Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Oxford University Press, USA (2008), Paperback, 320 pages
Description
Respectable people... What bastards!'Unjustly deported to Devil's Island following Louis-Napoleon's coup-d'�?tat in December 1851, Florent Quenu escapes and returns to Paris. He finds the city changed beyond recognition. The old March�? des Innocents has been knocked down as part of Haussmann's grand programme of urban reconstruction to make way for Les Halles, the spectacular new food markets. Disgusted by a bourgeois society whose devotion to food is inseparable from its devotion to the Government, Florentattempts an insurrection. Les Halles, apocalyptic and destructive, play an active role in Zola's picture of a world in which food and the injustice of society are inextricably linked.The Belly of Paris (Le Ventre de Paris) is the third volume in Zola's famous cycle of twenty novels, Les Rougon-Macquart. It introduces the painter Claude Lantier and in its satirical representation of the bourgeoisie and capitalism complements Zola's other great novels of social conflict and urban poverty.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Stbalbach
The Belly of Paris (French 1873; tr. Brian Nelson 2007) is one of the earlier works in Zola's 20-volume Rougon-Macquart series. It takes place in 1858 in the great Parisian food market Les Halles. While the plot is somewhat anemic, the real strength is in the descriptions of Les Halles, its vendors
Show More
and mainly the food itself. Vast quantities of food. Zola reaches levels of such lush detail to make one both ravenous, and nauseous with sights and smells before the age of refrigeration and knowledge of bacteria. On another level the novel is a satire of the greedy Bourgeois, or middle-class, which are depicted as the comfortable "fat people", in contrast to the revolutionary and dangerous "thin people". Beneath the proper and upright middle class is an animal driven by materialism and greed, ready to stomp out any threat to its comfort and stability. Zola's criticism of the Bourgeois has both the particular historical interest of 19th century France, and universal timelessness. It's curious to see a novel from the 1870s focusing on middle class obesity and excessive materialism, a problem more relevant to our era than that of Oliver Twists, Zola was prescient about where the future was headed. It's even more curious that this novel was only recently translated in 2007, prior to that the most recent translation was from the 1950s and had long been out of print. Although the story is somewhat simple, the lush descriptions are fascinating and beautiful, sublime even, and his satire of the evils of greed and materialism among the middle class are as relevant and subversive as ever. Show Less
LibraryThing member Smiler69
When half dead and starving escapee Florent Quenu returns to Paris after having been wrongfully held as a political prisoner following Napoleon IIIs coup d'état in 1851, he finds his way to the recently built indoor food market Les Halles, where his younger brother (simply known as Quenu) owns a
This novel was a perfect counterpoint to the previous book in the series The Kill, which explores the themes of conspicuous consumption and depicts the corrupt values of the Second Empire from the perspective of the upper classes. I was amused by a few references made by Lisa Quenu about her millionaire cousin Aristide Saccard, one of the main characters of The Kill, since each book in this series offers a distinct world, where few characters and plot points ever meet. The first chapter describing a day at the market from pre-dawn to evening seemed endless to me, with repeated descriptions of countless mounds of various vegetables... and yet more vegetables, and again, more vegetables (and some fruits too) and I was here annoyed at Zola and his insistence on long chapters with endless paragraphs. But once he had set up his canvas, Zola's portrayals of the various colourful characters who inhabit the market and it's immediate surroundings once again made for riveting storytelling.
English readers might be interested to know that two new English translations of this book have been made available in recent years: Oxford World's Classics published a new translation by Brian Nelson in 2007, and Modern Library published a new translation by Mark Kurlansky in 2009.
Show More
charcuterie. Florent is offered room and board with Quenu and his wife Lisa, who also find him a job at the food market. But the plump and lovely Lisa, who holds up the bourgeois values of stability and individual comfort above all else, is suspicious of Florent and his gaunt physique, believing, like many of her milieu, that only dishonest people who refuse to work for their food end up skinny. Florent, on the other hand, finds himself ill at ease being surrounded with food all day long, and he escapes to the local pub at night to discuss politics and mount an insurrection against the corrupt administration, which he holds responsible for his imprisonment and despises for it's lack of social conscience. In addition to using food as a metaphor for wealth and pitting the skinny against the poor to describe social struggles, Zola paints countless scenes with the colours and textures of the fruits, vegetables, meats, flowers, butters and cheeses on display at the market in this ode to food, and for one famous scene, composes a real symphony of smells when he describes three local gossips exchanging secrets in a cheese shop on a warm summer day. The Rougon-Macquart dynasty is here represented only by two secondary characters: Lisa (a Macquart), who's daughter Pauline will be the heroine of The Joy of Life (book 12) and Lisa's nephew, the painter Claude Lantier who will later be the protagonist of The Masterpiece (book 14).This novel was a perfect counterpoint to the previous book in the series The Kill, which explores the themes of conspicuous consumption and depicts the corrupt values of the Second Empire from the perspective of the upper classes. I was amused by a few references made by Lisa Quenu about her millionaire cousin Aristide Saccard, one of the main characters of The Kill, since each book in this series offers a distinct world, where few characters and plot points ever meet. The first chapter describing a day at the market from pre-dawn to evening seemed endless to me, with repeated descriptions of countless mounds of various vegetables... and yet more vegetables, and again, more vegetables (and some fruits too) and I was here annoyed at Zola and his insistence on long chapters with endless paragraphs. But once he had set up his canvas, Zola's portrayals of the various colourful characters who inhabit the market and it's immediate surroundings once again made for riveting storytelling.
