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A review by vitsa
The Ladies' Paradise by Émile Zola
4.0
I really enjoyed Zola's writing especially the doom and gloom of the failing small shops. He managed to capture the desperation and the painful helplessness of the old vendors who couldn't possibly stand up to the shiny new thing.
Uncle Baudon was a perfect representation of stubbornness and denial in the face of inevitable defeat. I felt very sorry for them all and their impeding doom.
On the other hand, I found the lengthy descriptions of the Bonheur des Dames quite tedious and tiresome. He went on and on about the big windows and the shiny counters and the millions of types of cloth and stuff you could find there. My God, I just wanted him to get on with it already.
Denise was very likeable at first, she is a typical virginal country girl for whom virtue and honour is everything. She realises that she doesn't really fit into this debauche capital life, but she can see that stores like Bonheur des Dames are the future. Towards the end her protestations were getting on my nerves, and yet again, I just wished the author would get on with it. I also wish she had been a bit less pure and martyr-like and had embraced her power a bit more. It would have been nice to see a change into a more assertive and self assured woman, rather than her staying the same grey mouse she started as.
Overall it was enjoyable, will add more Zola to my to-read list.
Uncle Baudon was a perfect representation of stubbornness and denial in the face of inevitable defeat. I felt very sorry for them all and their impeding doom.
On the other hand, I found the lengthy descriptions of the Bonheur des Dames quite tedious and tiresome. He went on and on about the big windows and the shiny counters and the millions of types of cloth and stuff you could find there. My God, I just wanted him to get on with it already.
Denise was very likeable at first, she is a typical virginal country girl for whom virtue and honour is everything. She realises that she doesn't really fit into this debauche capital life, but she can see that stores like Bonheur des Dames are the future. Towards the end her protestations were getting on my nerves, and yet again, I just wished the author would get on with it. I also wish she had been a bit less pure and martyr-like and had embraced her power a bit more. It would have been nice to see a change into a more assertive and self assured woman, rather than her staying the same grey mouse she started as.
Overall it was enjoyable, will add more Zola to my to-read list.