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Les Rougon-Macquart #3
The Belly of Paris
«Yo vivo en París, abro la ventana cada mañana y miro lo que tengo delante.» El interés por la actualidad y la necesidad de pintarla en toda su materialidad, como sus amigos los pintores impresionistas, llevaron a Zola a centrar en Les Halles, el Mercado Central de París −«una tímida revelación del siglo XX»−, la acción de la tercera novela del ciclo de Los Rougon-Macquart. En ella Lisa, una Macquart, próspera y rolliza propietaria de una charcutería, hospeda inopinadamente a su cuñado Florent, prófugo del penal de Cayena, convicto por sus actividades republicanas en contra del Imperio de Luis Napoleón. Las intrigas del mercado, donde todo el mundo se espía, traicionan las pasiones revolucionarias y Florent habrá de andarse con cuidado para no delatarse. El vientre de París (1873) combina la visión exuberante de un «París atiborrado», con mil olores y colores, con una trama política que desbaratan las bribonadas de «las personas decentes». Zola podría apropiarse de las palabras de su personaje, el pintor Claude, cuando dice que hace croquis para «un auténtico cuadro moderno».
660 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1873
About the author
Émile Zola
2,875 books3,980 followersÉmile François Zola was an influential French novelist, the most important example of the literary school of naturalism, and a major figure in the political liberalization of France.
More than half of Zola's novels were part of a set of 20 books collectively known as Les Rougon-Macquart. Unlike Balzac who in the midst of his literary career resynthesized his work into La Comédie Humaine, Zola from the start at the age of 28 had thought of the complete layout of the series. Set in France's Second Empire, the series traces the "environmental" influences of violence, alcohol and prostitution which became more prevalent during the second wave of the Industrial Revolution. The series examines two branches of a family: the respectable (that is, legitimate) Rougons and the disreputable (illegitimate) Macquarts for five generations.
As he described his plans for the series, "I want to portray, at the outset of a century of liberty and truth, a family that cannot restrain itself in its rush to possess all the good things that progress is making available and is derailed by its own momentum, the fatal convulsions that accompany the birth of a new world."
Although Zola and Cézanne were friends from childhood, they broke in later life over Zola's fictionalized depiction of Cézanne and the Bohemian life of painters in his novel L'Œuvre (The Masterpiece, 1886).
From 1877 with the publication of L'Assommoir, Émile Zola became wealthy, he was better paid than Victor Hugo, for example. He became a figurehead among the literary bourgeoisie and organized cultural dinners with Guy de Maupassant, Joris-Karl Huysmans and other writers at his luxurious villa in Medan near Paris after 1880. Germinal in 1885, then the three 'cities', Lourdes in 1894, Rome in 1896 and Paris in 1897, established Zola as a successful author.
The self-proclaimed leader of French naturalism, Zola's works inspired operas such as those of Gustave Charpentier, notably Louise in the 1890s. His works, inspired by the concepts of heredity (Claude Bernard), social manichaeism and idealistic socialism, resonate with those of Nadar, Manet and subsequently Flaubert.
More than half of Zola's novels were part of a set of 20 books collectively known as Les Rougon-Macquart. Unlike Balzac who in the midst of his literary career resynthesized his work into La Comédie Humaine, Zola from the start at the age of 28 had thought of the complete layout of the series. Set in France's Second Empire, the series traces the "environmental" influences of violence, alcohol and prostitution which became more prevalent during the second wave of the Industrial Revolution. The series examines two branches of a family: the respectable (that is, legitimate) Rougons and the disreputable (illegitimate) Macquarts for five generations.
As he described his plans for the series, "I want to portray, at the outset of a century of liberty and truth, a family that cannot restrain itself in its rush to possess all the good things that progress is making available and is derailed by its own momentum, the fatal convulsions that accompany the birth of a new world."
Although Zola and Cézanne were friends from childhood, they broke in later life over Zola's fictionalized depiction of Cézanne and the Bohemian life of painters in his novel L'Œuvre (The Masterpiece, 1886).
From 1877 with the publication of L'Assommoir, Émile Zola became wealthy, he was better paid than Victor Hugo, for example. He became a figurehead among the literary bourgeoisie and organized cultural dinners with Guy de Maupassant, Joris-Karl Huysmans and other writers at his luxurious villa in Medan near Paris after 1880. Germinal in 1885, then the three 'cities', Lourdes in 1894, Rome in 1896 and Paris in 1897, established Zola as a successful author.
The self-proclaimed leader of French naturalism, Zola's works inspired operas such as those of Gustave Charpentier, notably Louise in the 1890s. His works, inspired by the concepts of heredity (Claude Bernard), social manichaeism and idealistic socialism, resonate with those of Nadar, Manet and subsequently Flaubert.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 587 reviews
October 19, 2020
The cover of this novel should come with a warning. Well, may be not even just a warning, for it should be sold with a calorie counter. I am afraid I may have put on several kilos while reading this. Perhaps it would be advisable to read it while running on the treadmill. The lush descriptions of succulent food could well activate and stimulate the production of a peculiar kind of literary enzymes which multiply by ten the energy provided by ingested food if it has been deliciously described.
Warnings should go also for the vegetarians. Or the sections dealing with raw meat on display, black pudding, lard and all kinds of sausages, could make them feel disgusted with Zola. These ought to be marked and those who want their cholesterol (the LDL kind) somewhat high would be interested in giving it a pass. The pescetarian types could instead go direct to the Fish pavilion and read and smell the bounty piscary. Zola’s account of the fish counter has the variety and range of an oceanic aquarium. In all shapes and tints.
Flesh and Fish then. If these victuals are often presented in opposition Zola exploits this by making it drive some aspects of the novel. For the plot moves along the rivalry between the Butcher and Fishmonger ladies.
Other people may prefer to move ahead and read the counter on cheeses and butters over and over again. Never would I have thought that anyone would ever write such an Ode to the Cantals, Gruyères, Bries, Port-Saluts, Roqueforts, Monts-d’Or, Neufchâtels, of this world. Sumptuous and delectable. I certainly belong to that group, and if I could only put one update for this book, it would be this glorious passage. But then, I am a lacto-addict.
And even if the book first pays attention to the vegetables, it may be of interest to leave that section to read at the end. I always liked the French custom of eating salad at the end of meals. I don’t know why Zola did not follow this commendable habit here. No matter, his vegetables sparkle like colourful jewels.
But not everything is the food. There is history too. Although I have read a fair amount of Zola in the past, for its literary appeal, I was now drawn for its documentary value. And I have not been disappointed. This novel can be read as an intense social, economic and political document.
Although published in 1873, when France had installed the Third Republic, the novel is set in the early years of the Second Empire when the population of Paris had doubled in just a few decades. This was the time of the Haussmannization of the city, and amongst other projects, the Central Market of Paris was rebuilt in a structure of glass and steel pavilions to accommodate the provisioning of the city. Balzac had already been fascinated by the logistics required for the supply of food for the daily consumption of Parisians. And Zola followed Balzac’s steps in this too. Reading his Ventre de Paris one feels the compulsion to google all kinds of data relating to Les Halles of Victor Baltard (1805-1974).
But what fascinated me the most during this read was Zola’s exploration of the nature of substantiality and his blurring of the borderline separating the human from the material. In some of his descriptions there is a symbiosis between the individual and the corporeality of her/his world that goes beyond anthropomorphism.
Inevitably, I had to think of Arcimboldo’s fantasies..
For there is something Surreal in Zola’s Naturalism.
December 23, 2023
The Zola that abuses our senses the most! Taste, sight, smell, touch, hardly anything but hearing that spared, and more.
One of the masters of the description uses his talent to immerse us in the overcrowded, overheated, and overabundant world of the new Halles de Paris, the cathedral of glass and steel. The temple of the consumption of perishable foodstuffs beats in the heart of the capital, day and night, like a heart in a man's chest. This powerful machine, both the source of wealth and the haven of misery, harbors a people with disparate aspirations.
Emile Zola often cloisters his reader from the novel's beginning in a restricted space; he wraps up the neighborhood. His characters become familiar to us; we become their intimate. At this price, we can see, stripped bare, the beauty or the ugliness of their souls, spy on their gestures, analyze their thoughts, and anticipate their destiny.
"The belly of Paris" is not my favorite Zola, but it is so consistent with the Rougon-Macquart saga that it is a stunning building block nonetheless. Once again, Emile Zola understands there is a need to reserve literature for everyone.
One of the masters of the description uses his talent to immerse us in the overcrowded, overheated, and overabundant world of the new Halles de Paris, the cathedral of glass and steel. The temple of the consumption of perishable foodstuffs beats in the heart of the capital, day and night, like a heart in a man's chest. This powerful machine, both the source of wealth and the haven of misery, harbors a people with disparate aspirations.
Emile Zola often cloisters his reader from the novel's beginning in a restricted space; he wraps up the neighborhood. His characters become familiar to us; we become their intimate. At this price, we can see, stripped bare, the beauty or the ugliness of their souls, spy on their gestures, analyze their thoughts, and anticipate their destiny.
"The belly of Paris" is not my favorite Zola, but it is so consistent with the Rougon-Macquart saga that it is a stunning building block nonetheless. Once again, Emile Zola understands there is a need to reserve literature for everyone.
January 1, 2021
I’ve challenged myself to read the classic Rougon-Macquart book series by Émile Zola - in order. The Belly of Paris is the third of twenty novels, so it’ll take a while :)
The books tell compelling human stories and are down to earth and realistic in style. They provide a fascinating and authentic snapshot of life in France in the mid 1800’s.
This loosely linked series was written over a twenty two year period and is seen as Zola’s greatest achievement. The books I’ve read so far have been accessible (especially the modern translations) and many of the novels have been turned into films and tv series.
It’s the 1859 in Paris. Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte having been elected President of France and wresting much power from the Monarchy, has taken things a massive step further - he and his party have staged a coup d'état enabling him to dissolve government and take complete control of France. This period, known as the Second Empire is the backdrop to Zola’s book cycle.
Rather than being all about politics though, Zola’s aim is to study, through the branches of two very different families (the Rougons and the Macquarts) how their heritage and environment acts upon their lives.
Each book looks at a different section of French society.
In the case of this novel the theme is food and the feeding of France, with the centre of the action being Les Halles the massive glass and cast iron central market of Paris.
A rake thin, exhausted and starved man is found lying by the side of the road by a convoy of farmers as they slowly, trundle their produce into the centre of the city. It’s 4am and they kindly pick him up and deliver him to his estranged brother and sister-in-law, who own a smart ‘Charcuterie’ adjacent to ‘Les Halles’. We learn the man is called Florent, has escaped from a far flung prison and is making his way home - he’s a quiet, thoughtful, idealist who was incarcerated during the 1848 revolution.
Florent is at first an enigma to those around him, then he’s treated with warmth ......... and finally with distrust, in a narrative in which half baked political intrigue, petty rivalries and malicious gossip conspire to become very dangerous.
Life within the soaring, fretted halls of Les Halles is meticulously described. The sights, sounds and smells are palpable, stifling even. The sensuous descriptions of food are endless, and gluttony is a constant theme.
The character sketches are sharp - from the powerful, controlling matriarchs of the fish, dairy and meat markets to the men, comically self important as they ineffectually plot and scheme.
Thís is a colourful, bustling, story set among Paris’s working classes, shot through with social commentary and humour, and although not the most well known book of the series it was an enjoyable, fun and illuminating journey back in time.
Links to my reviews of the previous books:
The Fortune of the Rougons
The Kill
The books tell compelling human stories and are down to earth and realistic in style. They provide a fascinating and authentic snapshot of life in France in the mid 1800’s.
This loosely linked series was written over a twenty two year period and is seen as Zola’s greatest achievement. The books I’ve read so far have been accessible (especially the modern translations) and many of the novels have been turned into films and tv series.
It’s the 1859 in Paris. Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte having been elected President of France and wresting much power from the Monarchy, has taken things a massive step further - he and his party have staged a coup d'état enabling him to dissolve government and take complete control of France. This period, known as the Second Empire is the backdrop to Zola’s book cycle.
Rather than being all about politics though, Zola’s aim is to study, through the branches of two very different families (the Rougons and the Macquarts) how their heritage and environment acts upon their lives.
Each book looks at a different section of French society.
In the case of this novel the theme is food and the feeding of France, with the centre of the action being Les Halles the massive glass and cast iron central market of Paris.
A rake thin, exhausted and starved man is found lying by the side of the road by a convoy of farmers as they slowly, trundle their produce into the centre of the city. It’s 4am and they kindly pick him up and deliver him to his estranged brother and sister-in-law, who own a smart ‘Charcuterie’ adjacent to ‘Les Halles’. We learn the man is called Florent, has escaped from a far flung prison and is making his way home - he’s a quiet, thoughtful, idealist who was incarcerated during the 1848 revolution.
Florent is at first an enigma to those around him, then he’s treated with warmth ......... and finally with distrust, in a narrative in which half baked political intrigue, petty rivalries and malicious gossip conspire to become very dangerous.
Life within the soaring, fretted halls of Les Halles is meticulously described. The sights, sounds and smells are palpable, stifling even. The sensuous descriptions of food are endless, and gluttony is a constant theme.
The character sketches are sharp - from the powerful, controlling matriarchs of the fish, dairy and meat markets to the men, comically self important as they ineffectually plot and scheme.
Thís is a colourful, bustling, story set among Paris’s working classes, shot through with social commentary and humour, and although not the most well known book of the series it was an enjoyable, fun and illuminating journey back in time.
Links to my reviews of the previous books:
The Fortune of the Rougons
The Kill
January 4, 2022
Best book I read in November 2021
Si tuviera que empezar definiendo esta novela con una sola palabra, lo primero que viene a mi mente sería deleite, seguido por una recomendación a cualquier lector que se anime a leerla: NO hacerlo con el estómago vacío, ya que de lo contrario sería el equivalente a sufrir una tortura perpetua.