English readers might be interested to know that two new English translations of this book have been made available in recent years: Oxford World's Classics published a new translation by Brian Nelson in 2007, and Modern Library published a new translation by Mark Kurlansky in 2009.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Paulagraph
Set in the quartier of Les Halles in Paris in the time of the Second Empire (Napoleon III) circa 1858-60. In this era (post 1848) of demolition and reconstruction (Baron Haussmann remade Paris into a City of Light with wide boulevards & imposing edifices replacing narrow streets & crowded medieval
One could get lost in Zola's detailed descriptions of food and consumer goods as he shows us each commodity in turn, from fish & charcuterie to poultry & dairy products, fruit, vegetables & flowers; he pushes us to the point of nausea, but then, I presume that is exactly the point. Such excess is both enticing (we desire these things) and nauseous (the excess disgusts us).
There is some brilliant writing in this book, for example in a scene in which Florent (the idealistic, revolutionary innocent), in the guise of a bedtime story told to the petite Pauline, tells the tale of his arrest, deportation, forced labor and harrowing escape (from Cayenne in Guyana). His chilling account is intercut with depictions of his brother Quenu preparing the daily batch of boudin (blood sausage). Extraordinary.
Also, Lisa's (Quenu's wife) explanation of why she has no quarrel with the emperor (she convinces her husband to abandon his association with Florent's political friends). She is content with the fact that her business is prospering and remains morally smug in her assurance that she is an honest businesswoman who goes about life "comme il faut." She does no direct harm to anyone, as far as she knows, while advancing her own interests. This passage could have been taken straight out of 1980s America during the Reagan years.
I do love a good Zola novel, even if reading it demands that I close my eyes, so to speak, during a few of the more "violent" scenes.
Show More
neighborhoods)one of the most impressive transformations was the construction of a covered wholesale market in the center of Paris.One could get lost in Zola's detailed descriptions of food and consumer goods as he shows us each commodity in turn, from fish & charcuterie to poultry & dairy products, fruit, vegetables & flowers; he pushes us to the point of nausea, but then, I presume that is exactly the point. Such excess is both enticing (we desire these things) and nauseous (the excess disgusts us).
There is some brilliant writing in this book, for example in a scene in which Florent (the idealistic, revolutionary innocent), in the guise of a bedtime story told to the petite Pauline, tells the tale of his arrest, deportation, forced labor and harrowing escape (from Cayenne in Guyana). His chilling account is intercut with depictions of his brother Quenu preparing the daily batch of boudin (blood sausage). Extraordinary.
Also, Lisa's (Quenu's wife) explanation of why she has no quarrel with the emperor (she convinces her husband to abandon his association with Florent's political friends). She is content with the fact that her business is prospering and remains morally smug in her assurance that she is an honest businesswoman who goes about life "comme il faut." She does no direct harm to anyone, as far as she knows, while advancing her own interests. This passage could have been taken straight out of 1980s America during the Reagan years.
I do love a good Zola novel, even if reading it demands that I close my eyes, so to speak, during a few of the more "violent" scenes.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
The "Belly of Paris" is quite literally a giant receptacle of food merchants. It is a giant food market brimming with a wide array of delicacies of all shapes and sizes. In the first 50 pages I counted no less than sixty different types of food described in colorful detail. The word 'vegetable'
Florent has escaped from exile to return to his beloved Paris. On the verge of starvation he finds himself in a sea of food in Les Halles Centrales. From there he makes his way to his half-brother's butcher shop that specializes in pork products. From there Florent must decide how to live as a fugitive and a man always on the run.
Above all else, Belly of Paris is a story of contrasts - the richness of the market's abundance versus the poverty and fifth of the lower classes who shop there.
