[Abarricoss]

Published in 1877, L?Assommoir is one of Zola?s major works, and it is part of the Rougon- Macquart?s cycle. It is a masterpiece of the Naturalist movement, which implies a realist reconstruction of places, characters, social contexts and psychologies, with the application of a scientific approach to the study of human nature - particularly with the aid of discoveries concerning Inheritance.
L?Assommoir gave an uncompromising depiction of the Parisian working classes, of the madness generated by misery and alcoholism, thus provoking some kind of new ?bataille d?Hernani?.


?It?s not realism. It?s pornography?


Zola received a large amount of criticism and denigration because of his ?immoral? way of narrating, both in the situations described and in the language used ? which was a mixture of working classes? slang, profanities, and the more elevated and detached language of the narrator.


?It is your best novel? write some other pages of that strength and you will be the end-of-the-century Balzac? (Paul Bourget)


Despite the problems with censorship, L?Assommoir was met with an outstanding commercial success and it gave birth to a huge literary debate even outside France. As an example, it gave a fundamental contribution to the formation of Verismo in Italy ? being translated by Luigi Capuana and serving as a formative work for Giovanni Verga (even if the two will forsake the scientific side of naturalism to concentrate only on the aspects of its narrative style).


?I have exposed some sores, not it is up to the legislator to find remedies? (E. Zola)


The title of the book derives from the slang name given to the inn where eau de vie was typically drunk. Assommoir (from the verb assommer ? to slain) literally means ?slaughterhouse?, due to physical and mental decay ? eventually leading to death ? which afflicts the workers contracting alcoholism.

The protagonist of the book is Gervaise, a woman who escaped at a young age from the southern provinces to Paris, accompanied by her lover Lantier, with whom she had given birth to two sons ? Etienne and Claude (the two of them will later feature as protagonists in other Zola?s novels from the Rougon-Macquart cycle, respectively Germinal and Le Ventre de Paris). At the beginning of the novel, Lantier abandons Gervaise with her offspring to flee with his lover; the young mother has to get by working as a washerwoman. She meets Coupeau, a teetotal roofing engineer who gently flirts with her; admiring his industrious honesty and yearning for a stable and quiet condition, Gervaise eventually marries him. The couple generates another daughter, Anna, best know as Nana, the future heroine ? or anti-heroine ? of Zola?s novel with the same name. The family flourishes thanks to Gervaise and Coupeau?s hard work, until the latter falls from a roof on which he was working. After the accident, he neglects his work and becomes an heavy drinker; the family survives only thanks to Gervaise?s business (she has opened a successful laundry). As Lantier returns after years of absence, Gervaise starts a secret love affair with him ? who lives at the family?s expense in their house ? and Coupeau?s alcoholic addiction gets worse and worse. Meanwhile, Nana begins her corruption in the sordid circles of the proletarian suburbs. Even Gervaise develops alcoholism while her shop and abode fall apart under the burden of innumerable debts. The family is forsaken by all its acquaintances and friends. Coupeau?s unrecoverable conditions lead him to madness; he dies after days of frenzy. Forsaken by the world like a disgusting beast, Gervaise ends her life in the same way shortly after, having tasted a dreadful misery and the uttermost decay.

Personally, I simply loved this work. I finished it two days ago; it took me time, because it certainly isn?t an easy book to read, but it was utterly rewarding. What I liked most was Zola?s proficiency in exposing the malign mechanisms in the vulgar minds of the co ? protagonists, such as Mme Lorilleux?s (Coupeau?s sisters) vile and envious ostracism against Gervaise. Moreover, his portraits of misery possess a desperate human taste and at the same time avoid the terrible trap of populism (just check the tenth chapter ? his description of domestic violence, proletarian alcohol driven decay and Gervaise?s downward spiral are top notch). Some scenes, like the visit at Louvre during Coupeau and Gervaise?s wedding, or Gervaise?s birthday dinner after the opening of her laundry, highlight the apparent, common fact and at the same time the trivial dynamics behind them, in a very concrete and touchable way. Zola has often been accused of exaggerating with his application of scientific laws to humanity, but in my opinion this feature is not so prominent and counterproductive in L?Assommoir. It is just wonderful, clever realism.

What is your take about this book?

[iceleliewBync]

You're right, Zola's meticulous approach results in a vivid rather than clinical narrative. I could not make it past Coupeau's death; I think this has inspired me to go finish the book sometime.

[Giselle]

Definitely an amazing book depicting the big gaps of poverty and misery left by the Industrial Revolution growing phases. One of my top 50 books and my Zola's favorite.