En El vientre de París, Zola nos transporta de principio a fin a un escenario del que quiere que seamos parte profunda y detalladamente: El mercado Central de París, conocido como Les Hayes y construido a mediados del siglo XIX (hoy inexistente). A través de descripciones como solo Zola las sabe hacer, somos testigos de todo lo que sucede en dicho mercado, desde las personas que trabajan en él hasta los productos que se comercializan: es aquí donde toma sentido mi consejo del principio, ya que al autor no le basta con que uno sepa que hay un puesto de verduras, otro de pollo, otro de pescado, etcétera, lo que a él le interesa es que tú como lector puedes sentir qué es lo que tienes delante, un cúmulo de texturas, olores y en ocasiones, sabores. Para conocimiento de todos, apenas terminé de leer la novela y ya me puse a investigar una receta para hacer la famosa sopa de col que aparece en alguna parte de esta historia.
Por supuesto que las descripciones de la carne no se quedan atrás, y no lo digo porque haya sido mi parte favorita —diría que todo lo contrario siendo vegetariano—, pero es importante en nuestra historia ya que Quenu y su esposa Lisa (miembro de la familia Macquart) se dedican a la venta de salchichas y embutidos en su modesto puesto en dicho mercado. ¿Y quiénes son Quenu y Lisa? Nada más y nada menos que el hermano y la cuñada de nuestro protagonista, Florent.
Florent llega a París, después de haber vivido un pasado lamentable, en busca de su hermano, de quien guarda buenos recuerdos y con quien planea empezar lo que se diría, un nuevo comienzo. Es justo decir, y aquí es donde quiero hablar de mis dos lecturas previas del autor, Germinal y La taberna, que hay una gran diferencia entre estas dos y El vientre de París: mientras que en las primeras dos lo que más importa es la historia de los personajes, su desarrollo a lo largo de la novela, así como la problemática que trata y su final, en El vientre de París nos encontramos con una historia donde lo que más importa es el escenario, el lugar donde se desarrollan los hechos, más allá del hecho en cuestión. Básicamente, esta obra es una pintura, un retrato social de lo que se vivía en el Mercado de París durante el Segundo Imperio.
Somos espectadores de la calidad de vida, de las relaciones que se forman en dicho entorno, así como de enemistades, hipocresía, envidia, y demás detalles que hacen del día a día, ya de por sí difícil, una situación cada vez más insoportable. Así, a partir de que Florent inicia a laborar en dicho mercado, nuestra historia comienza a cobrar forma en un completo y verdadero Zola. Aunado a esto, tenemos personajes que, como es una constante en los libros del autor, están hartos de las condiciones en las que viven y deciden reunirse para discutir el asunto, ¿de qué tanto hablarán?
Si bien, al lado de mis dos experiencias previas, yo definiría El vientre de París como una novela optimista, tampoco me animaría a tanto, ya que dependerá de la lente con la que se le mire. Lo que sí puedo asegurar, y aunque me animé a ponerle 5 estrellas por las espectaculares y sublimes descripciones tanto del sitio como de los personajes, esta novela se siente una obra menor si la comparo con Germinal o La taberna. Ojo, no es mala y no me atrevería a decir algo como tal, pero si has leído las dos anteriores y después lees El vientre de París, es difícil no tener esa sensación de que le faltó algo aunque sabes que está completa. Espero haberme explicado en este detalle lo mejor posible.
Quisiera añadir dos puntos más: el primero es respecto a un personaje, Claude Lantier, quien hace ciertas apariciones a lo largo de la novela. Si les suena el apellido Lantier, no es sorpresa, ya que Claude es hijo de nuestra protagonista de La taberna, Gervaise Lantier, novela que sería publicada cuatro años después de El vientre de París. Aquí es donde quiero llegar al siguiente aspecto, y no es más que el asombro que se experimenta al ver cómo Zola es tan consistente y preciso con su saga de Les Rougon-Macquart, ya que si revisamos los datos que nos aporta en cada historia, no se le escapa ningún detalle y todo guarda cierta conexión entre personajes y novelas.
Por este año he tenido suficiente con esta saga, será la primera saga que planeo leer completa en mi vida, veinte novelas, todas ambientadas en el Segundo Imperio. Pienso que será una ardua empresa, pero con constancia y dedicación se podrá lograr.
Por ahora me despido y me voy satisfecho con mis tres lecturas del año, acompañando en sus desdichas a Les Rougon-Macquart y aprendiendo mucho de ellos, tanto en las buenas como en las malas.
Finalmente, no puedo terminar esta reseña sin antes recomendarles que lean a Émile Zola; les prometo que no se van a arrepentir. Si quieren leer algo que los destruya, La taberna es su mejor opción (y si sufren mucho no digan después que no se los advertí); si lo suyo es ver el hastío y puesta en escena ante un problema social que ha estado presente en nuestras sociedades por siempre, lean Germinal , la que para mí y para muchos es considerada como la obra maestra del autor. Y si quieren sentir que están viviendo en el Mercado Central de París, dos siglos atrás, y no sólo siendo testigos, sino también experimentado muy de cerca la vida de los comerciantes de dicho mercado, no dejen de leer El vientre de París, una buena opción para adentrarse en el imponente mundo de este prolífico autor.
—Nosotros somos Flacos, ¿comprende?… Dígame si, con vientres planos como los nuestros, se ocupa mucho lugar al sol.
Si tuviera que empezar definiendo esta novela con una sola palabra, lo primero que viene a mi mente sería deleite, seguido por una recomendación a cualquier lector que se anime a leerla: NO hacerlo con el estómago vacío, ya que de lo contrario sería el equivalente a sufrir una tortura perpetua.
En El vientre de París, Zola nos transporta de principio a fin a un escenario del que quiere que seamos parte profunda y detalladamente: El mercado Central de París, conocido como Les Hayes y construido a mediados del siglo XIX (hoy inexistente). A través de descripciones como solo Zola las sabe hacer, somos testigos de todo lo que sucede en dicho mercado, desde las personas que trabajan en él hasta los productos que se comercializan: es aquí donde toma sentido mi consejo del principio, ya que al autor no le basta con que uno sepa que hay un puesto de verduras, otro de pollo, otro de pescado, etcétera, lo que a él le interesa es que tú como lector puedes sentir qué es lo que tienes delante, un cúmulo de texturas, olores y en ocasiones, sabores. Para conocimiento de todos, apenas terminé de leer la novela y ya me puse a investigar una receta para hacer la famosa sopa de col que aparece en alguna parte de esta historia.
Por supuesto que las descripciones de la carne no se quedan atrás, y no lo digo porque haya sido mi parte favorita —diría que todo lo contrario siendo vegetariano—, pero es importante en nuestra historia ya que Quenu y su esposa Lisa (miembro de la familia Macquart) se dedican a la venta de salchichas y embutidos en su modesto puesto en dicho mercado. ¿Y quiénes son Quenu y Lisa? Nada más y nada menos que el hermano y la cuñada de nuestro protagonista, Florent.
Florent llega a París, después de haber vivido un pasado lamentable, en busca de su hermano, de quien guarda buenos recuerdos y con quien planea empezar lo que se diría, un nuevo comienzo. Es justo decir, y aquí es donde quiero hablar de mis dos lecturas previas del autor, Germinal y La taberna, que hay una gran diferencia entre estas dos y El vientre de París: mientras que en las primeras dos lo que más importa es la historia de los personajes, su desarrollo a lo largo de la novela, así como la problemática que trata y su final, en El vientre de París nos encontramos con una historia donde lo que más importa es el escenario, el lugar donde se desarrollan los hechos, más allá del hecho en cuestión. Básicamente, esta obra es una pintura, un retrato social de lo que se vivía en el Mercado de París durante el Segundo Imperio.
Somos espectadores de la calidad de vida, de las relaciones que se forman en dicho entorno, así como de enemistades, hipocresía, envidia, y demás detalles que hacen del día a día, ya de por sí difícil, una situación cada vez más insoportable. Así, a partir de que Florent inicia a laborar en dicho mercado, nuestra historia comienza a cobrar forma en un completo y verdadero Zola. Aunado a esto, tenemos personajes que, como es una constante en los libros del autor, están hartos de las condiciones en las que viven y deciden reunirse para discutir el asunto, ¿de qué tanto hablarán?
Si bien, al lado de mis dos experiencias previas, yo definiría El vientre de París como una novela optimista, tampoco me animaría a tanto, ya que dependerá de la lente con la que se le mire. Lo que sí puedo asegurar, y aunque me animé a ponerle 5 estrellas por las espectaculares y sublimes descripciones tanto del sitio como de los personajes, esta novela se siente una obra menor si la comparo con Germinal o La taberna. Ojo, no es mala y no me atrevería a decir algo como tal, pero si has leído las dos anteriores y después lees El vientre de París, es difícil no tener esa sensación de que le faltó algo aunque sabes que está completa. Espero haberme explicado en este detalle lo mejor posible.
Quisiera añadir dos puntos más: el primero es respecto a un personaje, Claude Lantier, quien hace ciertas apariciones a lo largo de la novela. Si les suena el apellido Lantier, no es sorpresa, ya que Claude es hijo de nuestra protagonista de La taberna, Gervaise Lantier, novela que sería publicada cuatro años después de El vientre de París. Aquí es donde quiero llegar al siguiente aspecto, y no es más que el asombro que se experimenta al ver cómo Zola es tan consistente y preciso con su saga de Les Rougon-Macquart, ya que si revisamos los datos que nos aporta en cada historia, no se le escapa ningún detalle y todo guarda cierta conexión entre personajes y novelas.
Por este año he tenido suficiente con esta saga, será la primera saga que planeo leer completa en mi vida, veinte novelas, todas ambientadas en el Segundo Imperio. Pienso que será una ardua empresa, pero con constancia y dedicación se podrá lograr.
Por ahora me despido y me voy satisfecho con mis tres lecturas del año, acompañando en sus desdichas a Les Rougon-Macquart y aprendiendo mucho de ellos, tanto en las buenas como en las malas.
Finalmente, no puedo terminar esta reseña sin antes recomendarles que lean a Émile Zola; les prometo que no se van a arrepentir. Si quieren leer algo que los destruya, La taberna es su mejor opción (y si sufren mucho no digan después que no se los advertí); si lo suyo es ver el hastío y puesta en escena ante un problema social que ha estado presente en nuestras sociedades por siempre, lean Germinal , la que para mí y para muchos es considerada como la obra maestra del autor. Y si quieren sentir que están viviendo en el Mercado Central de París, dos siglos atrás, y no sólo siendo testigos, sino también experimentado muy de cerca la vida de los comerciantes de dicho mercado, no dejen de leer El vientre de París, una buena opción para adentrarse en el imponente mundo de este prolífico autor.
—Nosotros somos Flacos, ¿comprende?… Dígame si, con vientres planos como los nuestros, se ocupa mucho lugar al sol.
May 30, 2018
Zola leaves us with a timeless description of Les Halles as it was before the current 20y construction mess that it has become. For several centuries, this area in the center of Paris was a thriving marketplace for all Parisians and this novel was a magnificent tribute to the various people that made their living here - both for good and for not so good purposes. It is an unforgettable story and for me perhaps the best book that Zola wrote.
April 18, 2018
A gastronomic extravaganza for all carnivorous turophiles, the third novel in the Rougon-Macquart series is an impeccably translated parleyvous into the prickly purlieus of mid-1800s Paree, starring more big-bosomed bitchy fishwives than a Shetlandic wharf. The naive Florent is our luckless hero, plopped into the capital post-wrongful imprisonment, a thin man caught up in a bustling bourgeois world of respectable market traders—a coterie of carping chaffers keen to slap down the prosperous meat-slinger Louise, who offers our hero shelter, lardons, and bouillies. Plump in Zola’s nutritive descriptions, from the fruit and veg stalls, the preparation of meat, the pungent whiffs of blood and rotten produce, the novel evokes the period with the same exquisite vividness as the superstores in The Ladies’ Paradise, or the backstage scents in Nana, and shows a world where the strong-willed women wangle themselves a living as the men sit around and plot futile political revolutions. One of Zola’s finest.
February 9, 2019
I hadn’t read Zola in years (“Thérèse Raquin” was forced on me in college and it left a bitter taste in my mouth – despite the fact that I barely remember anything about it now), but last year, I binged-read everything Anthony Bourdain wrote, and he mentions “The Belly of Paris” over and over again as his favorite book. He was one of my favorite humans, so I take his book recommendations seriously, and got my hands on a copy of what he referred to as “the greatest work of food porn ever written”.
Anthony did not lie to me. The food descriptions in this book are… well… obscene. Not in a bad way, though I must say that not unlike porn, it occasionally gets a little disturbing and overwhelming. Vegetarians beware!
The story follows Florent, a rather naïve man, who after escaping wrongful imprisonment, is taken in by half-brother and his wife, and lands a job as an inspector in Paris’ central food market, les Halles. This situation will put him in the middle of a strange rivalry between his sister-in-law and a stubborn fishwife, but will also expose him to the plotting of a group of would-be revolutionaries who want to stage another uprising of the working-class and topple the Empire. Side plots involving orphans who grew up between the markets stalls and a cynical but friendly painter punctuate Florent’s story.
Zola was fond of painting vividly detailed pictures of the best and the worst aspects of humanity. The school of Naturalism was about observing (through the lens of “natural sciences”) and commenting, but this movement certainly had a strong tendency to focus on less savory aspects of human behavior. There is precious little optimism to be found in Zola’s work, and when it’s there, you kind of know it will end badly anyway. The constant conflicts between the “fats” and the “thins”, the mean-spirited gossip, the strange hierarchy of Paris’ famous food market paint a pretty bleak picture. But Cadine and Marjolin's story cuts through it with its innocent and liberated joy - albeit for a rather short interlude. It is also lovely to see that Zola created strong, clever and realistic female characters, who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, work hard and plan the downfall of the monarchy.