Show More
alone appears over twenty times. Everything from fruits to fish, vegetables to cheese is laid out before the reader. Like the true anatomy of a stomach, from this belly of bounty wastes, filth and toxins are dispelled. There is a clash of the glorious and the gory. All of this in incredible detail serves as the backdrop to the story of Florent.Florent has escaped from exile to return to his beloved Paris. On the verge of starvation he finds himself in a sea of food in Les Halles Centrales. From there he makes his way to his half-brother's butcher shop that specializes in pork products. From there Florent must decide how to live as a fugitive and a man always on the run.
Above all else, Belly of Paris is a story of contrasts - the richness of the market's abundance versus the poverty and fifth of the lower classes who shop there.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jon1lambert
Really colourful front cover design on this paperback complete with sharp fish knive covered in blood in the hand of a fish wife, moody Frenchman looking on
LibraryThing member Jenn70
Excellent view of les Halles market in 1860's Paris. A book I wish could go on & on.
LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind
Typical Zola. An average plot, made good by wonderful descriptions of the setting. Kept getting hungry while reading this.
LibraryThing member amelish
(first of all, this cover is CRAP)
I wrote some of my thesis about this book (!!!), in part on the imagery of smells in the sections describing Les Halles (Parisian central marketplace built in the mid-19th century). Zola writes incredible, wonderful, sometimes overpoweringly detailed and evocative
I wrote some of my thesis about this book (!!!), in part on the imagery of smells in the sections describing Les Halles (Parisian central marketplace built in the mid-19th century). Zola writes incredible, wonderful, sometimes overpoweringly detailed and evocative
Show More
portraits of the market goods, from silvery fish to pungent cheeses to flowers to fruit to meat to...there is a lot. In contrast with the main character Florent's physical/emotional leanness and constant hunger, in the marketplace bounty, fecundity, and aggressive overabundance carry the day. The air is full of battling smells, raucous voices, flying rumors, and sexual tension. It's easy to emerge from one of Zola's descriptive bouts with a faint nausea and the inclination to lie down for a while with some ginger tea and a cold compress. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dreesie
A story of planned revolution, the setting of this novel holds the key to its magnificence. The story takes part in the newly covered markets of Les Halles�óîthe covered stalls, the cellars under the markets, the nearby shops. Zola does an amazing job describing the abundance of
Show More
foodäóîfrom the market gardeners arriving well before dawn every morning, to the wholesalers and shopkeepers who purchase from them, to those who purchase from the wholesalers to take items in carts to the various neighborhoods. You can imagine the food coming into the city and then being distributed throughout the cityäóîand it happened every day. There is the fish market, the bird market, the fruit market, the cheese and butter market, the shops (pork, wine, and more), and even flower stalls. Piles and piles of food to feed Paris. And within this community there is still hunger, and there is hatred of the current regime. Why so much hate amid so much plenty is not exactly explained, though many of the characters (even among the hungry) cannot understand this themselves. How much revolution is actually wanted vs how much men want to feel important and powerful may be the real key to the plotting. Show Less
LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
This third in the Rougon-Macquart novels focuses on the people of Las Halles, a huge market in Paris for vegetables, fish, flowers, fowl, and just about anything else. Florent, a former revolutionary, has escaped from Devil's Island. He returns to Paris to live with his brother and sister-in-law
The 'star' of the novel is Las Halles itself, and its many denizens. Zola's descriptions of the sights, sounds and smells of the flowers and fish, the geese and the cabbages, and all the other marvels of this huge market are unforgettable. The name-calling and rivalry among the fish-wives, the haggling with the vegetable woman, the neighborhood gossips, the children who are born and grow up in the market--all of these create a vivid and fascinating slice of life as it existed in a small section of Paris during the mid-19th century.
Show More
above their butcher shop, posing as his sister-in-law's cousin. He obtains a position as a fish inspector in Las Halles. His sister-in-law, however, resents him, because she knows he is owed a share of the inheritance with which they bought the butcher's shop, and because she fears the consequences to herself and her husband if it is discovered they are harboring an escaped convict.The 'star' of the novel is Las Halles itself, and its many denizens. Zola's descriptions of the sights, sounds and smells of the flowers and fish, the geese and the cabbages, and all the other marvels of this huge market are unforgettable. The name-calling and rivalry among the fish-wives, the haggling with the vegetable woman, the neighborhood gossips, the children who are born and grow up in the market--all of these create a vivid and fascinating slice of life as it existed in a small section of Paris during the mid-19th century.
Show Less
LibraryThing member thorold
Not suitable for vegetarians; may contain large quantities of animal fats, sugar, carbohydrates, nuts, gluten, rampant capitalism, etc.
