Reviews

Le Rêve by Émile Zola

lucy_qhuay's review against another edition

3.0

'The Dream' is my first book by Émile Zola, but it won't be the last.

The writing style captivated me from the beginning. The passionate, lyrical prose, allied to the various references to dreams and the tales and legends of various saints and martyrs, led me to a state where I sometimes didn't know if what I was reading was reality or fantasy.

This only proves the author's talent, since, as the title plainly states, this book is mainly about a dream. Not the kind of dream you have while sleeping, but a waking dream.

Angélique, a little orphan girl wandering the streets, is adopted by Hubert and Hubertine, a childless couple of embroiderers, living in a modest house right next to the town's cathedral.

She grows up in beauty and talent, eventually becoming an embroideress herself, sheltered from society and the world in general, with only the stories of saints, holy virgins and martyrs to keep her company.

One night, seeing the image of a handsome, golden-haired young man, near the cathedral, she thinks she conjured the very presence of a saint and promptly falls desperately in love with him.

He is no saint, though. He is the wealthy son of the town's bishop, from an aristocratic family, and his father's refuse to let him marry Angélique is going to create a world of pain for this two starcrossed lovers.

Like I already said, this book tests the boundaries between reality and illusion and that is masterfully done, plus the characters are very interesting, which should have made this a 5 stars read.

However, I gave it only 3 stars for 2 reasons:

a) the book's length - I usually have a problem with novellas and short books, precisely because I tend to feel the story would have benefited if the work was a full-length novel.

b) the many overly melodramatic moments - I know these moments were supposed to be present here, but I just couldn't help rolling my eyes with the amount of drama the characters, especially Angélique, created. It was too over-the-top.

All in all, an interesting book for those who didn't read anything by this author and prefer to start with something lighter to read.

sezzaj's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

browngirlreading's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

this book doesn't fit the Rougon Macquart series. It's not realism not to mention it's boring.🥱

lucykx's review against another edition

4.0

Oh of course she had to die a virgin how did I not see that one coming

reviewsbylola's review against another edition

informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

bibliobethreads's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

northerly_heart_reads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

travelsalongmybookshelf's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Well, this was an odd one. The Dream is the 5th book in my read of the Rougon Maquart cycle, Zola’s series of 20 novels, although it was the 16th in the order they were written.

This is the least Zola like novel I’ve read so far. The link to the rest of the series feels a bit tenuous. Angelique Rougon is the daughter of Sidonie Rougon and there the link ends! She is found penniless and alone in the snowy porch of a cathedral by Hubert and Hubertine and becomes a talented embroideress. She is innocent and lives in a fairytale dreamworld of the book she reads called the golden legend. She wants to fall in love with her Prince and live happily ever after. She meets a young man called Felicien, and they fall in love, it transpires he is loaded and effectively a prince but their marriage is blocked by his father, the monseigneur of the cathedral and Hubertine. It’s all a little odd, Angelique wastes away and after a miracle recovers to marry Felicien, only to die at the end 😱

It is full of fairytale imagery, everything is bathed in a white hue, miracles occur and I got to the end thinking I’m not quite sure what I’ve read! I enjoyed it, it was different, a little like a one off episode of your favourite series featuring only one or two characters. It was lighter, kinder and the characters for all the dreaming were in fact more 3 dimensional than in previous books. I dare say we’ll be back to the grasping full on Rougons in the next book which is The Conquest Of Plassans, but for now this was a pleasant interlude.

elisala's review against another edition

1.0

Il y a quelques années, j'avais commencé à lire toute la série des Rougon-Macquart, dans l'ordre. Au bout d'un certain nombre de tomes, j'ai arrêté, soûlée par le style si particulier de Zola - trop, beaucoup trop d'adjectifs qualificatifs - un chagrin ne peut être que gros, un ruisseau impétueux, etc. - entre autres, par ses constantes références à ses théories sur l'hérédité - grosso modo, si tu viens d'une famille pourrie, ta vie sera pourrie (je résume, hein).
Et je me demande vraiment si justement je ne me suis pas arrêtée après le rêve, parce que plusieurs passages me rappellent vaguement quelque chose (mais peut-être n'est-ce "que" le style un peu répétitif de Zola qui me donne cette impression), et parce qu'on atteint ici le summum dans le style Zola. Trop de passion ridicule, trop de souffrance-parce-que-mon-hérédité-et-c'est-tout, trop de détermination purement héréditaire, de religion aussi, c'en devient insupportable. Je ne sais pas dans quelle mesure Zola le rédige en pur observateur extérieur et n'y met rien de son opinion, ça n'en reste pas moins un livre pénible à lire.

Toutes revenaient, [...] toutes les Mortes heureuses, aimées de la mort qui leur avait épargné la vie, en les enlevant d'un coup d'aile, très jeunes, dans le ravissement de leur premier bonheur.

(C'est moi qui met du gras) Sérieux?

Je n'ai su la vérité que très tard [Note: qu'il vient d'une famille riche]... Mais cela ne m'a pas surpris, je sentais cette grande fortune derrière moi. Tout travail régulier m'ennuyait, je n'étais bon qu'à courir les champs.

Sé.rieux?!?
Bref. Pfff.

subdue_provide75's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

A bit mopey for my modern sensibility. But Zola does paint humanity with a wonderful brush (see Germinal).