#Zola Addiction 2024
Author: Emile Zola
Genre: Novel
“Page d’amour”
Published: 1878
Folio Classique, 5 parts ( 25 chapters) Bookcover is painted by James Tissot (1836 – 1902) “La demoiselle d honneur”‘.
Setting: Paris
Timeline: February – November
Themes: struggle between living life to the fullest vs living a strict dutiful life, analysis of passionate love, heredity ( mental weakness inherited via Rougon-Macquart family tree)
Trivia: 8th book written in the series, Zola indicated that it should be read as the 10th on his advised reading list.
Main Characters:
Rambaud honorable
Mouret, (Hélène) calm, weak, following her head, not her heart
Jouve, (Abbé)
Grandjean (Jeanne) jealous, possessive
Deberle ( Henri) spineless, hypocritical
Deberle (Juliette) scatterbrained, blind to situations
Storyline:
Hélène Mouret, a young widow, ( the daughter of Ursule Macquart) arrives in Paris with her 12 yr old daughter Jeanne.
She receives help from two friends : Abbe Jouve, and his brother Rambaud.
She leads a quiet and well ordered life while watching Paris from her window in Passy.
Jeanne goes wherever with her mother.
This child develops a jealousy of anyone who shares her mothers’s love or attention.
One day when the child is suffering from a convulsion, Hélène seeks help from her neighbor, Dr Henri Deberle.
They fall in love with each other but unfortunately Henry is married to Juliette.
Hélène must decide what to do.
Structure:
I’m learning to pay more attention to the sturcture of Zola’s books.
This book is divided into 5 parts.
Each part describes an ‘impressionistic’ view of the rythmn of Paris at sunrise, at sundown, at night, in a storm, or under the snow as seen from Trocadero. This also reflects the mood in the story during that section of the book.
Heredity:
Adèlaide –> Ursule –> Hélène –> Jeanne has the characteristics of her great- grandmother, and grandmother: erratic, moody, outbursts of rage.
Symbolism:
Hélène Grandjean = bourgeois
Doctor Deberle = elite
Le jardin des Deberle is = adultery
Walls around the garden = correct behavior according to the morals of society.
Cycles of vegatation = the progress of the passion love between Hélène and the doctor and the death of a child
Role of the garden:
The garden plays the central role of the story. Its the place where the intrigue occurs and proivdes a means of communication between neighbours, Deberle’s family and Hélène Grandjean and her daughter. Zola has used garden-communication scenes in La Rêve and La Conquête de Plassans.
The garden reflects throughout the course of the seasons the character’s feelings as well as the bourgeois decorum, etiquette. Zola describes each of the 5 steps of this love affaire in minute psychological details.
Structure of the garden:
In La Faute de l’abbé Mouret ‘Paradou’ was protected by huge trees in full leaf and Zola emphazied the disorder of the garden ( statues toppled over or broken, half sunk in ponds, neglected vineyards with branches so low that one must crawl to snatch the fruit.). This was to symbolize the wild and savage love between Serge and Albine.
In Une Page d’amour, by contrast, the garden is very formal and well cared for. This was to symbolize the love between Hélène and Dr Derble which developed according to the social norms in Parisien society.
Strong points:
Mise-en-abyme: Helene is reading a book “Ivanhoe” by Sir Walter Scott.
Helene sits in front of a window and observes the surroundings does Rebecca in Ivanhoe. Helene observes Pairs while Rebecca observes an ongoing battle outside a castle in order to inform the wounded knight.
Weak points:
Zola is noted for his precision for details. This is seen in all the panorama of Paris, the Deberle garden, the children’s party and house interiors scenes. Let’s just call it an ‘exhausting’ instead of a weak point while reading the book in French.
