geoff_ce's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
blueyorkie's review against another edition
4.0
In 1893, Zola published this last volume of Rougon-Macquart. Doctor Pascal is a bit like his double. Moreover, taking refuge in London after the Dreyfus affair, he signed his hotel card with this name.
In family history, this character has a special place, indeed. It is the fictitious custodian of what the author wanted to demonstrate in this long-term work: the laws of heredity from generation to generation. Because it is the passion to which the doctor devotes his life. He wants to prove the consequences of an initial defect by examining his own family: the grandmother's madness, Adélaïde Foulque.
I have tenderness for this character, whose evocation logically closes the work since he embodies the author's project. There is in his loneliness a sadness that moves. Despite being a devoted physician, he lives on the sidelines and often feels misunderstood. However, I also like his generosity and his enthusiasm.
And above all, what gives an emotional aspect to her character is her second passion, tormented and plagued by the intolerance of others: that for Clotilde, her niece, tender and sincere, who assists her in her research and will become a disturbing, beautiful young woman. Their relationship has never seemed unhealthy to me; they have such purity, such innocence.
The author's last word evokes the child who will be born from their union: "And after so many terrible Rougons, so many abominable Macquartes, another was born. Life was not afraid to create one. one more, in the brave challenge of his eternity." A fate to imagine beyond writing.
In family history, this character has a special place, indeed. It is the fictitious custodian of what the author wanted to demonstrate in this long-term work: the laws of heredity from generation to generation. Because it is the passion to which the doctor devotes his life. He wants to prove the consequences of an initial defect by examining his own family: the grandmother's madness, Adélaïde Foulque.
I have tenderness for this character, whose evocation logically closes the work since he embodies the author's project. There is in his loneliness a sadness that moves. Despite being a devoted physician, he lives on the sidelines and often feels misunderstood. However, I also like his generosity and his enthusiasm.
And above all, what gives an emotional aspect to her character is her second passion, tormented and plagued by the intolerance of others: that for Clotilde, her niece, tender and sincere, who assists her in her research and will become a disturbing, beautiful young woman. Their relationship has never seemed unhealthy to me; they have such purity, such innocence.
The author's last word evokes the child who will be born from their union: "And after so many terrible Rougons, so many abominable Macquartes, another was born. Life was not afraid to create one. one more, in the brave challenge of his eternity." A fate to imagine beyond writing.
moncoinlecture's review against another edition
4.0
J'ai fini les Rougon-Macquart! Incroyable. Et j'ai beaucoup aimé cette conclusion.
Mon billet sur le blogue: http://moncoinlecture.com/le-docteur-pascal-emile-zola/
Mon billet sur le blogue: http://moncoinlecture.com/le-docteur-pascal-emile-zola/
charlottej's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, and Incest
Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy
moncoinlecture's review against another edition
4.0
J'ai fini les Rougon-Macquart! Incroyable. Et j'ai beaucoup aimé cette conclusion.
Mon billet sur le blogue: http://moncoinlecture.com/le-docteur-pascal-emile-zola/
Mon billet sur le blogue: http://moncoinlecture.com/le-docteur-pascal-emile-zola/
hammard's review against another edition
4.0
And so it ends. After so many terrible Rougons and abominable Macquarts. What are we left with? Two vain monuments to their greed erected on a pile of corpses and burnt dreams.
The novel is really two stories. The first is the love story between Clotide & Pascal and, as is usually the case with Zola, we are given two contradictory ways to view their relationship. On the one hand they are shown to be tender and loving, on the other Pascal is both a father and an uncle to her which makes the whole situation creepy. As such we see them both struggling with their desires and the rumours of people surrounding them.
The second is the conclusion to the Rougon-Macquart saga as Pascal attempts to map the causes of their diseases using an early form of neuro-biological psychology which has a high degree of genetic determinism. I have seen criticism of this as being prescriptive but I think we are meant not to read Pascal's analysis as gospel. He is regularly wrong in his work throughout the story and in fact describes his writing as little more than a theory for future generations to build upon.
My personal reading of it (and I think there is hints towards this in text) is that there is an overriding fixation and drive within the family (on all branches) which manifests itself. For the Rougons this manifests itself in the corruption as they have the resources to succeed, the Macquarts lack this and the depression overrides them. Those that are away from the families influence most of all (Clotilde & Pauline) are the most settled and content.
A good ending to a great journey through one of the finest works of literature I have ever read.
The novel is really two stories. The first is the love story between Clotide & Pascal and, as is usually the case with Zola, we are given two contradictory ways to view their relationship. On the one hand they are shown to be tender and loving, on the other Pascal is both a father and an uncle to her which makes the whole situation creepy. As such we see them both struggling with their desires and the rumours of people surrounding them.
The second is the conclusion to the Rougon-Macquart saga as Pascal attempts to map the causes of their diseases using an early form of neuro-biological psychology which has a high degree of genetic determinism. I have seen criticism of this as being prescriptive but I think we are meant not to read Pascal's analysis as gospel. He is regularly wrong in his work throughout the story and in fact describes his writing as little more than a theory for future generations to build upon.
My personal reading of it (and I think there is hints towards this in text) is that there is an overriding fixation and drive within the family (on all branches) which manifests itself. For the Rougons this manifests itself in the corruption as they have the resources to succeed, the Macquarts lack this and the depression overrides them. Those that are away from the families influence most of all (Clotilde & Pauline) are the most settled and content.
A good ending to a great journey through one of the finest works of literature I have ever read.
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