Zola’s prose is simply amazing: it is so evocative that you can see, smell and feel the settings he describes, from the odorous fish market to the warm and cozy charcuterie store. He captures the demeanor of his characters perfectly, and while their huge number can sometimes be confusing, I could picture them as well as if I had been sitting on those quarrelsome meetings in the poultry shop. People, full of thoughts, contradictions, needs and wants, clashing or agreeing with each other truly come alive through his pen.
A beautiful book, that food lovers might just drool all over. I’m going to go have a snack now…
Anthony did not lie to me. The food descriptions in this book are… well… obscene. Not in a bad way, though I must say that not unlike porn, it occasionally gets a little disturbing and overwhelming. Vegetarians beware!
The story follows Florent, a rather naïve man, who after escaping wrongful imprisonment, is taken in by half-brother and his wife, and lands a job as an inspector in Paris’ central food market, les Halles. This situation will put him in the middle of a strange rivalry between his sister-in-law and a stubborn fishwife, but will also expose him to the plotting of a group of would-be revolutionaries who want to stage another uprising of the working-class and topple the Empire. Side plots involving orphans who grew up between the markets stalls and a cynical but friendly painter punctuate Florent’s story.
Zola was fond of painting vividly detailed pictures of the best and the worst aspects of humanity. The school of Naturalism was about observing (through the lens of “natural sciences”) and commenting, but this movement certainly had a strong tendency to focus on less savory aspects of human behavior. There is precious little optimism to be found in Zola’s work, and when it’s there, you kind of know it will end badly anyway. The constant conflicts between the “fats” and the “thins”, the mean-spirited gossip, the strange hierarchy of Paris’ famous food market paint a pretty bleak picture. But Cadine and Marjolin's story cuts through it with its innocent and liberated joy - albeit for a rather short interlude. It is also lovely to see that Zola created strong, clever and realistic female characters, who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, work hard and plan the downfall of the monarchy.
Zola’s prose is simply amazing: it is so evocative that you can see, smell and feel the settings he describes, from the odorous fish market to the warm and cozy charcuterie store. He captures the demeanor of his characters perfectly, and while their huge number can sometimes be confusing, I could picture them as well as if I had been sitting on those quarrelsome meetings in the poultry shop. People, full of thoughts, contradictions, needs and wants, clashing or agreeing with each other truly come alive through his pen.
A beautiful book, that food lovers might just drool all over. I’m going to go have a snack now…
May 22, 2015
Zola gives us both sides of the famous food markets in Paris, the sublime to the disgusting, and sometimes in the space of one sentence of his flowing prose. The descriptive passages are so visual they are like viewing paintings. At times they seem to almost literally soar: at the start of one chapter I felt as if I were flying above the rooftops of the city. The vendors seem to become what they sell, from fish to flowers. I was reminded of Dickens at several points, and Balzac at another.
As much as I liked this novel, I felt its central conceit fell flat by the end.
As much as I liked this novel, I felt its central conceit fell flat by the end.
February 12, 2017
Introduction
Translator's Note
Select Bibliography
A Chronology of Émile Zola
--The Belly of Paris
Explanatory Notes
Translator's Note
Select Bibliography
A Chronology of Émile Zola
--The Belly of Paris
Explanatory Notes
October 13, 2023
I read in another review that The Belly of Paris was Anthony Bourdain’s favourite novel. One can see why. The whole novel is permeated with the sounds and, particularly, the smells of fish, meat, blood and earthy vegetables. It’s nourishment in the cruder sense of existence.
Zola takes on this setting to transform his sensory novel in a political statement against tyranny. I start to detect a trend in the Rougon-Macquart: how injustice at the highest level of politics (beginning, in this case, with the Emperor) permeates society in the same way the smell of fish and chicken blood permeates Florent’s clothes. Florent, recently escaped from Devil’s Island, is ruined by the suspicions of his in-laws, despised and hated because he simply cannot compromise with the injustices that were perpetuated against him. It is not the respectable characters who fight Florent. It’s far more than a criticism of bourgeois respectability – one gets the feeling that it would be too easy for Zola to go there. No, it comes from Florent’s own people, those who struggle, those who suffer from the state of things.
While I enjoyed it, I still think La Curée was the best one so far. The Belly of Paris gets repetitive and somewhat predictable. Now onto La conquête de Plassans.
Zola takes on this setting to transform his sensory novel in a political statement against tyranny. I start to detect a trend in the Rougon-Macquart: how injustice at the highest level of politics (beginning, in this case, with the Emperor) permeates society in the same way the smell of fish and chicken blood permeates Florent’s clothes. Florent, recently escaped from Devil’s Island, is ruined by the suspicions of his in-laws, despised and hated because he simply cannot compromise with the injustices that were perpetuated against him. It is not the respectable characters who fight Florent. It’s far more than a criticism of bourgeois respectability – one gets the feeling that it would be too easy for Zola to go there. No, it comes from Florent’s own people, those who struggle, those who suffer from the state of things.
While I enjoyed it, I still think La Curée was the best one so far. The Belly of Paris gets repetitive and somewhat predictable. Now onto La conquête de Plassans.
September 14, 2021
«Via, andiamo! Ma scherzi? Siamo gente onesta noi!»
Parigi- 1858/1859
Florent, evaso dal bagno penale della Cayenna, torna a Parigi.
Senza forze dopo un estenuante viaggio e un prolungato digiuno fa il suo rientro sul carro di una gentile contadina che porta i suoi prodotti a Les Halles, il mercato centrale della capitale, cuore pulsante di tutto il commercio alimentare.
E’ notte quando Florent ritorna nella sua città.
Una città addormentata nel suo tranquillo silenzio borghese ma l’arrivo dei prodotti della campagna al mercato di Parigi è, dapprima, un brusìo di carri cigolanti, e poi un crescendo di vociare dei venditori pronti ad allestire la mercanzia.
Romanzo che comunica con tutti i sensi al lettore:
dai suoni del brulicante mercato che col giorno diventano un coro di voci concitate;
ai colori della miriade di cibi vegetali ed animali che ci sono propinati in lunghi elenchi dettagliati; alle forme architettoniche del quartiere che cogliamo attraverso l’occhio del pittore Claude Lantier; gli odori, poi, che accompagnano ogni sorta di cibo.
Zola ci accompagna in questa città nella città con una mappa sensoriale che fa da guida:
così le pagine si fanno vive e dagli ortaggi, ai pesci, alle carni ed ai formaggi, ci si ritrova in un crescendo violento di effluvi e violenti colori.
Florent tornerà dal fratello Quenu che, in sua assenza, si è sposato con Lisa Maquart ed è diventato proprietario di una gastronomia.
E’ un rispettabile borghese, la cui vita è scandita dall’insaccare salumi ed accumulare denari.
Florent, invece, vive in modo distaccato ogni ambizione personale se non quella di sognare un mondo più equo.
Lui magro ed utopista; attorno personaggi che ostentano rotoli di carne come bandiera orgogliosa del benessere materiale.
Florent cerca di adeguarsi ma :
”Ma a poco a poco un’inquietudine sorda cominciò a roderlo, si sentiva insoddisfatto, si accusava di colpe, ma non sapeva quali, si ribellava contro quel vuoto che pareva allargarsi sempre di più nel suo cervello e nel suo cuore. Ogni tanto delle esalazioni pestifere, delle zaffate di pesce guasto gli rivoltavano lo stomaco. Fu una distruzione lenta, una noia vaga che divenne sovreccitazione nervosa.”
L’aggressione sensoriale dovuta a questa abbondanza esagerata di cibi è lo schiaffo morale ad una città che, in piena contraddizione, sta, invece, morendo di fame.
E’ Napoleone III che dopo il colpo di stato del 1851 e la repressione di ogni oppositore, ha smesso gli abiti del Presidente ed indossato quelli dell’Imperatore che impugna come altri noti dittatori bastone e carota al popolo bue.
Les Halles, dunque, è simbolo di tutto questo:
”La mole superba dei mercati, che traboccava di cibarie sostanziose, avevano precipitata la crisi. Per lui erano la gran bestia pasciuta e ruminante, erano l’immagine di Parigi, che rimpinzata di cibo, intorpidita dalla grassezza, sosteneva stupidamente l’Impero.”
Così il prototipo dei contemporanei centri commerciali è come un ventre, il luogo dove si consuma la digestione di un popolo.
Bottegai, ruffiani, invidiosi tutti si dichiarano «onesti»
”Per causa loro, causa l’egoismo del loro ventre, il dispotismo aveva potuto spadroneggiare così, rosicchiare fino all’osso una nazione.”
Ed è la stessa Lisa che troneggia nel ruolo dell’onesta borghese e candidamente ammette che:
«È la politica della gente onesta. Io sono riconoscente al governo quando vedo i miei affari andar bene, quando mangio in pace la mia minestra, quando posso dormire senza il pericolo d’essere svegliata dalle fucilate. »
Così va il mondo, ieri come oggi.
C'è chi abbraccia la filosofia delle tre scimmiette (”Noi siamo brava gente, non rubiamo e non ammazziamo nessuno e basta! Gli altri! Che cosa importa a noi quello che fanno gli altri. Lascia che siano fior di canaglie, se a loro piace.”)
C'è chi soffre d’impotenza in silenzio.
E poi, c'è chi crede che con la forza si possa estirpare l’egoismo borghese...
Una lettura che rende satolli.
Zola in una delle sue prove migliori dipinge, colora, registra, interpreta tanto da rendere vivo lo scenario.
Uomini e donne, qui, sono esposti come in vetrina in un infido gioco delle parti mentre le cibarie sono animate e protagoniste di questa grande abbuffata.
E dunque: buona indigestione a tutti!
----------------------------------
-* Il Ciclo Rougon-Maquart è costituito da venti romanzi collegati fra loro.
In questo esperimento, l’autore vuole fornire la storia naturale e sociale di una famiglia (e nello stesso tempo dell’intera società francese), sotto l’impero di Napoleone III.
Viene narrato il destino di due famiglie con avventure e vicende spiacevoli.
L’obiettivo di Zola è dimostrare la tesi dell’ereditarietà: inclinazioni al vizio che diventano vere e proprie tare e si trasmettono di generazione in generazione (Alcoolismo, prostituzione, corruzione, istinto omicida).
Nonostante ciò ognuno dei venti romanzi può essere letto indipendentemente dagli altri.
Qui il Gdl -
Parigi- 1858/1859
Florent, evaso dal bagno penale della Cayenna, torna a Parigi.
Senza forze dopo un estenuante viaggio e un prolungato digiuno fa il suo rientro sul carro di una gentile contadina che porta i suoi prodotti a Les Halles, il mercato centrale della capitale, cuore pulsante di tutto il commercio alimentare.
E’ notte quando Florent ritorna nella sua città.
Una città addormentata nel suo tranquillo silenzio borghese ma l’arrivo dei prodotti della campagna al mercato di Parigi è, dapprima, un brusìo di carri cigolanti, e poi un crescendo di vociare dei venditori pronti ad allestire la mercanzia.
Romanzo che comunica con tutti i sensi al lettore:
dai suoni del brulicante mercato che col giorno diventano un coro di voci concitate;
ai colori della miriade di cibi vegetali ed animali che ci sono propinati in lunghi elenchi dettagliati; alle forme architettoniche del quartiere che cogliamo attraverso l’occhio del pittore Claude Lantier; gli odori, poi, che accompagnano ogni sorta di cibo.
Zola ci accompagna in questa città nella città con una mappa sensoriale che fa da guida:
così le pagine si fanno vive e dagli ortaggi, ai pesci, alle carni ed ai formaggi, ci si ritrova in un crescendo violento di effluvi e violenti colori.
Florent tornerà dal fratello Quenu che, in sua assenza, si è sposato con Lisa Maquart ed è diventato proprietario di una gastronomia.
E’ un rispettabile borghese, la cui vita è scandita dall’insaccare salumi ed accumulare denari.
Florent, invece, vive in modo distaccato ogni ambizione personale se non quella di sognare un mondo più equo.
Lui magro ed utopista; attorno personaggi che ostentano rotoli di carne come bandiera orgogliosa del benessere materiale.
Florent cerca di adeguarsi ma :
”Ma a poco a poco un’inquietudine sorda cominciò a roderlo, si sentiva insoddisfatto, si accusava di colpe, ma non sapeva quali, si ribellava contro quel vuoto che pareva allargarsi sempre di più nel suo cervello e nel suo cuore. Ogni tanto delle esalazioni pestifere, delle zaffate di pesce guasto gli rivoltavano lo stomaco. Fu una distruzione lenta, una noia vaga che divenne sovreccitazione nervosa.”
L’aggressione sensoriale dovuta a questa abbondanza esagerata di cibi è lo schiaffo morale ad una città che, in piena contraddizione, sta, invece, morendo di fame.
E’ Napoleone III che dopo il colpo di stato del 1851 e la repressione di ogni oppositore, ha smesso gli abiti del Presidente ed indossato quelli dell’Imperatore che impugna come altri noti dittatori bastone e carota al popolo bue.
Les Halles, dunque, è simbolo di tutto questo:
”La mole superba dei mercati, che traboccava di cibarie sostanziose, avevano precipitata la crisi. Per lui erano la gran bestia pasciuta e ruminante, erano l’immagine di Parigi, che rimpinzata di cibo, intorpidita dalla grassezza, sosteneva stupidamente l’Impero.”
Così il prototipo dei contemporanei centri commerciali è come un ventre, il luogo dove si consuma la digestione di un popolo.