Expressions: (part 1)
des chevaux délicats qui ressemblaient à des pièces mécaniques ( delicate horses resemble mechanical toys)
la bonne en tablier tachait l’herbe d’une clarté ( the maid in an apron stains the grass with a brightness)
des barques passaient, pareilles à des oiseaux couleur d’encre ( boats pass by like ink black birds)
Part 1:
Part one: Paris at sunrise rises out of the mist veiled. “…de fines mousselines étalées, et une à une, les mousselines s’en allait, l’image de Paris s’accentuait en sortait du rêve”. ( ..as the mist dissolves, Paris intensifies and leaves the dream.)
Mise-en-abyme: Helene compares her love to a dream floating over Paris. She dreams of loving as did Rebecca ( with pride and dignity) and Lady Rowena ( with serenity and patience) in Ivanhoe (chapter 29). HELENE = REBECCA
Tone: There is a sudden change of tone from dreams back to reality as Helene rememebers the death of her father.
Part 2:
Expressions: (part 2)
She put her face in her joined hands, pressing her fingers on her eyelids to increase the darkness…
Elle posa la face dan ses mains jointes, appuyant les doights sur ses paupières, comme pour augumenter la nuit où elle se plongeait.
Part 2:
Family scenes: Hélène and Jeanne are becoming quasi members of the Debrele family, often dining with them. When Hélène spoke her lips said: < monsieur > , but in her heart she heard an echo say: < Henri >.
Bal d’enfants: This is an echanting, magical description of a children’s fancy dress party. In the backround we feel the excitement building not only with ‘les enfants’, but also Henri and Hélène, stolen glances and whispers in ears.
Paris at sunset is in flames. Hélène is ready to disappear in one long embrace (Dr. Henri Deberle). To live in one minute all that she has never experienced. “Elle sentait ces flammes brûler dan son coeur”.
James Tissot (1836 – 1902) Reading a story
Expressions: (part 3)
There is an honorable man who loves you and waits for you. Just put your hand is his to find peace of mind once again.
…un honnête homme vous aime et qui vous attend….mettre votre main dans la sienne pour retrouver le calme.
Part 3:
Month of May celebrations: Hélène meets Henri outside the church. They know their love is forbidden and will maintain it by a glance, an inflextion of the voice or even a silence.
Keeping vigil over a sick child: Overcome with emotion when Dr Deberle brings Jeanne back from death’s door, Hélène finally confesses her love for him. Je t’ aime. An insanely jealous child torments her mother by keeping Henri at a distance. Hélène suffers a struggle between motherhood and her new love.
Paris at night: is a giant who lets the night enveloppe it, motionless, eyes closed.
Part 4:
Intrigue, the double rendez-vous: Will the love triangle be discovered? Zola increases the suspense. Alfred Hitchcock once said, “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”
Paris is inundated during a storm. Suddenly there is a thunderous cloudburst over the center of Paris. It is the turning point.
Part: 5:
Voice of Zola:
I was surprised to read Zola’s negative commentary about novels.( ch 5, part 1)
Novels lie. They were pleasant fables for those who have not experinced life. This is contradictory to what Zola does in his novels. He gives realitiy a human and fragile touch.
I was relieved to read Zola’s simple advice about religion and church attendence. (ch 1, part 3)
Beautiful souls gain salvation by their good sense and charity.
Conclusion:
I liked this book because it was quiet and calm. It did not require much ‘think work’ as did La Conquête de Plassans ( no politics/social commentary ), It had a narrow scope of action unlike Germinal and just a few characters. Due to the subject of a ‘developing secret love between Dr. Debrele and Hélène, there were pages of ‘easy to read’ dialogue.
I must say in each and every book that I have read by Zola: this man can write a love story and all the feelings it entails. How does he do it?
Memorable scenes: childern’s ball, month of May celebration ( La Vierge), vigil over a sick child, Jeanne, love triangle with a double rendez-vous.
Tiresome scenes: repetition of the panorama of Paris over and over and over….again.
Personally, I would advise using Zola’s recommended reading order. This book makes subtle references to other characters in the books of this series. For examplk an ancestor with a history of mental illness and a rich uncle who bestows an inheritance on Hélène’s mother and father. I know exactly who they are!
