Book Review
Jun. 28th, 2019 05:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Belly of Paris
by Émile Zola
This novel starts with Florent Quenu's return to Paris after being transported for his involvement in Louis-Napoleon's 1851 coup. Florent takes up resident with his half brother and sister-in-law at their successful charcuterie. He finds Paris very different, especially the Les Halles, the new food markets adjacent to the charcuterie. Florent takes a job as a fish inspector at Les Halles, and also becomes involved in radical politics and begins plans for a revolution. However, the petty bourgeois gossip, rivalries, and suspicious fears of those who live and work among Les Halles do as much to precipitate Florent's downfall as his subversive political activities.
Much like in The Ladies' Paradise, Zola uses the abundance of Les Halles and the conduct of its denizens as a critique of the consumerism and political complacency of the Parisian middle and working class. They are focused on their own gossip, petty jealousies, and inconsequential intrigues, His description of the food are vivid and detailed, and also often serve as metaphors or commentary on the action.
by Émile Zola
This novel starts with Florent Quenu's return to Paris after being transported for his involvement in Louis-Napoleon's 1851 coup. Florent takes up resident with his half brother and sister-in-law at their successful charcuterie. He finds Paris very different, especially the Les Halles, the new food markets adjacent to the charcuterie. Florent takes a job as a fish inspector at Les Halles, and also becomes involved in radical politics and begins plans for a revolution. However, the petty bourgeois gossip, rivalries, and suspicious fears of those who live and work among Les Halles do as much to precipitate Florent's downfall as his subversive political activities.
Much like in The Ladies' Paradise, Zola uses the abundance of Les Halles and the conduct of its denizens as a critique of the consumerism and political complacency of the Parisian middle and working class. They are focused on their own gossip, petty jealousies, and inconsequential intrigues, His description of the food are vivid and detailed, and also often serve as metaphors or commentary on the action.
