The "Assommoir" (The Prelude to "Nana")
| Preis: | 19.95 EUR* (inkl. MWST zzgl. Versand - Preis kann jetzt höher sein!) |
| Versand: | 0.00 EUR Versandkostenfrei innerhalb von Deutschland |
| Partner: | buecher.de |
| Hersteller: | Forgotten Books (Zola, Emile) |
| Stand: | 2015-08-04 03:50:33 |
Produktbeschreibung
Excerpt from The "Assommoir" (The Prelude to "Nana"): A Realistic Novel Once in a railway carriage, I saw a Frenchman, who was reading a book very attentively, exhibit, from time to time, signs of surprise. Suddenly, whilst I was trying to discover the title upon the cover, he exclaimed, "Oh! this is disgusting!" and put the volume into his valise in the most contemptuous manner. He remained for some moments lost in thought, then re-opened the valise, took up the book again, and began reading. He might have finished a couple of pages, when he suddenly burst out into a hearty laugh, and turning to his companion, said, "Ah! my dear friend, here is the most marvellous description of a wedding dinner!" Then he resumed his reading, showing plainly that he was enjoying it intensely. The boot was the "Assommoir," and that which happened to the Frenchman when perusing it occurs to all who take up the novels of Zola for the first time. You must conquer the first feeling of repugnance; then, whatever may be the final judgment pronounced upon the writer, you are glad to have read his works, and you arrive at the conclusion that you ought to have read them. The first effect produced, particularly after the perusal of other works, is similar to that experienced on coming out of a close and heated theatre, when one feels the first whiff of fresh air in ones face with a keen sense of pleasure, even if it bring with it an odour not altogether agreeable. After reading Zola´s novels it seems as though in all others, even in the truest, there were a veil between the reader and the things described, and there is present to our minds the same difference as exists between the representations of human faces on canvas and the reflection of the same faces in a mirror. It is like finding truth for the first time. Certain it is, that no matter how resolute you may be, you sometimes spring back as if from a sudden whiff of foul air. But even at these points, as at almost every page, though we may violently protest, there is a devil in us which laughs and frolics and enjoys himself hugely over our discomfiture. You feel the same pleasure that you would in hearing a very blunt man talk, even if he were thoroughly vulgar; a man who expresses, as Othello says, his worst ideas in his worst language, who describes what he sees, repeats what he hears, says what he thinks, and tells what he is, without regard for anyone´s feelings, and just as though he were talking to himself. From the very first lines you know with whom you are dealing. Delicate persons withdraw - that is an understood thing; Zola does not conceal or embellish anything, either sentiments, thoughts, conversations, acts, or places. He is at once a judicious romancer, a surgeon, a casuist, a, physiologist, and an expert chancellor of the exchequer, who thus raises every veil, putting his hands into everything, and calling a spade a spade, not heeding, but rather being greatly surprised at your astonishment. Morally, he unveils in his characters those deepest feelings, which are generally profound secrets, tremblingly whispered through the grating of the confessional. Materially, he makes us aware of every odour, every flavour, and every contact. In language, he scarcely refrains from those few unspeakable words, which naughty boys stealthily seek for in the dictionary. No one has ever gone further in this extreme, and you really do not know whether you ought most to admire his talent or his courage. Among the myriads of characters in novels whom we remember, Zola´s remain crowded on one side, and are the boldest and most tangible of all. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
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