Bottegai, ruffiani, invidiosi tutti si dichiarano «onesti»
”Per causa loro, causa l’egoismo del loro ventre, il dispotismo aveva potuto spadroneggiare così, rosicchiare fino all’osso una nazione.”
Ed è la stessa Lisa che troneggia nel ruolo dell’onesta borghese e candidamente ammette che:
«È la politica della gente onesta. Io sono riconoscente al governo quando vedo i miei affari andar bene, quando mangio in pace la mia minestra, quando posso dormire senza il pericolo d’essere svegliata dalle fucilate. »
Così va il mondo, ieri come oggi.
C'è chi abbraccia la filosofia delle tre scimmiette (”Noi siamo brava gente, non rubiamo e non ammazziamo nessuno e basta! Gli altri! Che cosa importa a noi quello che fanno gli altri. Lascia che siano fior di canaglie, se a loro piace.”)
C'è chi soffre d’impotenza in silenzio.
E poi, c'è chi crede che con la forza si possa estirpare l’egoismo borghese...
Una lettura che rende satolli.
Zola in una delle sue prove migliori dipinge, colora, registra, interpreta tanto da rendere vivo lo scenario.
Uomini e donne, qui, sono esposti come in vetrina in un infido gioco delle parti mentre le cibarie sono animate e protagoniste di questa grande abbuffata.
E dunque: buona indigestione a tutti!
----------------------------------
-* Il Ciclo Rougon-Maquart è costituito da venti romanzi collegati fra loro.
In questo esperimento, l’autore vuole fornire la storia naturale e sociale di una famiglia (e nello stesso tempo dell’intera società francese), sotto l’impero di Napoleone III.
Viene narrato il destino di due famiglie con avventure e vicende spiacevoli.
L’obiettivo di Zola è dimostrare la tesi dell’ereditarietà: inclinazioni al vizio che diventano vere e proprie tare e si trasmettono di generazione in generazione (Alcoolismo, prostituzione, corruzione, istinto omicida).
Nonostante ciò ognuno dei venti romanzi può essere letto indipendentemente dagli altri.
Qui il Gdl -
February 17, 2020
The Belly of Pairs represents a splendid artistic development in the French novel. Combining the down and out urchin tales of Hugo and Sue, with Zola's own brand of reportage.
It is easy to forget how teeming the streets are throughout history. Especially in Paris at this time. Legions of gossip peddlers, flower sellers, ragamuffins, illicit performers, and an infinite array of characters call the streets their home.
Putting some of the tenants of Impressionism into his work, Zola's writing is characterized by a high level of detail. He writes with the sensibility of a painter, describing scenes as if he were composing a painting with words, including the tones, color, light, and composition of the scene. It will delight many readers, even today, like a very accurate, meticulous old film.
Zola cultivates a compulsive precision of atmosphere. In terms of his writing ability, one gets the sense he is showing off. What it lacks in lyricism it compensates for with sheer content. He has a remarkable range, and brings the marketplace of Les Halles to life.
The story of Marjolin and Cadine was precious and worthy of Hugo when it finally made its appearance in the second half of the novel. Before these characters arrived there was less focus on story and simply a ceaseless accumulation of nitty-gritty set-pieces. Of course, there are many charming segments of satire and humor throughout the book. Zola finds the joy of discovery in everything. Mixing the charm and grotesquerie of the lives of these poor urchins and the folk on the streets, scraping together a living by haggling over cabbage and pig's feet, the essence of life is distilled, and the writing flows. It's easy to get swept away in it.
One cannot ignore the all-pervasive meat-stink, the literal ripeness of this novel. There is an underlying fester, with the swill of blood and the cracking of bones as soundtrack. Fitting for a Post-revolutionary literary landscape, one might suppose.
Cleverly, Zola draws so much attention to butchers and fishwives, the market squabbles, and the struggling working class, it is easy to forget the political backdrop, the threat of another revolution like the one in '48, and Florent's unjust imprisonment.
Balzac's shoes were still warm when Zola already started to fill them. His 20-volume cycle (Les Rougon-Macquart) took up less space than Balzac's Human Comedy, was more methodical in structure, more researched, and more detailed in certain respects. Political, financial and artistic contexts form a multigenerational saga, and the relish and steamy splendor of the age is palpable, if not as controlled as Balzac's subdued literary experiments.
Zola's writing is reminiscent of D. H. Lawrence's. It is almost teasing, as if the author is baiting you, daring you to call his work obscene. Of course, like Lawrence, Zola was charged with publishing pornography, even though the subjects he describes are merely sensual, and not even provocative by today's standards. Still, there is a lot of flesh in this novel, most of it animal, and hanging from hooks, dripping blood onto the pavement. There are plenty of women, of course, amply described, who sort of grip the setting of the novel with their blood-doused hands. As Zola contrasts the fat and the thin in his work, most of the females are bulky, and the males tend to be frail, and foolishly ambitious. At least in this novel, the woman are working far more, sweating, putting muscle into the economy, and the men are chasing skirts and getting knocked in the head by the people in the skirts.
Zola is inexhaustible. Bringing to bear the fruit of months of research, observation and the production of his own imagination to conjure the panoply of cabbages, carrots, characters, scoundrels, drayhorses, merchantmen, and the endless catalogue of items, accessories, gewgaws and literary props, which he bandies about and piles up into two-page paragraphs stuffed with adjectives like a Dagwood sandwich. It reads like a Fellini film - if Fellini were given an infinite budget, and the film were six hours long.
Zola gravitates toward what we now call the encyclopedic mode, without quite attaining the excesses we have achieved in today's monolithic novels. To categorize his excessive inclusions, Zola nonetheless depleted the materials of his time. The central themes of the work only become clear by degrees, concealed as they are by mounds of fleshy tripe and what not.
Less subtle than Balzac, Zola is effusive, exuberant, brazen, but well-equipped for satire and straight-faced storytelling. Why does he spend so much time writing about lard, veal and glistening hare pâté? you might wonder. As a device, as a distraction, and as a mode of communication, this description serves him well. He buries his true intention, and asks that you devour his language in order to uncover the messages lying at the bottom. Zola occupies the opposite end of the spectrum to Proust, who explored interiors and didn't leave his bedroom for 200 pages. Natural and social history, that is what Zola wrote about. Laying the groundwork for the movement in literature called Naturalism, you cannot ignore Zola's impressive contribution. How to represent a diseased society, how to depict human behavior as a product of its environment, and how to do it in a way that had never been done - that is the sum of Zola's achievement. The frantic pursuit of pleasure, the mask of propriety in the empire of ill-gotten freedoms - that is what Zola observed. The voracious appetite that Balzac alluded to is given free reign in the pages of Zola.
Great literature parallels life in some way. It discusses human beings confronting their own messes, both psychological and physical. The social decomposition of Paris in the 19th century is nowhere more evident than in this documentary-esque exploration of the great city, where history bleeds from the stone walls, where the people are encumbered by pounds and layers of heavy adversity.
It is easy to forget how teeming the streets are throughout history. Especially in Paris at this time. Legions of gossip peddlers, flower sellers, ragamuffins, illicit performers, and an infinite array of characters call the streets their home.
Putting some of the tenants of Impressionism into his work, Zola's writing is characterized by a high level of detail. He writes with the sensibility of a painter, describing scenes as if he were composing a painting with words, including the tones, color, light, and composition of the scene. It will delight many readers, even today, like a very accurate, meticulous old film.
Zola cultivates a compulsive precision of atmosphere. In terms of his writing ability, one gets the sense he is showing off. What it lacks in lyricism it compensates for with sheer content. He has a remarkable range, and brings the marketplace of Les Halles to life.
The story of Marjolin and Cadine was precious and worthy of Hugo when it finally made its appearance in the second half of the novel. Before these characters arrived there was less focus on story and simply a ceaseless accumulation of nitty-gritty set-pieces. Of course, there are many charming segments of satire and humor throughout the book. Zola finds the joy of discovery in everything. Mixing the charm and grotesquerie of the lives of these poor urchins and the folk on the streets, scraping together a living by haggling over cabbage and pig's feet, the essence of life is distilled, and the writing flows. It's easy to get swept away in it.
One cannot ignore the all-pervasive meat-stink, the literal ripeness of this novel. There is an underlying fester, with the swill of blood and the cracking of bones as soundtrack. Fitting for a Post-revolutionary literary landscape, one might suppose.
Cleverly, Zola draws so much attention to butchers and fishwives, the market squabbles, and the struggling working class, it is easy to forget the political backdrop, the threat of another revolution like the one in '48, and Florent's unjust imprisonment.
Balzac's shoes were still warm when Zola already started to fill them. His 20-volume cycle (Les Rougon-Macquart) took up less space than Balzac's Human Comedy, was more methodical in structure, more researched, and more detailed in certain respects. Political, financial and artistic contexts form a multigenerational saga, and the relish and steamy splendor of the age is palpable, if not as controlled as Balzac's subdued literary experiments.
Zola's writing is reminiscent of D. H. Lawrence's. It is almost teasing, as if the author is baiting you, daring you to call his work obscene. Of course, like Lawrence, Zola was charged with publishing pornography, even though the subjects he describes are merely sensual, and not even provocative by today's standards. Still, there is a lot of flesh in this novel, most of it animal, and hanging from hooks, dripping blood onto the pavement. There are plenty of women, of course, amply described, who sort of grip the setting of the novel with their blood-doused hands. As Zola contrasts the fat and the thin in his work, most of the females are bulky, and the males tend to be frail, and foolishly ambitious. At least in this novel, the woman are working far more, sweating, putting muscle into the economy, and the men are chasing skirts and getting knocked in the head by the people in the skirts.
Zola is inexhaustible. Bringing to bear the fruit of months of research, observation and the production of his own imagination to conjure the panoply of cabbages, carrots, characters, scoundrels, drayhorses, merchantmen, and the endless catalogue of items, accessories, gewgaws and literary props, which he bandies about and piles up into two-page paragraphs stuffed with adjectives like a Dagwood sandwich. It reads like a Fellini film - if Fellini were given an infinite budget, and the film were six hours long.
Zola gravitates toward what we now call the encyclopedic mode, without quite attaining the excesses we have achieved in today's monolithic novels. To categorize his excessive inclusions, Zola nonetheless depleted the materials of his time. The central themes of the work only become clear by degrees, concealed as they are by mounds of fleshy tripe and what not.
Less subtle than Balzac, Zola is effusive, exuberant, brazen, but well-equipped for satire and straight-faced storytelling. Why does he spend so much time writing about lard, veal and glistening hare pâté? you might wonder. As a device, as a distraction, and as a mode of communication, this description serves him well. He buries his true intention, and asks that you devour his language in order to uncover the messages lying at the bottom. Zola occupies the opposite end of the spectrum to Proust, who explored interiors and didn't leave his bedroom for 200 pages. Natural and social history, that is what Zola wrote about. Laying the groundwork for the movement in literature called Naturalism, you cannot ignore Zola's impressive contribution. How to represent a diseased society, how to depict human behavior as a product of its environment, and how to do it in a way that had never been done - that is the sum of Zola's achievement. The frantic pursuit of pleasure, the mask of propriety in the empire of ill-gotten freedoms - that is what Zola observed. The voracious appetite that Balzac alluded to is given free reign in the pages of Zola.
Great literature parallels life in some way. It discusses human beings confronting their own messes, both psychological and physical. The social decomposition of Paris in the 19th century is nowhere more evident than in this documentary-esque exploration of the great city, where history bleeds from the stone walls, where the people are encumbered by pounds and layers of heavy adversity.
March 22, 2018
3.5 stars
I was both glutted, and gutted, by this third novel in les Rougon Macquart series, for the book swings from utter starvation to a surfeit of every imaginable food. It is Zola's intent to demonstrate the gluttony of state by juxtaposing it against the misery of the working poor; in both cases, I became queasy with despair, for there is never a just answer to the injustice of life.
While the contrasts worked well in the broader context of outlining the inherent sins of the Second Empire, it did not work all that well in procuring enough sympathy for the right side -- for it seems Zola lost himself in the very descriptiveness of gluttony. Rather than portraying it as a disease, he almost became the disease in an ironic twist of descriptive excess, revelling in the very lechery of his language. Page after page after page of endless descriptions of food became the nausea of the book. I found it to be quite a slog, at one point, and almost gave it up. The irony not lost on me is that I should be reading this throughout the days of Lent. (Even as a recovering catholic, I feel the weight of the purple shroud on my shoulders at this time of year. See what I mean? Now I'm doing it too -- indulging in the excess of language. It's really such a weighty book, and leaves no room for the imagination.)
Overcome by the sights and smells of Les Halles, I could not even summon the requisite sympathy for Florent, our hapless would-be protagonist. His story is overdone as well -- the luckless hero who walks right back into his own worst nightmare, pulled along more by inertia than determination to seek true justice. This character befuddled me utterly because he doesn't seem to fit, at all, into Zola's master plan: that of painting the revolutionary heroes with empathy and spirit. Instead, he comes across as a dejected and already-defeated malingerer.
I, in turn, was quite -- defeated -- by this novel. Someday I may return to it, and work my way through it again to see if it comes across more clearly. Perhaps I would have more luck if I sipped it accompanied by a pure broth.
As other reviewers have noted, this story has been done better by Dickens and Hugo. In Dickens, for one, it is a far, far better tale, told with less indigestion.
If there had been less food for thought, it might have merited a 4 star rating.
I was both glutted, and gutted, by this third novel in les Rougon Macquart series, for the book swings from utter starvation to a surfeit of every imaginable food. It is Zola's intent to demonstrate the gluttony of state by juxtaposing it against the misery of the working poor; in both cases, I became queasy with despair, for there is never a just answer to the injustice of life.