This book was a pleasant surprise. It seems any of my preconcieved notions about Zola’s books are torn to shreds once I start reading the book. His talents are ‘innommable’!
Score: 4
#Non-fiction Madame de Sévigné
Madame de Sévigné (1626-1696) – Une femme et son monde au Grand Siècle
- Author: Geneviève Haroche-Bouzinac
- Title: Madame de Sévigné (470 pg) 2023
- Genre: biography
- Rating: A+
#Prix de la biographie Le Point 2024
Biographies are great…but I always
hate the chapter when the person I’ve spent
many hours with, in this case Mme de Sévigné, dies.
Note: One book about the poet James Wright
…to this day I cannot bear reading the last page of
his life, so, so sad.
This was a very easy book to read in French.
Well worth the touble to all those who want to
‘polish’ you French reading skills. Any “gaps” in
the information can be easily found on Wikipedia.
One regret…I should have looked at the last pages of the book
first…there is a complete genealogy of the “les Coulanges” (Maire)
and the “les Sévigné” (Henri, husband) available.
This would have saved me some time doing my own research!
I kept some notes during the reading and I will add them
for all those who are interested.
April 18, 2024 –
5.92% “Chapter 1 is first making a “scorecard” with who’s who!
Parents, grandparents, godparents…not to mention all the aunts and uncles. It will take time to let these names become familar.”
April 18, 2024 –
12.69% “04 Aug.1644 Marie (18 yr) and Henri (21 yr) marry.
1646 -daughter Francoise-Marguérite
1648 – son Charles
April 1649…Henri falls under the spell of Parisian courtesan Ninon.
Three months later Ninon dumps him….and Mme de Sévigné has had enough!
Things never change.”
April 19, 2024 –
13.54%“Chapter 4… reading how Mme de Sévigné’s marriage is over (she is only 23 yr.) She has 2 babies and does not want to risk her health in childbirth. It was a risky business in 17 C France! Her husband, Henri, dreams of a daring life in the saddle venturing off to battles. Also he has discovered world of Parisian courtesans. So he has two choices: being shot off his horse by the enemy or syphilis will kill him.”
April 19, 2024 –
24.03% “Mme de Sévigné becomes a widow on 06 February 1651. Her husband Henri was a serial philanderer who spent money recklessly. This widowhood was probably the best thing to happen to her. She could live her life freely and raise her children.
I love her way Mme de Sévigné describes her marriage:
“He respected me but did not love me….I loved him but did not respect him.””
April 21, 2024 –
47.38%“Ch 8-17…a lot has happened: daughter, Françoise, is married (children, 2 die at birth) moves with husband to south of France. Son Charles is in the army. Mme de Sévigné heart is breaking being so far from her daughter, Mme de S. decides to pull some strings in Paris to get her son-in-law transferred to the capital. Only this way can she reunite her family.”
April 22, 2024 –
59.22%“I did not know…that Mme de S did not get along with her daughter in her later years (Francoise 30 yr/ Mother 50 yr). I seems her daughter could not handle living in her briliant mother’s shadow, Francoise experienced “les dragons” (depression)regularly and the poor girl worried her husband would start an affgaire with a younger woman. So Francoise left mother and they agreed to continue a ‘friendship’ with letters.”
READ: Today I WILL finish (…still going slowly update 14:30 uur) the biography of Mme de Sévigné…by hook or by crook! Love reading biographies….just makes history so much more interesting! CH 17 is lists of Mme de S.’s “la troupe des amis intimes”. Mme de S. is out wining and dining but has to appear once in awhile “à la Cour” of King Louis XIV and Queen Maire Theresia (daughter of Spanish King Philip IV).
