LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Emile Zola: Books
built 650 days ago
Whilst so often derided by the realists and the asthetes, Zola continues to shock the most hardened of literary purists. Therese Raquin is essentially the application of scientific laws to human nature - but isn't that exactly the point of an accurate, psychological compelling work? This novel chills you to your very bones - consider that it was written in 1867. You engage with the hate of the two protaganists, empathize - it makes you uncomfortable, then you are horrified, disgusted. This book is the archetypal naturalist novel, but in some ways, it is the very best of naturalist novels. No disgusting avenue of human psycho-sexual obsession is left unexplored for the sake of more 'Flaubertian pleasant art'.
Source:
This book offers a variety of approaches to Zola’s masterpiece, published amid considerable controversy in 1876–7. L'Assommoir (the tale of a Parisian washerwoman who after a hard life turns to drink and dies in abject poverty) is analysed as a social and political novel, as a representative work of literary naturalism, and in the context of its repercussions in the history of the novel. Professor Baguley investigates its complex and sometimes ambiguous themes, its literary structures and its technical innovativeness. He provides a synthesis of the best research and criticism of the novel together with insights into its interpretation. The biographical and historical context is given, and there is a guide to further reading.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Books