While the contrasts worked well in the broader context of outlining the inherent sins of the Second Empire, it did not work all that well in procuring enough sympathy for the right side -- for it seems Zola lost himself in the very descriptiveness of gluttony. Rather than portraying it as a disease, he almost became the disease in an ironic twist of descriptive excess, revelling in the very lechery of his language. Page after page after page of endless descriptions of food became the nausea of the book. I found it to be quite a slog, at one point, and almost gave it up. The irony not lost on me is that I should be reading this throughout the days of Lent. (Even as a recovering catholic, I feel the weight of the purple shroud on my shoulders at this time of year. See what I mean? Now I'm doing it too -- indulging in the excess of language. It's really such a weighty book, and leaves no room for the imagination.)
Overcome by the sights and smells of Les Halles, I could not even summon the requisite sympathy for Florent, our hapless would-be protagonist. His story is overdone as well -- the luckless hero who walks right back into his own worst nightmare, pulled along more by inertia than determination to seek true justice. This character befuddled me utterly because he doesn't seem to fit, at all, into Zola's master plan: that of painting the revolutionary heroes with empathy and spirit. Instead, he comes across as a dejected and already-defeated malingerer.
I, in turn, was quite -- defeated -- by this novel. Someday I may return to it, and work my way through it again to see if it comes across more clearly. Perhaps I would have more luck if I sipped it accompanied by a pure broth.
As other reviewers have noted, this story has been done better by Dickens and Hugo. In Dickens, for one, it is a far, far better tale, told with less indigestion.
If there had been less food for thought, it might have merited a 4 star rating.
March 28, 2016
I’m not going to lie: I was on the verge of giving up when I reached Chapter Three. The revolting description of the putrid smells of the Central Markets (present-day Les Halles), while evincing Zola’s extraordinary keen observation of details and his skills with words, was a major turn-off. I think I will avoid eating cheese for a long time to come.
Notwithstanding, I did slog along to reach Chapter Five, whence the action started to pick up steam, and by the time I finished the novel, tears filled my eyes. In the final analysis, I have to admit that I still liked Zola’s use of symbolism that is heavily laced with satire, especially in his tongue-in-cheek depiction of the hypocrisy of the haves (“the fat”) towards the have-nots (“the thin”) (like Beautiful Lisa’s initial superficial warmth towards Scraggy Florent, which then turns to bitter alienation when her self interest is threatened), of the envious tendencies of the wannabe haves (like the jealous malice of the gossipy and greedy Mademoiselle Saget, Madame Lecoeur, La Sarriet and Madame Mehudin), and of the invincible driving force of materialism in a bourgeois society in general (like the markets being symbolized as the “glutted, digesting beast of Paris, wallowing in its fat and silently upholding the Empire”).
It seems to me that somewhere beneath all the stomach-turning descriptive lexicon, Zola wants to express just one thought in this novel, which is what the painter Claude says in exclamation at the very end: “What blackguards respectable people are!”
In a less serious note, the novel does offer some interesting tidbits about Paris in the early days of the Second Empire. One of these was a practice where bijoutiers peddled leftover food scraps from the large restaurants, the royal households and state ministries to the underprivileged class for a few sous per portion. Another was that the fattening of pigeons was done by specially trained laborers called gaveurs, whose job was to force-feed the pigeons.
December 31, 2022
Et je termine encore cette nouvelle année avec un Zola, que pour des raisons bizarres j’adore lire pendant les fêtes. Il y a de l’opulence dans ces pages saturées de ténèbres, de descriptions vibrantes, de personnages en plusieurs dimensions, si réels, si palpables que j’ai l’impression de pouvoir les toucher.
.
Je ne m’y attendais pas mais Le Ventre de Paris fait partie de mes plus gros coups de cœur dans la saga. On y suit Florent, rescapé de la Commune, dont la trajectoire nous interroge sur ce qu’il reste des révoltes. Propulsé dans les Halles parisiennes, comme un radeau sur une mer de nourriture et d’abondance, Florent vacille. Le texte de Zola est dense, comme la matière molle du confort dans lequel s’englue l’engagement politique. La description des bancs de la marée notamment est l’une des plus belles qu’il m’ait été donné de lire, hallucinante de couleur et de texture. Au milieu de ce océan, il reste une île, un café, dans lequel se réunissent celles et ceux qui croient encore au Grand Soir. Un groupe qui permet à Zola d’illustrer la diversité des attitudes politiques après le traumatisme de la Commune. Autour de cette table, « la société était au complet »
.
Il me reste encore quelques pages à lire mais le dénouement est annoncé : gelée dans la tentation molle du confort, la révolte n’aura pas lieu. Lisa la charcutière résume à elle seule le pourquoi : “Veux-tu que je te la dise ma politique à moi ? […] Cest la politique des honnêtes gens. Je suis reconnaissante au gouvernement quand mon commerce va bien, quand je mange ma soupe tranquille et que je dors sans être réveillé par des coups de fusils”
.
Et moi de méditer sur les leçons de ce livre, dans lequel j’ai plongé comme dans une matière organique, pleine de morceaux, de matières solides et molles, d’objets coupants, aussi.
.
Je ne m’y attendais pas mais Le Ventre de Paris fait partie de mes plus gros coups de cœur dans la saga. On y suit Florent, rescapé de la Commune, dont la trajectoire nous interroge sur ce qu’il reste des révoltes. Propulsé dans les Halles parisiennes, comme un radeau sur une mer de nourriture et d’abondance, Florent vacille. Le texte de Zola est dense, comme la matière molle du confort dans lequel s’englue l’engagement politique. La description des bancs de la marée notamment est l’une des plus belles qu’il m’ait été donné de lire, hallucinante de couleur et de texture. Au milieu de ce océan, il reste une île, un café, dans lequel se réunissent celles et ceux qui croient encore au Grand Soir. Un groupe qui permet à Zola d’illustrer la diversité des attitudes politiques après le traumatisme de la Commune. Autour de cette table, « la société était au complet »
.
Il me reste encore quelques pages à lire mais le dénouement est annoncé : gelée dans la tentation molle du confort, la révolte n’aura pas lieu. Lisa la charcutière résume à elle seule le pourquoi : “Veux-tu que je te la dise ma politique à moi ? […] Cest la politique des honnêtes gens. Je suis reconnaissante au gouvernement quand mon commerce va bien, quand je mange ma soupe tranquille et que je dors sans être réveillé par des coups de fusils”
.
Et moi de méditer sur les leçons de ce livre, dans lequel j’ai plongé comme dans une matière organique, pleine de morceaux, de matières solides et molles, d’objets coupants, aussi.
October 9, 2020
Ο Ζολά ζούληξε θαρρείς μπροστά στα μάτια μας το στομάχι του Παρισιού, ή μάλλον την καρδιά του, για να χτυπήσει στην επιδερμίδα του πλακόστρωτου της τεράστιας αγοράς των Halles όλος ο παλμός της παριζιάνικης κοινωνίας των μέσων του 19ου αιώνα.
Από τις πρώτες κιόλας σελίδες είπα, ώπα, εδώ είμαστε, πάμε να μπούμε όσο πιο μέσα γίνεται σε ένα από τα πιο νευραλγικά σποτ της εποχής στο Παρίσι, θα δούμε πολλά, θα ακούσουμε πολλά, θα τρέξουν τα σάλια μας. Και όντως, από τις πρώτες σελίδες άρχισε η βιωματική εμπειρία. Αν τυχαίνει να είσαι σχεδόν κοιλιόδουλος σαν εμένα, με no filter σε ό,τι έχει να κάνει με τη γεύση, αν δηλαδή τρως με ευχαρίστηση πατέ, φουά γκρα, στρείδια και λοιπά εξαντρίκ εδέσματα της γαλλικής κουζίνας και γενικότερα έχεις μεγάλη δόση ανοχής στους γευστικούς σου κάλυκες, καλωσόρισες σε ένα από τα πιο έντονα γαστρονομικά ταξίδια μέσα στα εντόσθια της μυθικής αγοράς του Παρισιού, τις Halles.
***Αν είσαι vegan ή ακόμα και vegetarian, θα πρότεινα να προσπεράσεις.
Το Στομάχι του Παρισιού είναι ένα θεσπέσιο tableau vivant, μια φιέστα, ένα splatter μυρωδιάς, γεύσης και εικόνας που ειλικρινά θέτει σε λειτουργία όλες τις αισθήσεις. Οι περιγραφές του Zola μπορούν να κάνουν και έναν τυφλό να δει το φως του, είναι σαν να τον παίρνει απ’ το χέρι και να τον βγάζει σεργιάνι σε όλα τα θαυμαστά που συμβαίνουν σε μια τεράστια αγορά που σφύζει από ζωή, όπου οι άνθρωποι φωνασκούν για το εμπόρευμά τους, και τα λαχανικά, τα φρούτα και τα λουλούδια φωτοβολούν πανέμορφα δελεάζοντας ξεδιάντροπα τους περαστικούς να τα βάλουν στο πανέρι τους. Είναι η επιτομή της περιγραφικής λογοτεχνίας, ο συγγραφέας φαίνεται ανεξάντλητος. Θα ήταν ένα θαυμάσιο audio book, το δίχως άλλο. Οι 450 πυκνογραμμένες σελίδες γεμίζουν αβίαστα με ένα πλουσιοπάροχο λεξιλόγιο γαστρονομίας, κομμάτια πρόζας που σε κάνουν να χαμογελάς με τις τσουχτερές ατάκες που εξαπολύουν ο ένας προς τον άλλο και μια ιστορία όπου πρωταγωνιστές είναι στην ουσία οι Χοντροί και οι Αδύνατοι σε έναν ακήρυχτο πόλεμο μεταξύ τους. Οι πρώτοι δε χαρίζουν κάστανα στους δεύτερους, οι δεύτεροι τρώνε τα «χαστούκια» και δεν ξέρουν καλά καλά από πού τους ήρθαν και γιατί. Μεγάλοι κερδισμένοι οι Χοντροί, αυτοί με τους τροφαντούς γλουτούς, τα καλοζωισμένα στομάχια και τους μονοκόμματους λαιμούς. Πρόκειται βασι��ά για έναν θρίαμβο των Χοντρών.
Και όλα αυτά μέσα σε μια σκεπαστή αγορά όπου οι γυναίκες πίσω από τους πάγκους είναι οι μεγάλες αφέντρες που κινούν τα νήματα με φθονερά βλέμματα και πικρόχολα σχόλια «με το γάντι» και όπου τα κουτσομπολιά θα μπορούσαν να είναι ο ιός της εποχής που μεταδίδεται με ταχύτητες φωτός και αναταράσσει την φαινομενική ισορροπία αυτής της πολύβουης ανθρώπινης σύνθεσης. Οι Halles παρουσιάζονται σαν το μεγάλο χωνευτήρι όπου ανακατεύονται οι αναθυμιάσεις των βραστών μπουντέν, η λίγδα και το λίπος κάθε είδους τερρίνας με τη φρέσκια μυρωδιά των μπουκέτων βιολέτας και την φρουτένια εσάνς κάθε ποικιλίας μήλου. Αυτά μαζί με την χολή των ανθρώπων τους στραγγίζονται για να μας δώσουν ένα αριστούργημα, μια απίθανη τσάρκα στο Στομάχι του Παρισιού απ’ όπου βγαίνει κανείς ευχαριστημένος και χορτάτος, από κάθε άποψη.
Ένα μικρό δείγμα, ιδού:
«Όμως, οι κόκκινες γαρίδες και οι γκρίζες γαρίδες, μέσα σε τελάρα, ξεπερνούσαν, στο σβησμένο, απαλό τόνο του σωρού τους, κάτι αδιόρατα κουμπιά από γαγάτη, τα χιλιάδες μάτια τους• οι αγκαθωτοί κόκκινοι αστακοί, οι τιγρέ μπλε αστακοί, ζωντανοί ακόμα, σερνάμενοι στις σπασμένες αρθρώσεις τους, κροτάλιζαν. Ο Φλοράν μετά βίας άκουγε τις εξηγήσεις του κυρίου Βερλάκ. Μια λωρίδα ηλίου, που έπεφτε από το ψηλό τζαμωτό του σκεπαστού δρόμου, ήρθε κι έβαλε φωτιά σ'εκείνα τα βαρύτιμα χρώματα, που τα'χε πλύνει και τα'χε απαλύνει το κύμα, που ιρίδιζαν κι έλιωναν μέσα στους τους τόνους της σάρκας και των οστράκων, το οπάλι των σικακιών, το σεντέφι των σκουμπριών, το χρυσαφένιο των μπαρμπουνιών, τη λαμέ φορεσιά στις σαρδέλες, τα μεγάλα ασημικά, τους σολωμούς. Ήταν σαν να είχαν αδειάσει κατά γης τα κοσμήματα κάποιας σειρήνας, ανήκουστα και παράξενα στολίδια, ένας πακτωλός, ένας σωρός από περιδέραια, τερατώδη μπρασελέ, γιγάντιες καρφίτσες, μπιζού βαρβαρικά, που η χρήση τους σου διέφευγε. Στις ράχες τους οι ρίνες και τα σκυλόψαρα είχαν χοντρές σκοτεινές πέτρες, βιολετιές, πρασινωπές, που μισοκρύβονταν σ'ένα μαύρο μεταλλιζέ• και τα λεπτά κλαράκια, τα ψαροκόκαλα, οι ουρές και τα πτερύγια της αθερίνας, είχαν τη φινέτσα της λεπτής κοσμηματοποιίας.»
Φλερτάροντας έντονα με τον 19ο αιώνα αντιλήφθηκα ότι σχεδόν πάντα βγαίνω κερδισμένη, μια ανταμοιβή που η πηγή της βρίσκεται στο ύφος, τη γλώσσα, το κοινωνικοπολιτικό και ιστορικό background που τον πλαισιώνει.