Louis XIV had a real eye for the ladies. Mistresses all in a row:
- Louise de la Valliège (4 children) – King was 23 yr
- Marquise de Montespan (6 children) – King was 29 yr
- Mademoiselle de Fontanges (short fling, no children) – King was 41 yr
- Madame de Maintenon (no children with King) and she secretly married (1683) King Louis XIV (45 yr) after the death of his wife of Marie Theresia. Mme de Maintenon was 48 hyr and “reigned” with Louis XIV…as he visited her apartments every day and received offical ministers in her presence. She was the boss!
READ: There is a lot of “worrying about money” in 1680s France in Mme de Sévigné’s family. How can Mme de S. pay those who maintain her chateaux in Les Rochers Bretagne? How can Mme de S. lend all the money for her daughter’s dowery? How can Mme de S. pay for the rent Hotel de Ville Carnavalet? ( now a museum) How can Mme de S. prevent losing her ‘downpayment’ to cousin Philippe-Auguste Le Hardy…so that her son (and cousin to P-A) Charles will inherit the family chateaux? (Philippe-Auguste gave the rights to the chateaux to his son-in-law!!) How can Mme de S. convince her son-in-law (Comte Grignan) (..to protect her daughter and grandchildren from $$ distress) to stop hemerroging money on his expensive lifestyle?
READ: Precious son Charles (32 yr) has syphilis (1680). Suprisingly he reaches the age of 65 and his wife dies at the age of 78 yr. He goes through awful so-called cures. 1684 Charles marries Jeanne Marguerite de Mauron (1659-1737) (young woman from Bretagne)…and a year later she too has syphilis. The couple had NO children…probably both were sterile due to the sickness + cure. While describing how he feels (Charles) …he tells his sister and she recognizes symptoms HER husband has. So he is probably infected as well. Poor Mme de Sévigné…her “perfect world and children” is crashing down.
So sad to read in the last chapters….all Mme de S’s friends are dying, one after the other.
- Mme de La Fayette (1634-1693)…is a crushing blow, great loss.
- Another dear friend Mme Lavardin aka Marguerite-Renée de Rostaing (1616-1994) died the next year.
- Mme de S’s world of eruidite friends and correspondents…..is almost gone.
- Roger de Rabutin, comte de Bussy (1618 – 1693), commonly known as Bussy-Rabutin,
- …was a French memoirist.
- He was her cousin and frequent correspondent of Madame de Sévigné.
#T.S. Eliot Prize Winner 2022
Finish: 22.04.2024
Title: Sonnets for Albert (2022)
Genre: 53 poems (92 pg)
Rating: A+++++++++++++++
Absolutely stunning poetry collection….really, the best I’ve
read this year. 53 short poems and I liked 53! score: 100%
The poems combined excellent form and technique.
Challenge: see if you can find the clever word play in the
first 19 poems!
These poems are short and my be deceptive in their
simplicity, but deep, deep down there is so much craft.
Anthony Joseph is confonting his childhood with an absent father.
He flew home after years living and studying in Europe….to finally bury his father
…but not his memory.
The son wanted answers from his father that he did not
find in photographs. When Mr Joseph saw his dead father:
Poem: Answers are Important (pg 83)
“…the half-parted mouth which kept its secrets,
and offered no response, no tender farewell.”
You can read these poems as a autobiography…
each poem compliments the other.
After spending many hours with Anthony Joseph
the line that just took my breath away about the
turbulent father-son relationship was:
Poem: P.O.S.G H. II (Port of Spain General Hospital) (pg 77)
“…He ate up all the joy.”
Last thoughts:
- Anthony Joseph tells us how ‘giving up your secrets’
- makes for great literature and how ‘the personal is universal’.
#Shortlisted T.S. Eliot Prize 2023
Finish: 18.04.2024
Title: I Think We’re Alone Now (2023)
Genre: 29 poems (82 pg)
Rating: F
- Some call it ‘delightfully difficult’.
- Some call it ‘ambitious’.
- I call it….disappointing.
- Sometimes when you start to dislike a book, you begin
- finding fault with all kinds of things that you wouldn’t otherwise.
