"You can yell against the rich, you miss the courage to give back to the poor the money that the Fortune sent to you, you'll never deserve happiness as long as you possess something, as long as your hate for the bourgeois comes from your enraged need to become bourgeois at their place"
This is one of my favorite books, along with L'Assommoir. I enjoy descriptions of workers' lives and struggles; it's very raw, sad, but humane. Zola's characters never disappoint me, there's always something interesting and relatable about them, even if the times and conditions are now different . I'm hoping to pick up a new Zola book soon, but I need to finish Dracula first. :)
I certainly do too, they have a very particular kind of human melancholy. Yes! I love his characters in all the forms they take - and they stay with me long after each novel is finished. I intend to too, though also have so many other books to finish!
I've had this book for so many years, along with other novels from Zola, but I haven't read any of his works... which is a little embarrassing considering that I'm french. Obviously I’ve heard about Germinal many times over the years, but I mostly know Zola through J’accuse and his close friendship with Cézanne, that I find quite touching. Funnily Zola thought Cézanne would have made the better writer and supposedly Zola was more gifted than Cézanne in the visual arts in school. Of course both men achieved renown in their respective domain. Anyway, you’ve made me want to read this soon and I’ll return to the video once I’ve read the novel! Thank you for the video and good day to you.
Somehow I can imagine it to be the kind of book that does sit on a lot of shelves waiting to be read for years! I his relationship to Cézanne very touching too, though I didn’t know about Zola’s apparent artistic talent so much which is intriguing. I intend to read The Masterpiece sometime soon in hoping to better know some of his interpersonal influences and such. I’m very glad, and I hope you enjoy it too! Thank you :)
@@booksintheattic It’s mentioned in a Cézanne biography that Zola won prizes for drawing, unlike Cézanne, who was otherwise an excellent student. I guess Zola found a way of expressing himself visually through photography later on, and perhaps you’ve come across the lovely photographs of his children. There’s a brief event related by Rainer Maria Rilke in a letter (Paris ; October 9, 1907) that’s worth reading, which mentions L’Œuvre and Balzac’s Le Chef-d’œuvre inconnu. I don't want to take up more of your time so I'll just end this by saying that I hope you continue making videos of this kind. :)
"You can yell against the rich, you miss the courage to give back to the poor the money that the Fortune sent to you, you'll never deserve happiness as long as you possess something, as long as your hate for the bourgeois comes from your enraged need to become bourgeois at their place"
Highlighted the same thing!
Thanks...i am currently reading it....great book.
I’ve often heard of Zola, but never read any of his books. But you’ve convinced me, and now I think I have to read one of them soon.
You absolutely must!
watching this for a test in class. this video was great much love xx💕💕
thank you! i hope the video helps 💕
This is one of my favorite books, along with L'Assommoir. I enjoy descriptions of workers' lives and struggles; it's very raw, sad, but humane. Zola's characters never disappoint me, there's always something interesting and relatable about them, even if the times and conditions are now different . I'm hoping to pick up a new Zola book soon, but I need to finish Dracula first. :)
I certainly do too, they have a very particular kind of human melancholy. Yes! I love his characters in all the forms they take - and they stay with me long after each novel is finished. I intend to too, though also have so many other books to finish!
I just finished it. Agreed, a masterpiece. I also could not put it down once I got into it.
It truly is! I still think about it often
@@booksintheattic Hoping to read more of the Rougon-Macquart books soon. If they’re half as good as this it will be time well spent
I've had this book for so many years, along with other novels from Zola, but I haven't read any of his works... which is a little embarrassing considering that I'm french. Obviously I’ve heard about Germinal many times over the years, but I mostly know Zola through J’accuse and his close friendship with Cézanne, that I find quite touching. Funnily Zola thought Cézanne would have made the better writer and supposedly Zola was more gifted than Cézanne in the visual arts in school. Of course both men achieved renown in their respective domain. Anyway, you’ve made me want to read this soon and I’ll return to the video once I’ve read the novel! Thank you for the video and good day to you.
Somehow I can imagine it to be the kind of book that does sit on a lot of shelves waiting to be read for years! I his relationship to Cézanne very touching too, though I didn’t know about Zola’s apparent artistic talent so much which is intriguing. I intend to read The Masterpiece sometime soon in hoping to better know some of his interpersonal influences and such. I’m very glad, and I hope you enjoy it too! Thank you :)
@@booksintheattic It’s mentioned in a Cézanne biography that Zola won prizes for drawing, unlike Cézanne, who was otherwise an excellent student. I guess Zola found a way of expressing himself visually through photography later on, and perhaps you’ve come across the lovely photographs of his children. There’s a brief event related by Rainer Maria Rilke in a letter (Paris ; October 9, 1907) that’s worth reading, which mentions L’Œuvre and Balzac’s Le Chef-d’œuvre inconnu. I don't want to take up more of your time so I'll just end this by saying that I hope you continue making videos of this kind. :)
Great review. With you!
Thank you :)
Just finished reading it (in french) and surprisingly enough, not much reviews to be found about it, so this video was a nice surprise 🙂
Glad to read this! I noticed there was a significant lack of Zola reviews on here (I’m surprised in French too) so I figured I’d put one out there.
Well, us the plebs thank you for your service 😌