* Στο τέλος του βιβλίου υπάρχει ένα εξαίρετο παράρτημα με τίτλο «Τρώγοντας με τον Ζολά» με ένα πλήρες γλωσσάρι για κάθε γαστρονομική λέξη που γίνεται αναφορά στο βιβλίο. Η μετάφραση είναι πολύ καλοβαλμένη και δε γίνονται εκπτώσεις στην απόδοση όλων όσων μας δίνει ο Ζολά στο πιάτο του.
* Οι Halles σήμερα δεν έχουν καμιά σχέση με την εποχή του βιβλίου. Είναι πια ένα μοντέρνο άντρο της κατανάλωσης, με δεκάδες εμπορικά καταστήματα, κυλιόμενες σκάλες, εσωτερική πισίνα και λοιπά. Είναι εξαιρετικά ευτυχές το ότι υπάρχουν βιβλία σαν αυτό που μας μεταφέρουν σκηνικά από το βαθύ παρελθόν, τα οποία ξαναζωντανεύουν με θαυμαστό τρόπο.
Από τις πρώτες κιόλας σελίδες είπα, ώπα, εδώ είμαστε, πάμε να μπούμε όσο πιο μέσα γίνεται σε ένα από τα πιο νευραλγικά σποτ της εποχής στο Παρίσι, θα δούμε πολλά, θα ακούσουμε πολλά, θα τρέξουν τα σάλια μας. Και όντως, από τις πρώτες σελίδες άρχισε η βιωματική εμπειρία. Αν τυχαίνει να είσαι σχεδόν κοιλιόδουλος σαν εμένα, με no filter σε ό,τι έχει να κάνει με τη γεύση, αν δηλαδή τρως με ευχαρίστηση πατέ, φουά γκρα, στρείδια και λοιπά εξαντρίκ εδέσματα της γαλλικής κουζίνας και γενικότερα έχεις μεγάλη δόση ανοχής στους γευστικούς σου κάλυκες, καλωσόρισες σε ένα από τα πιο έντονα γαστρονομικά ταξίδια μέσα στα εντόσθια της μυθικής αγοράς του Παρισιού, τις Halles.
***Αν είσαι vegan ή ακόμα και vegetarian, θα πρότεινα να προσπεράσεις.
Το Στομάχι του Παρισιού είναι ένα θεσπέσιο tableau vivant, μια φιέστα, ένα splatter μυρωδιάς, γεύσης και εικόνας που ειλικρινά θέτει σε λειτουργία όλες τις αισθήσεις. Οι περιγραφές του Zola μπορούν να κάνουν και έναν τυφλό να δει το φως του, είναι σαν να τον παίρνει απ’ το χέρι και να τον βγάζει σεργιάνι σε όλα τα θαυμαστά που συμβαίνουν σε μια τεράστια αγορά που σφύζει από ζωή, όπου οι άνθρωποι φωνασκούν για το εμπόρευμά τους, και τα λαχανικά, τα φρούτα και τα λουλούδια φωτοβολούν πανέμορφα δελεάζοντας ξεδιάντροπα τους περαστικούς να τα βάλουν στο πανέρι τους. Είναι η επιτομή της περιγραφικής λογοτεχνίας, ο συγγραφέας φαίνεται ανεξάντλητος. Θα ήταν ένα θαυμάσιο audio book, το δίχως άλλο. Οι 450 πυκνογραμμένες σελίδες γεμίζουν αβίαστα με ένα πλουσιοπάροχο λεξιλόγιο γαστρονομίας, κομμάτια πρόζας που σε κάνουν να χαμογελάς με τις τσουχτερές ατάκες που εξαπολύουν ο ένας προς τον άλλο και μια ιστορία όπου πρωταγωνιστές είναι στην ουσία οι Χοντροί και οι Αδύνατοι σε έναν ακήρυχτο πόλεμο μεταξύ τους. Οι πρώτοι δε χαρίζουν κάστανα στους δεύτερους, οι δεύτεροι τρώνε τα «χαστούκια» και δεν ξέρουν καλά καλά από πού τους ήρθαν και γιατί. Μεγάλοι κερδισμένοι οι Χοντροί, αυτοί με τους τροφαντούς γλουτούς, τα καλοζωισμένα στομάχια και τους μονοκόμματους λαιμούς. Πρόκειται βασι��ά για έναν θρίαμβο των Χοντρών.
Και όλα αυτά μέσα σε μια σκεπαστή αγορά όπου οι γυναίκες πίσω από τους πάγκους είναι οι μεγάλες αφέντρες που κινούν τα νήματα με φθονερά βλέμματα και πικρόχολα σχόλια «με το γάντι» και όπου τα κουτσομπολιά θα μπορούσαν να είναι ο ιός της εποχής που μεταδίδεται με ταχύτητες φωτός και αναταράσσει την φαινομενική ισορροπία αυτής της πολύβουης ανθρώπινης σύνθεσης. Οι Halles παρουσιάζονται σαν το μεγάλο χωνευτήρι όπου ανακατεύονται οι αναθυμιάσεις των βραστών μπουντέν, η λίγδα και το λίπος κάθε είδους τερρίνας με τη φρέσκια μυρωδιά των μπουκέτων βιολέτας και την φρουτένια εσάνς κάθε ποικιλίας μήλου. Αυτά μαζί με την χολή των ανθρώπων τους στραγγίζονται για να μας δώσουν ένα αριστούργημα, μια απίθανη τσάρκα στο Στομάχι του Παρισιού απ’ όπου βγαίνει κανείς ευχαριστημένος και χορτάτος, από κάθε άποψη.
Ένα μικρό δείγμα, ιδού:
«Όμως, οι κόκκινες γαρίδες και οι γκρίζες γαρίδες, μέσα σε τελάρα, ξεπερνούσαν, στο σβησμένο, απαλό τόνο του σωρού τους, κάτι αδιόρατα κουμπιά από γαγάτη, τα χιλιάδες μάτια τους• οι αγκαθωτοί κόκκινοι αστακοί, οι τιγρέ μπλε αστακοί, ζωντανοί ακόμα, σερνάμενοι στις σπασμένες αρθρώσεις τους, κροτάλιζαν. Ο Φλοράν μετά βίας άκουγε τις εξηγήσεις του κυρίου Βερλάκ. Μια λωρίδα ηλίου, που έπεφτε από το ψηλό τζαμωτό του σκεπαστού δρόμου, ήρθε κι έβαλε φωτιά σ'εκείνα τα βαρύτιμα χρώματα, που τα'χε πλύνει και τα'χε απαλύνει το κύμα, που ιρίδιζαν κι έλιωναν μέσα στους τους τόνους της σάρκας και των οστράκων, το οπάλι των σικακιών, το σεντέφι των σκουμπριών, το χρυσαφένιο των μπαρμπουνιών, τη λαμέ φορεσιά στις σαρδέλες, τα μεγάλα ασημικά, τους σολωμούς. Ήταν σαν να είχαν αδειάσει κατά γης τα κοσμήματα κάποιας σειρήνας, ανήκουστα και παράξενα στολίδια, ένας πακτωλός, ένας σωρός από περιδέραια, τερατώδη μπρασελέ, γιγάντιες καρφίτσες, μπιζού βαρβαρικά, που η χρήση τους σου διέφευγε. Στις ράχες τους οι ρίνες και τα σκυλόψαρα είχαν χοντρές σκοτεινές πέτρες, βιολετιές, πρασινωπές, που μισοκρύβονταν σ'ένα μαύρο μεταλλιζέ• και τα λεπτά κλαράκια, τα ψαροκόκαλα, οι ουρές και τα πτερύγια της αθερίνας, είχαν τη φινέτσα της λεπτής κοσμηματοποιίας.»
Φλερτάροντας έντονα με τον 19ο αιώνα αντιλήφθηκα ότι σχεδόν πάντα βγαίνω κερδισμένη, μια ανταμοιβή που η πηγή της βρίσκεται στο ύφος, τη γλώσσα, το κοινωνικοπολιτικό και ιστορικό background που τον πλαισιώνει.
* Στο τέλος του βιβλίου υπάρχει ένα εξαίρετο παράρτημα με τίτλο «Τρώγοντας με τον Ζολά» με ένα πλήρες γλωσσάρι για κάθε γαστρονομική λέξη που γίνεται αναφορά στο βιβλίο. Η μετάφραση είναι πολύ καλοβαλμένη και δε γίνονται εκπτώσεις στην απόδοση όλων όσων μας δίνει ο Ζολά στο πιάτο του.
* Οι Halles σήμερα δεν έχουν καμιά σχέση με την εποχή του βιβλίου. Είναι πια ένα μοντέρνο άντρο της κατανάλωσης, με δεκάδες εμπορικά καταστήματα, κυλιόμενες σκάλες, εσωτερική πισίνα και λοιπά. Είναι εξαιρετικά ευτυχές το ότι υπάρχουν βιβλία σαν αυτό που μας μεταφέρουν σκηνικά από το βαθύ παρελθόν, τα οποία ξαναζωντανεύουν με θαυμαστό τρόπο.
July 10, 2024
Florent Quenu “espoused an ideal of pure virtue and sought refuge in a world of absolute truth and justice” and “became a republican, entering the realm of republican ideals as girls with broken hearts enter a convent; and unable to find a republic where sufficient peace and kindness prevailed to soothe his troubled mind, he created one of his own.” His delusional, Christ-like (his brother being his only disciple) naiveté feeds and nurtures the petty intrigue of the families who inhabit the Parisian food market, Les Halles. The result is one of Zola’s more masterful stories filled with intricate subplots causing the reader to have ever-changing allegiances and impressions about the characters.
Zola was a master of descriptive writing. In The Belly of Paris he creates scenes that the reader can see, feel, taste and, most impressively, smell the market, all of which are integral to the story. As in many of his stories, hypocritical, vicious gossip drives the narrative. The highlight in this novel is a scene in which Zola intertwines the voices of the women at the market with the stench of the cheeses surrounding them as their chattering sets off the events leading to a tragic, almost inevitable, conclusion. As the “great explosion of smells“ combined, “[t]he stench rose and spread, no longer a collection of individual smells, but a huge, sickening mixture. It seemed for a moment that it was the vile words of Madame Lecœur and Mademoiselle Saget that had produced this dreadful odour.”
Unlike many of the other novels I’ve read in the Rougon-Macquart cycle, the first part of the story is filled with sympathetic characters. Reading on, it was like a being in a constant, unbalanced state and compelled me to keep reading. The Belly of Paris would be a great starting point for anyone interested in learning about Zola’s writing.
Zola was a master of descriptive writing. In The Belly of Paris he creates scenes that the reader can see, feel, taste and, most impressively, smell the market, all of which are integral to the story. As in many of his stories, hypocritical, vicious gossip drives the narrative. The highlight in this novel is a scene in which Zola intertwines the voices of the women at the market with the stench of the cheeses surrounding them as their chattering sets off the events leading to a tragic, almost inevitable, conclusion. As the “great explosion of smells“ combined, “[t]he stench rose and spread, no longer a collection of individual smells, but a huge, sickening mixture. It seemed for a moment that it was the vile words of Madame Lecœur and Mademoiselle Saget that had produced this dreadful odour.”
Unlike many of the other novels I’ve read in the Rougon-Macquart cycle, the first part of the story is filled with sympathetic characters. Reading on, it was like a being in a constant, unbalanced state and compelled me to keep reading. The Belly of Paris would be a great starting point for anyone interested in learning about Zola’s writing.
October 15, 2017
Είναι αυτη η πίκρα που μένει ανάμεσα στα λαχανικα, τα λουλουδια, την αθωοτητα, τα ψαρια, τα κρεατα, τα πουλερικα....και τους νικητές Χοντρους και άδικα ηττημένους Αδύνατους...Η ανθρώπινη μικρότητα σε όλο το μεγαλείο της, η πολιτικη, η επανάσταση, το ψεμα...ολα ζωντατευουν για χαρη του αναγνώστη μεσα από ζωντανους ζωγραφικους πινακες λεξεων, "πηγμένους" σε λεπτομέρειες προσωπων, ρουχων, χαρακτήρων, οσμών, γεύσεων, χρωμάτων....τόσο δυνατο που στο τελος μένεις με ένα γιατί...αλλά ακόμη και σήμερα λέμε το ίδιο γιατί και όλα απλώς συνεχίζουν...ΥΓ Εαν σου αρεσει το φαγητο διαβασε το!
July 20, 2024
Ein Buch wie ein impressionistisches Bild, voller Farben, Gerüche und Geräusche, mit illustren Personen bestückt. Dieses durchkomponierte Werk, in dem jedes Detail stimmte, und das noch dazu die Freude des Autors beim Schreiben widerspiegelte, hat mich zutiefst beeindruckt. Lag es daran, dass ich nicht so sehr viel erwartete? Ich hatte Vorurteile zu Zola irgendwo im Hinterkopf, er schriebe langatmig und langweilig. Tatsächlich nehmen Beschreibungen einen sehr großen Raum des Buches ein, wer eine spannungsgeladene Handlung sucht, ist hier fehl am Platz.
Florent, der aus der Verbannung in Südamerika geflohen ist, kehrt zurück in seine Heimatstadt Paris. Fast verhungert, kommt er ausgerechnet auf dem Markt an, wo er mit dem Blick des Hungrigen den Überfluss wahrnimmt. Sein Halbbruder hat inzwischen geheiratet und eine gut gehende Metzgerei eröffnet. Frau und Kind sowie der Halbbruder selbst sind dickleibig, so, wie viele hier auf dem Markt. Immer wieder wird Schönheit mit runden Körperformen in Verbindung gebracht, während die Mageren argwöhnisch betrachtet werden. Florent wird von seinem Bruder aufgenommen und nimmt später eine Stelle auf dem Markt an, bei der er von den Marktfrauen herausgefordert wird. Lediglich in politischen Gesprächen und Planungen fühlt er sich wirklich beheimatet.