- This book is not what I consider “shortlisted T.S. Eliot Prize” quailty.
- I could have accepted it …I’ve accepted far worse before!
- …but I found no dazzling images only spurts of hackneyed clichés
- …especially in “Audio Commentary” 4 pages with 101 sentenances.
- Is that poetry?
- Ms Parry has potential…being shortlisted demonstrates that
- …but did not show it to me today.
READ:
- Self-Portrait as Othello – Jason Allen-Paisant (35 poems) – REVIEW Winner T.S. Eliot Prize
- The Map of the World – E. Ni Chuilleanáin – REVIEW
- A Change in the Air – J. Clarke (55 poems) – REVIEW
#Poetry Jean Valentine (1934-2020)
Finish: 18.04.2024
Title: Home Deep Blue (1980)
Genre: 52 poems (79 pg)
Rating: D
The only thing I will remember about Jean Valentine is
that she kept me awake all night!
52 Poems by Jean Valentine “Home Deep Blue”
…they have an emotional tint referring to her private life,
I do not know anything a/b her life so…the poems left little impact on me.
Ms Valentine has been lauded for her poetry but I just do not get it.
Ms Valentine never dodged emotion but she leaves out the details.
The readers are forced to use their imagination.
Too many of these “poems” are just spurts of words with no rhythm and little feeling.
The tone of the poems is dream-like. The poet uses this mental state to forge for ideas.
Unlike Sylvia Plath, who inspired Ms Valentine….Plath uses life experiences to
create her narrative. That is what made her poetry electrifying!
Last thought….I’ll leave it this time to… Emily Dickinson:
“She has the facts but not the phosphorescence.”
#Trump 15 April 2024
- #Trump Historical day in US history
- …first criminal trial of an ex-US President.
- The @NewYorker had it right
- …almost to the day! (cover dd. 17.04.2023)
#Essays “Boxe”
Finish: 14.04.2024
Title: Boxe
Genre: Essays (222 pg)
Trivia: French prize: winner Prix Médicis Essai 2016
Rating: F
NOTE:
- I am actively trying to reduce my KINDLE TBR and
- have started with 8 French books I bought in 2016.
- Sometimes I wonder what was I thinking when I bought them!
- “Boxe”: had I done more research about the book instead of
- blinded by the caption “prize winner”
- ….I would have saved myself some money.
Conclusion:
- The French is easy to read and I feel I’v e
- wasted some of my precious reading time with
- essays about “boxers” whose stories are
- “re-hashed” from sport information we
- all can find on the internet.
- There is NO added value in this book.
- Believe me…it is not the sport of boxing that I did not enjoy
- …it is the way Jacques Henric just rattled of clichés about the
- sportsmen and what they have to do to become a champion and win.
- If you really want to enjoy a “boxing” book I would recommend
- After the Count by Australian Stephanie Convery REVIEW
- Just amazing to read Ms Convery’s thoughts as she
- prepares herself to start amateur female boxing.
- She explains that with all the knowledge she as
- learned about boxing during her research for this book
- and the risk of concussions she may be inflicted with
- she tries desperately to pull herself away from the sport…
- …but it draws her back somehow.
- This book is WELL WORTH your reading time!
Last thought:
- Leave it to a woman to write a great book about boxing.
- Go figure!
- Trivia: Shortlist Walkley Award 2020
- Trivia: Shortlist Nib Literary Award 2020
#Art History Camille et Paul
Finish: 10.04.2024
Title: Camille et Paul
Genre: biography (400 pg)
Language: French
Rating: D
Conclusion:
- The book’s only redeeming feature was… chapters about Camille Claudel
- during her years a model, student and lover of Rodin.
- I did learn what to notice in her sculptures in comparison to those of Rodin.
- Camille (1864 – 1943) gave her works a “woman’s touch”.
- Around 30 % of the book was really about
- …the sculptures of Camille created under the tutelage of Rodin.
- Camille developed her own sensuous style
- …softer and more intimate than that of Rodin.
