting swamped in overworked plot or character description. This work is a masterpiece of human thought and feeling which I highly recommend.

By far the best classic novel!
I studied this book for part of my English Literature dissertation and can safely say it is the best piece of literature I have ever encountered, on or off my university course. Once I managed to pry it away from myself long enough to write a review, I found it nearly impossible to find the right words to give this book the justice it deserves.

Zola chose to defy the modesty and restraint exercised by many authors in the nineteenth-century, and instead exposed the harrowing lifestyles and troubled relationships of working class Paris. He focused on the immense hardships the poor struggled to overcome and brought to light the harsh realities of the lower classes in their daily struggle to survive. He accurately portrays nineteenth-century working class Paris, combining sorrow, misery, anguish, desperation and despair to produce one of the finest, most descriptive and most moving texts the period can boast.

Zola's frank, yet touching manner of expressing himself without glorifying any details ensured the text was given my full attention from start to finish. I found the base treatment of women and the crude behaviour and beliefs of certain characters deliciously shocking, and this was in the year 2005! I couldn't help but wonder how reading audiences reacted to it in 1877 and found myself compelled to research this text as part of my university studies and learn more about it.

I haven't yet discovered a book that has generated so much power and feeling, having summarised my own thoughts of this book and having read through other reviews of it. It is so much more intense and heart-felt than many modern texts. I have since ordered Nana and am keen to experience more of Zola's works; fortunately there are plenty more of them to keep me satisfied! If they are anything like L'Assommoir, then I know I won't be disappointed.