Viel mehr Handlung darf man nicht erwarten. Das Besondere des Buches liegt in den Beschreibungen des Lebens in Paris in der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Sehr detailreich werden die Produkte, die auf dem Markt und den umliegenden Geschäften angeboten werden, dargestellt. Eine Symphonie für die Sinne ist zu erleben, wobei sich der Anblick je nach Stimmung des Betrachters, verändert. Mal glänzen die Kohlköpfe und strahlen Frische und Lebendigkeit aus, mal werden verwelkte Blätter am Boden zusammengefegt. Wurstwaren können das Wasser im Mund zusammenlaufen lassen, aber auch grau von Fliegen umkreist werden. Ein ganz besonderer Höhepunkt ist ein Gespräch im Käsekeller, bei dem die Käse entsprechend des Gesprächsverlaufs ihre Gerüche verströmen. Neben den Esswaren wird aber auch die Konstruktion der Markthallen genau beschrieben, so dass man sie nachbauen könnte.
Bei den vielen handelnden Personen wird das Äußere durch die Darstellung ihres Charakters ergänzt. Das geschieht immer mit einem Augenzwinkern. Nahezu alle wirken authentisch, entwickeln sich und geben ein Bild der Zeit ab. Selbst die politische Situation fließt gekonnt in das Gesamtbild ein. Wundervoll ist nicht nur die Darstellung der Eifersüchteleien und Streitigkeiten, äußerst gelungen ist es ebenso, wie sich die Geschichte rundet.
Wer lange Beschreibungen genießen kann und ins Paris des 19. Jahrhunderts abtauchen möchte, findet hier das perfekte Buch.
Florent, der aus der Verbannung in Südamerika geflohen ist, kehrt zurück in seine Heimatstadt Paris. Fast verhungert, kommt er ausgerechnet auf dem Markt an, wo er mit dem Blick des Hungrigen den Überfluss wahrnimmt. Sein Halbbruder hat inzwischen geheiratet und eine gut gehende Metzgerei eröffnet. Frau und Kind sowie der Halbbruder selbst sind dickleibig, so, wie viele hier auf dem Markt. Immer wieder wird Schönheit mit runden Körperformen in Verbindung gebracht, während die Mageren argwöhnisch betrachtet werden. Florent wird von seinem Bruder aufgenommen und nimmt später eine Stelle auf dem Markt an, bei der er von den Marktfrauen herausgefordert wird. Lediglich in politischen Gesprächen und Planungen fühlt er sich wirklich beheimatet.
Viel mehr Handlung darf man nicht erwarten. Das Besondere des Buches liegt in den Beschreibungen des Lebens in Paris in der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Sehr detailreich werden die Produkte, die auf dem Markt und den umliegenden Geschäften angeboten werden, dargestellt. Eine Symphonie für die Sinne ist zu erleben, wobei sich der Anblick je nach Stimmung des Betrachters, verändert. Mal glänzen die Kohlköpfe und strahlen Frische und Lebendigkeit aus, mal werden verwelkte Blätter am Boden zusammengefegt. Wurstwaren können das Wasser im Mund zusammenlaufen lassen, aber auch grau von Fliegen umkreist werden. Ein ganz besonderer Höhepunkt ist ein Gespräch im Käsekeller, bei dem die Käse entsprechend des Gesprächsverlaufs ihre Gerüche verströmen. Neben den Esswaren wird aber auch die Konstruktion der Markthallen genau beschrieben, so dass man sie nachbauen könnte.
Bei den vielen handelnden Personen wird das Äußere durch die Darstellung ihres Charakters ergänzt. Das geschieht immer mit einem Augenzwinkern. Nahezu alle wirken authentisch, entwickeln sich und geben ein Bild der Zeit ab. Selbst die politische Situation fließt gekonnt in das Gesamtbild ein. Wundervoll ist nicht nur die Darstellung der Eifersüchteleien und Streitigkeiten, äußerst gelungen ist es ebenso, wie sich die Geschichte rundet.
Wer lange Beschreibungen genießen kann und ins Paris des 19. Jahrhunderts abtauchen möchte, findet hier das perfekte Buch.
September 27, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and loved Zola’s vivid descriptions and cast of characters.
The 3rd book in the Rougon-Macquart series, this one focuses on the Les Halles, the fresh produce market in the centre of Paris.
The French title, Le Ventre de Paris translates as The Belly of Paris but is often called The Fat and the Thin in English translations. (Although I have an old secondhand hardback from the fifties that’s titled Savage Paris!).
These markets were like some huge central organ beating with giant force, and sending the blood of life through every vein of the city.
The belly of Paris is a fitting title as this book wallows in descriptions of the food on display, the mountains of vegetables and fruit, the meat and offal, the fish, and the fresh flowers, the cheeses and butter, all the colours, smells(and stenches) and sounds of the markets. The markets are enormous and busy, the people coming and going, the auctions, the market stalls, the cellars beneath where animals are stored and killed, and all the people. Such abundance on display.
The fat and the thin refers at the most basic to the main characters, two half brothers who are opposites in appearance and character.
Florent has returned to Paris on false papers after being transported to South America. He is a scholar and teacher and thin.
Quenu is younger and becomes a good cook and works in their uncle’s butcher shop where he meets his wife Lisa (formerly macquart). They inherit the business and build it up. (Their young daughter Pauline is the main character of Zest for Life). The family is round and of course making sausages etc they are surrounded by fat. Lisa comes to dislike Florent, and his leanness seems to be a reason to distrust him as much as his political beliefs!
Other characters include Cadine and Marjolin, a young couple abandoned as small children in the market who now live their lives in, around, above and below the halls. Also Claude Lantier makes many small appearances, a painter whose own story will be told in The Masterpiece
The various fishwives and other female market sellers, old and young are quite wonderfully described as they go about their lives, jealousies and competitiveness, not to mention spite, and acting as a loud group against any officials.
The plot follows Florent as he gets a job as the fish inspector even though he objects to working for the government. He regularly meets in the evenings for a drink with other political agitators. He’s never really accepted by the all the market workers and what happens is inevitable.
But the plot doesn’t seem to me to be Zola’s main aim. It’s a description of a way of life in Paris from the sellers in the markets to the making of black pudding, the gossip, the petty infighting of all these people who exist and make their living in this distinctive environment, a world of its own.
Zola has long passages describing the poultry and meat in great detail, the gore, the shapes of the carcasses and offal, so much food that it seems to represent gluttony and greed.
Claude divides people into two categories, the fat and the thin.
In these designs Claude detected the entire drama of human life, and he ended by classifying men into Fat and Thin, two hostile groups, one of which devours the other, and grows fat and sleek and enjoys itself.
The implication is that in the battle between the fat and the thin, the fat will always win.
Those colossal markets and their teeming odoriferous masses of food had hastened the crisis. To Florent they appeared symbolical of some glutted, digesting beast, of Paris, wallowing in its fat and silently upholding the Empire. He seemed to be encircled by swelling forms and sleek, fat faces, which ever and ever protested against his own martyrlike scragginess and sallow, discontented visage. To him the markets were like the stomach of the shopkeeping classes, the stomach of all the folks of average rectitude puffing itself out, rejoicing, glistening in the sunshine, and declaring that everything was for the best, since peaceable people had never before grown so beautifully fat.
The 3rd book in the Rougon-Macquart series, this one focuses on the Les Halles, the fresh produce market in the centre of Paris.
The French title, Le Ventre de Paris translates as The Belly of Paris but is often called The Fat and the Thin in English translations. (Although I have an old secondhand hardback from the fifties that’s titled Savage Paris!).
These markets were like some huge central organ beating with giant force, and sending the blood of life through every vein of the city.
The belly of Paris is a fitting title as this book wallows in descriptions of the food on display, the mountains of vegetables and fruit, the meat and offal, the fish, and the fresh flowers, the cheeses and butter, all the colours, smells(and stenches) and sounds of the markets. The markets are enormous and busy, the people coming and going, the auctions, the market stalls, the cellars beneath where animals are stored and killed, and all the people. Such abundance on display.
The fat and the thin refers at the most basic to the main characters, two half brothers who are opposites in appearance and character.
Florent has returned to Paris on false papers after being transported to South America. He is a scholar and teacher and thin.
Quenu is younger and becomes a good cook and works in their uncle’s butcher shop where he meets his wife Lisa (formerly macquart). They inherit the business and build it up. (Their young daughter Pauline is the main character of Zest for Life). The family is round and of course making sausages etc they are surrounded by fat. Lisa comes to dislike Florent, and his leanness seems to be a reason to distrust him as much as his political beliefs!
Other characters include Cadine and Marjolin, a young couple abandoned as small children in the market who now live their lives in, around, above and below the halls. Also Claude Lantier makes many small appearances, a painter whose own story will be told in The Masterpiece
The various fishwives and other female market sellers, old and young are quite wonderfully described as they go about their lives, jealousies and competitiveness, not to mention spite, and acting as a loud group against any officials.
The plot follows Florent as he gets a job as the fish inspector even though he objects to working for the government. He regularly meets in the evenings for a drink with other political agitators. He’s never really accepted by the all the market workers and what happens is inevitable.
But the plot doesn’t seem to me to be Zola’s main aim. It’s a description of a way of life in Paris from the sellers in the markets to the making of black pudding, the gossip, the petty infighting of all these people who exist and make their living in this distinctive environment, a world of its own.
Zola has long passages describing the poultry and meat in great detail, the gore, the shapes of the carcasses and offal, so much food that it seems to represent gluttony and greed.
Claude divides people into two categories, the fat and the thin.
In these designs Claude detected the entire drama of human life, and he ended by classifying men into Fat and Thin, two hostile groups, one of which devours the other, and grows fat and sleek and enjoys itself.
The implication is that in the battle between the fat and the thin, the fat will always win.
Those colossal markets and their teeming odoriferous masses of food had hastened the crisis. To Florent they appeared symbolical of some glutted, digesting beast, of Paris, wallowing in its fat and silently upholding the Empire. He seemed to be encircled by swelling forms and sleek, fat faces, which ever and ever protested against his own martyrlike scragginess and sallow, discontented visage. To him the markets were like the stomach of the shopkeeping classes, the stomach of all the folks of average rectitude puffing itself out, rejoicing, glistening in the sunshine, and declaring that everything was for the best, since peaceable people had never before grown so beautifully fat.
Read
September 1, 2023The strong argument of Zola's entire narrative is the place. It is said that the man sanctifies the place, but here, I'd say that the place sanctifies the man. I pass almost weekly through Les Halles - the place where the action of the story unfolds, if we can talk about action, within this story, but Zola's work falls outside the action, more precisely it uses an ingredient that is related more to the idea of belonging, of roots, of merging man with place.
Throughout the entire reading, I felt I experience the sensation of a double entity in myself, one marked by a strong character of déjà -vu , and another at the opposite pole, of ignorance and thirst for knowledge.
The streets of Paris themselves become characters, as Zola describes with a detailed eye the sights, sounds, and smells that permeate the very air. Through his prose, I can almost taste the freshly baked bread, hear the clatter of carts, and feel the surge of excitement that electrifies the air as the market comes alive each day. The knowledge that Les Halles underwent significant changes in the years following the book's publication fills me with a sense of bittersweet melancholy, the loss of the bustling marketplace and the transformation of the neighborhood into something new and modern is a sad reminder, for me - of the transient nature of urban landscapes.
In this journey of breathtaking cruelty and heart-stopping richness, one cannot help but draw parallels to the works of Balzac. Just as Balzac meticulously peered into the lives of his characters to reveal the complexities of society, Zola too unravels the layers beneath the veneer of Les Halles. Much like the interconectedness of Balzac's " La Comédie Humaine" , Zola's " Le ventre de Paris " presents a microcosm of society, a kaléidoscope of human desires and ambitions. Through his characters, Zola gives a voice to those often overlooked or marginalized, exposing the harsh realities of life in Les Halles, and sparking empathy within the readers. Furthermore, Le ventre de Paris exemplifies some of the concepts discussed in his " Roman Expérimental " - such as heredity and environments, where he examines the role of scientific principles in literature, being actually a theoretical exploration which showcase once more Zola's commitment to realism.
In conclusion, my review of " Le ventre de Paris " as a reader deeply connected to the place is one filled with both personal considerations and profound admiration. This book serves as both a tribute to the past and a reminder of the ever-changing nature of our urban environments, and
through its exploration of themes such as capitalism, social inequality, and the human condition, " Le ventre de Paris " is also a scathing critique of the societal structures of its time. Zola skillfully exposes the underbelly of Les Halles, the hidden tensions beneath its seemingly vibrant surface, offering a critique of both the heart and the belly of Paris. I don't know how the book is perceived for others, but for me it was like a teleportation in a time in which, paradoxically, I lived once. Maybe, indeed, the place sanctifies the man...
Throughout the entire reading, I felt I experience the sensation of a double entity in myself, one marked by a strong character of déjà -vu , and another at the opposite pole, of ignorance and thirst for knowledge.
The streets of Paris themselves become characters, as Zola describes with a detailed eye the sights, sounds, and smells that permeate the very air. Through his prose, I can almost taste the freshly baked bread, hear the clatter of carts, and feel the surge of excitement that electrifies the air as the market comes alive each day. The knowledge that Les Halles underwent significant changes in the years following the book's publication fills me with a sense of bittersweet melancholy, the loss of the bustling marketplace and the transformation of the neighborhood into something new and modern is a sad reminder, for me - of the transient nature of urban landscapes.
