Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Oxford University Press (2014), Paperback, 336 pages
Description
'Abbé Faujas has arrived!'The arrival of Abbé Faujas in the provincial town of Plassans has profound consequences for the community, and for the family of François Mouret in particular. Faujas and his mother come to lodge with François, his wife Marthe, and their three children, and Marthe quickly falls under the influence of the priest. Ambitious and unscrupulous, Faujas gradually infiltrates into all quarters of the town, intent on political as well as religious conquest. Intrigue, slander, and insinuation tear the townsfolk apart, creating suspicion and distrust, and driving theMourets to ever more extreme actions.The fourth novel in Zola's Rougon-Macquart sequence, The Conquest of Plassans returns to the fictional Provençal town from which the family sprang in The Fortune of the Rougons. In one of the most psychological of his novels, Zola links small-town politics to the greater political and national dramas of the Second Empire.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographiesfor further study, and much more.Readership: Readers of classic fiction, French literature, the novels of Zola; students of Modern Languages, the novel, Realism and Naturalism, cultural studies, religion in literature.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Smiler69
Zola's ability to spin stories that seem completely true to life and at the same time are filled wall-to-wall with drama, no matter what the subject at hand is, always amazes me. Book 4 of the Rougon-Macquart cycle introduces us to the cozy bourgeois household of François Mouret and his wife
I have no interest whatsoever in politics, which do play a large part in this novel, but this hardly mattered. The evolution of the family and their home life, from a quietly contended and orderly nucleus to an insane den of vice, religious paroxysm and murderous passions—which end up literally tearing the house itself apart—had me enthralled until the spectacular ending. Recommended? I would say so, yes.
Show More
Marthe (née Rougon, she is also his first cousin) in Plassans. The couple have an almost idyllic life, wanting for nothing. François contentedly looks after his garden and lettuces, making the occasional business deals which keep the coffers well stocked, while Marthe looks after their three almost grown children, Octave, Serge (who plays a small part here but is the protagonist of the next book, The Sin of Father Mouret) and the mentally handicapped Désiree. When they decide to rent the upper floor of their house to an abbot, the severe Faujas and his mother, their whole world is transformed beyond recognition. Marthe, who until then has never been interested in religion becomes so fervently passionate about her renewed Catholic faith that the abbot starts fearing for her mental wellbeing, and for good reason. Soon enough, Faujas' sister and her husband, who are both a questionable lot, move into the house as well, and they all joyfully and quite horribly abuse Marthe's exaggerated sense of generosity, while Faujas turns a blind eye, intent as he is on bigger plans of his own. While at first he is treated with disdain and suspicion, he means to put the whole of Plassans in his pocket by first ingratiating himself to those who can help him land in a position of power and ultimately devising sinister political schemes.I have no interest whatsoever in politics, which do play a large part in this novel, but this hardly mattered. The evolution of the family and their home life, from a quietly contended and orderly nucleus to an insane den of vice, religious paroxysm and murderous passions—which end up literally tearing the house itself apart—had me enthralled until the spectacular ending. Recommended? I would say so, yes.
Show Less
LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
The fourth novel in the Rougon-Macquart series is a portrait of life in the provincial town of Plassans. The main characters are Francois and Marthe Mouret. As is characteristic of most of Zola's novels, it ends in tragedy.
The stage is set when the Mourets take as a boarder the newly-arrived Abbe
Although this is one of the lesser-known Rougon-Macquart novels, I believe it approaches the quality of some of Zola's masterpieces. Its depiction of Faujas, his scheming sister, the sometimes comical Francois Mouret, and other characters is masterful. The evolution of Marthe Mouret from content wife and mother to tortured penitent is wholly believable.
I highly recommend this book. As with all the Rougon-Macquart books, it is also a stand-alone read.
The stage is set when the Mourets take as a boarder the newly-arrived Abbe
Show More
Faujas and his elderly mother. It is Faujas who "conquers" Plassans, and in so doing destroys the Mouret family.Although this is one of the lesser-known Rougon-Macquart novels, I believe it approaches the quality of some of Zola's masterpieces. Its depiction of Faujas, his scheming sister, the sometimes comical Francois Mouret, and other characters is masterful. The evolution of Marthe Mouret from content wife and mother to tortured penitent is wholly believable.
I highly recommend this book. As with all the Rougon-Macquart books, it is also a stand-alone read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Dreesie
#4 Rougon-Macquart, and not my favorite.
This time the topic is half first cousins Marthe Rougon and Francois Mouret, who have been married for 20 or so years and have 3 kids--2 sons and a mentally disabled daughter. Over the course of the book, they rent a room to a priest and his mother when he is
This is all church and small-town politics and society. Not my cup of tea in general, and certainly not my favorite Zola.