- Favorites: Le Baiser, Sakuntala and La Valse
- 1883 – 1892 (affair Camille and Rodin) – Camille breaks with Rodin
- …after he refuses to leave his common law wife of 53 years, Rose Beuret.
- Rose finally married him in 1917 a few weeks before her death.
- 1906 – Camille Claude’s last work “Niobide blessée”
- ……..the face of the sculpture expresses the nightmare
- …that she must have felt of her own madness.
- Mme Bona’s writing is a very simple form of French
- …I can even skim some sections.
- Unfortunately the author decides to “fill up the book” with chapters
- …that just don’t interest me and feel out of place in this biography:
- chapter comparing a gifted brother and sister from 1760s (Chateaubriand and Lucille) with 1860s (Camille and Paul).
- chapter a/b the brother/sister relationship. 3 words sums up chapter: they were inseparable (indissociable).
- chapter …a comparison between Rodin and Paul Claudel. Why? Let’s get back to Camille!
- chapter…just about Paul: his “coming to Jesus” moment during a mass in Norte-Dame Church. Where’s Camille?
- chapter…how did the componist Debussy get into this book about Camille Claudel? She didn’t even like music!
Last thought:
- Perhaps I should have looked for a biography JUST about Camille Claudel.
- To be fair Mme Bona did warn me in th title: Camille et Paul.
- I read Mme Bona’s biography about Berthe Morisot…it was wonderful.
- Alas, this book, by the same author, pales in comparison.
La Valse (close-up) – La Valse – Le Basier – Sakuntala – Niobide blessée (close-up)
- “Art exists that one may recover the sensation of life; it exists to make one feel things,
- …to make the stone stony.”
- (Art critic, V. Shklovsky)
- In this case Camille Claudel makes a ‘waltz’ feel like seduction.
Gravediggers (Les fossoyeurs)
Finish: 07.04.2024
Title: Les fossoyeurs
Genre: non-fiction (400 pg)
Language: French
Rating: A+++
TRIVIA:
- The Albert Londres Prize is the highest French journalism award,
- …named in honor of journalist Albert Londres.
- Created in 1932, it was first awarded in 1933 and
- …is considered the French equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize.
- This book gives the perfect depiction of reality
- …based on 3-year investigation.
- It is a frightening report of the corruption and inhuman care of the
- elderly by the Orpéa organization in France.
- When you think it can’t get any worse, it does.
- The book is really long and can at times be repetitive.
- The author gives all the sources for every single fact.
- One investigative journalist proves once again
- “…the pen in mightier than the sword.”
- Orpéa was forced to apply for bankruptcy.
UPDATE 2024 March:
- French care homes operator Orpéa opens on
- Wednesday rebranded to Émeis as it draws a line under the scandals
- …that plagued it in 2022 and contributed to subsequent financial issues.
- Orpéa has been in turmoil since the beginning of 2022, when allegations of
- abuse and mistreatment in its French care homes in a
- …book by journalist Victor Castanet
- sent shockwaves throughout France and much soul-searching
- over how the elderly are treated in nursing homes.
#Poetry Winner T.S. Eliot Prize 2023
Finish: 01.04.2024
Title: Self-Portrait as Othello (35 poems)
Genre: Poetry (79 pg) April 2024 #NationalPoetryMonth
Author: Jason Allen-Paisant
Rating: A+++
- A life’s journey in poems…starting with the
- his humble beginnings in Jamacia,
- his education at Oxford in England and École Supériure in Paris,
- his travels to Prague, Berlin and Venice and
- his homecoming to Jamaica to bury his mother.
- Portraiting himself as Othello
- ….Allen-Paisant considers the Black male body.
- Othello’s intertwined identities as ‘immigrant’ and ‘Black’
- …speak to us in the landscape of twenty-first-century Europe.
- Favorite quote: (pg 23):
- “…the looks (of others) trying to find whitness in my blackness.”
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NancyElin 