In this journey of breathtaking cruelty and heart-stopping richness, one cannot help but draw parallels to the works of Balzac. Just as Balzac meticulously peered into the lives of his characters to reveal the complexities of society, Zola too unravels the layers beneath the veneer of Les Halles. Much like the interconectedness of Balzac's " La Comédie Humaine" , Zola's " Le ventre de Paris " presents a microcosm of society, a kaléidoscope of human desires and ambitions. Through his characters, Zola gives a voice to those often overlooked or marginalized, exposing the harsh realities of life in Les Halles, and sparking empathy within the readers. Furthermore, Le ventre de Paris exemplifies some of the concepts discussed in his " Roman Expérimental " - such as heredity and environments, where he examines the role of scientific principles in literature, being actually a theoretical exploration which showcase once more Zola's commitment to realism.
In conclusion, my review of " Le ventre de Paris " as a reader deeply connected to the place is one filled with both personal considerations and profound admiration. This book serves as both a tribute to the past and a reminder of the ever-changing nature of our urban environments, and
through its exploration of themes such as capitalism, social inequality, and the human condition, " Le ventre de Paris " is also a scathing critique of the societal structures of its time. Zola skillfully exposes the underbelly of Les Halles, the hidden tensions beneath its seemingly vibrant surface, offering a critique of both the heart and the belly of Paris. I don't know how the book is perceived for others, but for me it was like a teleportation in a time in which, paradoxically, I lived once. Maybe, indeed, the place sanctifies the man...
May 25, 2015
The Belly of Paris is an unusual literary feat, a seeming polemic with a virtually hidden message. In prose that describes the food markets of the city in glorious (and sometimes squalid) detail, Zola introduces us to this specialized world that feeds the rich and poor of the capital city. These descriptions are beautifully written and even the squalid details are often metaphorically lovely.
Beneath that surface, however, is the battle of the "Fats" and "Thins" (also an alternate title of the book). These are not simply to be taken as haves and have-nots. It's more complicated than that. The fat are somehow more acceptable, more successful, even if not financially so. To be thin is to be suspect.
To this milieu returns Florent Quenu, a Parisian wrongly imprisoned and exiled to Devil's Island. He has escaped and now is back, but for what purpose? The people of Les Halles, the produce market, live on gossip, spreading stories whether true or false. The government sits in the background, watching all, making plans.
There were times when I became impatient with Zola's concentration on seemingly endless description over character and/or plot. But, admittedly, these descriptions were beautifully wrought. And, in the end, I found that they served a purpose toward the overall end. There was a message about the fruits of excess and the role of the state, not the message I might like but amazingly modern. And perhaps his technique mirrored that excess.
I will readmore of Zola in the future.
Beneath that surface, however, is the battle of the "Fats" and "Thins" (also an alternate title of the book). These are not simply to be taken as haves and have-nots. It's more complicated than that. The fat are somehow more acceptable, more successful, even if not financially so. To be thin is to be suspect.
To this milieu returns Florent Quenu, a Parisian wrongly imprisoned and exiled to Devil's Island. He has escaped and now is back, but for what purpose? The people of Les Halles, the produce market, live on gossip, spreading stories whether true or false. The government sits in the background, watching all, making plans.
There were times when I became impatient with Zola's concentration on seemingly endless description over character and/or plot. But, admittedly, these descriptions were beautifully wrought. And, in the end, I found that they served a purpose toward the overall end. There was a message about the fruits of excess and the role of the state, not the message I might like but amazingly modern. And perhaps his technique mirrored that excess.
I will readmore of Zola in the future.
May 11, 2021
شکم پاریس یا چاق و لاغر سومین کتاب از مجموعه بیست کتابی روگن ماکاره و اولین کتاب مجموعه که به طور کامل به طبقه کارگر میپردازه و درسته که به پای شاهکاری مثل ژرمینال نمیرسه اما زولا به خوبی تونسته فضای سال های اول حکومت شارل لویی ناپلئون رو به تصویر بکشه. داستان کتاب حول محور بازار بزرگ و معروف پاریس میگرده و دو روی متضاد فروشندگان این بازار و به طور کلی فضای پاریس در دوران امپراطوری دوم رو نشون میده. از یک سو بازاری رنگارنگ و پویا و از سوی دیگر شرارت، خباثت، حسادت و بی اعتمادی فروشندگان نسبت به همدیگر
Read
July 20, 2024Nachtrag
Gelesen ca. 2008
Re-read würdig
Bald!
Gelesen ca. 2008
Re-read würdig
Bald!
August 5, 2023
Troppo è uguale a nessuno (R. Gary)
Nell’ammazzatoio l’acquavite portava alla perdizione, nel ventre di Parigi non si beve, ci si stordisce con il cibo. Il ventre è costituito dai mercati di Les Halles dove affluiscono ogni giorno quintali di merce che poi verranno venduti al minuto. La prima bella descrizione di essi, all’approssimarsi dell’alba, si protrae più del dovuto e purtroppo anticipa ciò che si ripeterà anche in seguito. A fronte di una trama semplice
(un uomo deportato per le proprie idee socialiste rientra a Parigi sotto l’Impero di Napoleone III e cerca di metterle in atto)
ci sono descrizioni che la rallentano in modo estenuante. Dalla verdura alla carne, quindi al pesce, ai formaggi poi ai fiori; un trionfo di colori e afrori che stordiscono e fanno dolere il (proprio) ventre. Con i personaggi le cose non vanno meglio. La prima cosa interessante è il canone di bellezza ottocentesco: belle sono definite la salumiera e la pescivendola le due veline dell’epoca: rotonde, prosperose, decisamente appannate, direi culone (mangiare troppo e male all’epoca non si chiamava ancora body shaming). I magri sono visti di cattivo occhio, il nostro rivoluzionario Florent è più sospetto per la propria corporatura che per le proprie idee.
La seconda cosa che desta interesse è la bottegaietà, l’invidia reciproca dei commercianti di Les Halles che nella versione femminile raggiunge il picco. La palma d’oro (siamo pur sempre in Francia) va a M.lle Seget: zitella, pettegola, falsa, cospiratrice, maligna, taccagna, un vero e proprio stereotipo.
Il romanzo fa parte dei 20 libri del Ciclo dei Rougon-Macquart
Se ne avete letti, indicatemi quello che vi è piaciuto di più. Per l’ammazzatoio (Assommoir) avevo acceso tutte le stelle e assegnato il mio scudo anobii 2023; avevo aspettative nei riguardi del Ventre e invece l’ho trovato flaccido e prominente.
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Un bel contributo trovato in rete
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52leI...
Nell’ammazzatoio l’acquavite portava alla perdizione, nel ventre di Parigi non si beve, ci si stordisce con il cibo. Il ventre è costituito dai mercati di Les Halles dove affluiscono ogni giorno quintali di merce che poi verranno venduti al minuto. La prima bella descrizione di essi, all’approssimarsi dell’alba, si protrae più del dovuto e purtroppo anticipa ciò che si ripeterà anche in seguito. A fronte di una trama semplice
(un uomo deportato per le proprie idee socialiste rientra a Parigi sotto l’Impero di Napoleone III e cerca di metterle in atto)
ci sono descrizioni che la rallentano in modo estenuante. Dalla verdura alla carne, quindi al pesce, ai formaggi poi ai fiori; un trionfo di colori e afrori che stordiscono e fanno dolere il (proprio) ventre. Con i personaggi le cose non vanno meglio. La prima cosa interessante è il canone di bellezza ottocentesco: belle sono definite la salumiera e la pescivendola le due veline dell’epoca: rotonde, prosperose, decisamente appannate, direi culone (mangiare troppo e male all’epoca non si chiamava ancora body shaming). I magri sono visti di cattivo occhio, il nostro rivoluzionario Florent è più sospetto per la propria corporatura che per le proprie idee.
La seconda cosa che desta interesse è la bottegaietà, l’invidia reciproca dei commercianti di Les Halles che nella versione femminile raggiunge il picco. La palma d’oro (siamo pur sempre in Francia) va a M.lle Seget: zitella, pettegola, falsa, cospiratrice, maligna, taccagna, un vero e proprio stereotipo.
Il romanzo fa parte dei 20 libri del Ciclo dei Rougon-Macquart
Se ne avete letti, indicatemi quello che vi è piaciuto di più. Per l’ammazzatoio (Assommoir) avevo acceso tutte le stelle e assegnato il mio scudo anobii 2023; avevo aspettative nei riguardi del Ventre e invece l’ho trovato flaccido e prominente.
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Un bel contributo trovato in rete
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52leI...
July 11, 2016
El vientre de París es el hoy desaparecido Mercado Central de París o mercado de Les Halles que se construyó durante el Segundo Imperio francés. El escritor Zola nos lo describe con todo lujo de detalles y profusión de productos. Las verduleras, pescaderas, salchicheras, etc. son protagonistas absolutas junto con los innumerables artículos que venden. Parece que Francia en el momento de la trama atravesaba una ola de prosperidad burguesa. Es el triunfo de la comida, de las digestiones pesadas, del colesterol (aunque entonces aún no se llamase así), de la gordura ostentosa. Pero en ese fondo de prosperidad los valores humanos no han avanzado. La novela es escenario de envidias, rivalidades, cotilleos para derribar la reputación de los vecinos, y el protagonista, un hombre bueno, excesivamente bueno hasta el punto de la estupidez, acabará siendo engullido por ese mercado.
Todo un clásico.
Todo un clásico.
November 29, 2016
Otherwise titled "Obsessed with Vegetables"
Zola proves his point that there is a great divide between the high and low status quo through the discussion of food and its mongers. French society seems to have always been based on cuisine. The era of the French Revolution is no different. What's stunning is the grade of filth, rot, and stench related to it. Poor health, fetid atmosphere, mangy animals are all consequences. Politics, of course, are discussed over evening soup. "Scum dislike the emperor", but the emperor doesn't seem to improve life.
Of the handful of Zola novels I have read, I've enjoyed this one the least. It may be because I'm fortunate enough not to be able to relate, although I adore the idea of little cobbled streets with tiny shops to buy my fare.
Zola proves his point that there is a great divide between the high and low status quo through the discussion of food and its mongers. French society seems to have always been based on cuisine. The era of the French Revolution is no different. What's stunning is the grade of filth, rot, and stench related to it. Poor health, fetid atmosphere, mangy animals are all consequences. Politics, of course, are discussed over evening soup. "Scum dislike the emperor", but the emperor doesn't seem to improve life.
Of the handful of Zola novels I have read, I've enjoyed this one the least. It may be because I'm fortunate enough not to be able to relate, although I adore the idea of little cobbled streets with tiny shops to buy my fare.
April 20, 2022
4.5
Do not look for justice in a Zola novel.
The Belly of Paris (Le Ventre de Paris), the third novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series of Les Rougon-Macquart is a criticism leveled at the fat, well fed, self-satisfied bourgeois class.
The setting is Les Halles of Paris and the story takes place over one year from 1858 to 1859.
Do not look for justice in a Zola novel.
The Belly of Paris (Le Ventre de Paris), the third novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series of Les Rougon-Macquart is a criticism leveled at the fat, well fed, self-satisfied bourgeois class.
The setting is Les Halles of Paris and the story takes place over one year from 1858 to 1859.
April 26, 2024
Respectable people…. what Bastards! A great line to end a brilliant novel. The descriptions of food in Les Halles to outline the corruption of Napoleon III and the second Empire is original and fascinating. Zola stylistic experiments using descriptions of foods in the market captures a vision of succulence, greed with imagery that has a hyperbolic and hallucinatory quality.
The plot is secondary with the thin Florent fantasy of revolution a minor element. The fat opulence of Lisa and his half brother Quenu in their successful delicatessen contrast with Florent’s non materialistic values.
Zola captures in his work the rapid expansion of change of a new mass, capitalistic society driven by political and social change. The Belly of Paris captures the movement, colour, smells and atmosphere intensity of the changes and creation of bourgeois consumer society.
The descriptions of fruit, vegetables, poultry, cheeses, fish and making of black pudding are scholarly and wonderful play on imagery and metaphors using the Les Halles markets as his tableau.
Number three in Zola’s famous cycle of twenty novels is a great satirical representation of capitalism and the bourgeois. Well worth a read and very enjoyable.
The plot is secondary with the thin Florent fantasy of revolution a minor element. The fat opulence of Lisa and his half brother Quenu in their successful delicatessen contrast with Florent’s non materialistic values.
Zola captures in his work the rapid expansion of change of a new mass, capitalistic society driven by political and social change. The Belly of Paris captures the movement, colour, smells and atmosphere intensity of the changes and creation of bourgeois consumer society.
The descriptions of fruit, vegetables, poultry, cheeses, fish and making of black pudding are scholarly and wonderful play on imagery and metaphors using the Les Halles markets as his tableau.
Number three in Zola’s famous cycle of twenty novels is a great satirical representation of capitalism and the bourgeois. Well worth a read and very enjoyable.
March 21, 2021
Этот роман о неравенстве, о толстяках и тощих, в котором Центральный рынок – олицетворение общества в целом. Кто-то от обжорства стал квадратным, как семейство Кеню, а кто-то стоит в очереди за объедками из дворцов и рестораций, отсортированных в подвалах и продаваемых за несколько су и озирается с беспокойством, чтобы его не увидели. Флобер, яркий представитель «тощих», «нежный душой, словно девушка», падавший в обморок, увидев, как при нем режут голубей, полон романтических идеалов революции. Это общество полно сплетен, все друг за другом следят, завидуют, соревнуются в благосостоянии, обсуждают и распускают сплетни. Всем до всех есть дело. Неудивительно, что на Флобера донесли несколько человек, возможно, даже все, кто его знал. Вот это доносительство удивляло в истории сталинской эпохи, но оно было и в пост-республиканской Франции. Что же двигало этими людьми? Идеалы сытости и благополучия? Роман заканчивается словами: «Какие все же негодяи, эти порядочные люди».
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