This time the topic is half first cousins Marthe Rougon and Francois Mouret, who have been married for 20 or so years and have 3 kids--2 sons and a mentally disabled daughter. Over the course of the book, they rent a room to a priest and his mother when he is
Show More
assigned too Plassans. This makes Marthe become very interested in church, which she never attended before. The priest is a bit odd, as he works his way into society, but over a few years he has made his power play within the bishopric. Meanwhile, the kids have all left the house, and the priest's sister and her husband have also rented a room from the Mourets.This is all church and small-town politics and society. Not my cup of tea in general, and certainly not my favorite Zola.
Show Less
LibraryThing member thorold
After two books set in the metropolis, we return to the claustrophobic small-town setting of Plassans (Aix-en-Provence) for this fourth book in the series. The Mourets have let their top floor to Abbé Foujas, who has been transferred to a minor appointment in the cathedral at Plassans after
Because of the way that the political story is mostly told indirectly through the small-scale domestic tragedy of the Mourets, Zola doesn't give himself much room in this book for the kind of narrative excesses that we are looking for in a Zola novel, especially if we've just read Le ventre de Paris. There are some nice minor flourishes, like the two grand social-work projects the Abbé presides over, both designed with the sole purpose of preventing under-age working-class girls from debauching the sons of the haute-bourgeoisie (well, it couldn't happen the other way round, could it?), and the bishop's lovely young chaplain who spends his time either reading Ovid to Monseigneur or playing badminton, and there's a very Zolaesque grand guignol final scene, but the rest is really rather flat. Barchester Towers with a higher body-count and fewer laughs...
Show More
getting into some unspecified bother in Besançon. Over a period of several years, we see the scruffy, tetchy and apparently unsophisticated priest - without any obvious effort - gradually gaining more and more influence over the Mouret household, the local clergy, and the politics of the town. And of course, we know how it's all going to end, since this is Zola: catastrophically. Because of the way that the political story is mostly told indirectly through the small-scale domestic tragedy of the Mourets, Zola doesn't give himself much room in this book for the kind of narrative excesses that we are looking for in a Zola novel, especially if we've just read Le ventre de Paris. There are some nice minor flourishes, like the two grand social-work projects the Abbé presides over, both designed with the sole purpose of preventing under-age working-class girls from debauching the sons of the haute-bourgeoisie (well, it couldn't happen the other way round, could it?), and the bishop's lovely young chaplain who spends his time either reading Ovid to Monseigneur or playing badminton, and there's a very Zolaesque grand guignol final scene, but the rest is really rather flat. Barchester Towers with a higher body-count and fewer laughs...
Show Less
LibraryThing member cindywho
Zola offers up small town politics and a descent into madness fueled by the appearance of a priest with an aversion to bathing and sketchy relatives. It's not my favorite one so far, but still Zola.
LibraryThing member therebelprince
‘You will excuse us for receiving you in this way in our poor dwelling. We cannot all be wealthy.’
After three compelling, and completely different novels, Zola's Rougon-Macquart takes yet another turn in the fourth installment. Returning us to Plassans, and numerous characters from the first
I don't think I liked this one as much as the previous three, although I very much appreciated seeing the core members of the families again. For two reasons, perhaps. 1) I think that greater knowledge of the period is needed not to understand the plot which is straightforward, but to understand the implications. And 2) I prefer the literary artistry of the sumptuous descriptions in The Belly of Paris, the overt symbolism of The Kill, and the sheer narrative breadth of The Fortune of the Rougons. For all of the above, I suspect normal people might enjoy this novel more than me! It's pacy and more focused than the others.
Nevertheless, what shines here is Zola's gift for characterisation. Especially Marthe Rougon, the character at the centre of the novel, whose rise and fall are not just visible in terms of the narrative but in terms of her reactions, her thoughts, her every breath.
After three compelling, and completely different novels, Zola's Rougon-Macquart takes yet another turn in the fourth installment. Returning us to Plassans, and numerous characters from the first
Show More
novel, this is one of Zola's anti-clerical novels, a sign of the foreboding role the Church had played in propagating both the Monarchy and then the Empire (and also of the author's own biases)!I don't think I liked this one as much as the previous three, although I very much appreciated seeing the core members of the families again. For two reasons, perhaps. 1) I think that greater knowledge of the period is needed not to understand the plot which is straightforward, but to understand the implications. And 2) I prefer the literary artistry of the sumptuous descriptions in The Belly of Paris, the overt symbolism of The Kill, and the sheer narrative breadth of The Fortune of the Rougons. For all of the above, I suspect normal people might enjoy this novel more than me! It's pacy and more focused than the others.
Nevertheless, what shines here is Zola's gift for characterisation. Especially Marthe Rougon, the character at the centre of the novel, whose rise and fall are not just visible in terms of the narrative but in terms of her reactions, her thoughts, her every breath.
Show Less
Language
Original language
French
Original publication date
1874
ISBN
0199664781 / 9780199664788
Local notes
French title: La Conquête de Plassans (1874)