In this third volume of the Rougon-Macquart cycle, readers couldn't avoid noticing what an extraordinary kind of writer Zola was (in case they hadn't spotted it
Zola takes us on a gloriously overpowering virtual-reality tour of the sights, smells, textures and sounds of Paris's central food market, Les Halles, as rebuilt in magnificent Second Empire cast-iron and glass by Victor Baltard in the 1850s and 60s. Everywhere we look there is sensory overload as we are manoeuvred around piles of cabbages and turnips, mountains of fresh fish, vast displays of charcuterie, a competition of smelly cheeses, piles of animal carcasses, cellars full of pigeons and ducks, drains running with offal, and hundreds of traders, butchers, porters and market officials rushing around in a desperate hurry. All the drama and excitement of how you manage to feed a city of over a million people in this strange modern world. It's often said that Zola - like Thomas Hardy - was only a novelist because the cinema wasn't invented in time for him, but when you read this, it's pretty clear that Zola would have found the cinema's limitation to reproducing sound and vision only far too restrictive. He needs to be able to address all our senses from all directions at once to get his effect.
Somewhere in between all this high-pressure trading in perishable wares, there is a story going on, a typical Zola story of a hapless well-intentioned individual crushed under Napoleon III's regime, but it's tucked away so far in the background that we're made to realise just how little an individual human's fate counts for in the middle of the capitalist euphoria of booming Paris. Everything is about production, consumption, and excess, and Zola doesn't hesitate to milk it. In what's probably the most memorable scene in a novel that consists almost entirely of memorable scenes, the unfortunate Florent is telling what should be the exciting tale of how he escaped from the inhuman conditions of Devil's Island, but Florent's brother, now a charcutier, is busy making boudin, and Zola keeps distracting us and the other listeners from Florent's attempts to survive in the Guyanan jungle with the complex and difficult process of preparing blood-sausage. In the end, only his five-year-old niece, fascinated by "l’histoire du monsieur qui a été mangé par les bêtes", is actually listening to Florent.
In this third volume of the Rougon-Macquart cycle, readers couldn't avoid noticing what an extraordinary kind of writer Zola was (in case they hadn't spotted it
Show More
already...). The novel is composed exactly like one of those Flemish kitchen-scene paintings where 80% of the canvas is covered with vividly-rendered fruit & veg, poultry, fish, and meat, usually with a muscular kitchen-maid doing something nasty to a duck, and a lot of gleaming copper pans. And when you look really closely, somewhere in the background through a doorway you will spot a narrative going on - usually Christ in the house of Mary and Martha, or the Road to Emmaus. Zola takes us on a gloriously overpowering virtual-reality tour of the sights, smells, textures and sounds of Paris's central food market, Les Halles, as rebuilt in magnificent Second Empire cast-iron and glass by Victor Baltard in the 1850s and 60s. Everywhere we look there is sensory overload as we are manoeuvred around piles of cabbages and turnips, mountains of fresh fish, vast displays of charcuterie, a competition of smelly cheeses, piles of animal carcasses, cellars full of pigeons and ducks, drains running with offal, and hundreds of traders, butchers, porters and market officials rushing around in a desperate hurry. All the drama and excitement of how you manage to feed a city of over a million people in this strange modern world. It's often said that Zola - like Thomas Hardy - was only a novelist because the cinema wasn't invented in time for him, but when you read this, it's pretty clear that Zola would have found the cinema's limitation to reproducing sound and vision only far too restrictive. He needs to be able to address all our senses from all directions at once to get his effect.
Somewhere in between all this high-pressure trading in perishable wares, there is a story going on, a typical Zola story of a hapless well-intentioned individual crushed under Napoleon III's regime, but it's tucked away so far in the background that we're made to realise just how little an individual human's fate counts for in the middle of the capitalist euphoria of booming Paris. Everything is about production, consumption, and excess, and Zola doesn't hesitate to milk it. In what's probably the most memorable scene in a novel that consists almost entirely of memorable scenes, the unfortunate Florent is telling what should be the exciting tale of how he escaped from the inhuman conditions of Devil's Island, but Florent's brother, now a charcutier, is busy making boudin, and Zola keeps distracting us and the other listeners from Florent's attempts to survive in the Guyanan jungle with the complex and difficult process of preparing blood-sausage. In the end, only his five-year-old niece, fascinated by "l’histoire du monsieur qui a été mangé par les bêtes", is actually listening to Florent.
Show Less
LibraryThing member tgamble54
Too long. Too much description of the market and products.
LibraryThing member cindywho
Sometimes I had trouble keeping the characters straight, but the descriptions of the food were delightful. Cheeses and malicious gossip!
LibraryThing member burritapal
It's difficult to read about all the dead animals...fish, poultry, and all the comestibles Made from their parts and secretions...that Zola wrote about Les Halle's, the huge market that all of Paris and surrounds fed from. Les Halle's is closed now, and all that torture and slaughter is hidden from
Other than that, it's a book about the great divide between the beourgoisie and the poor, made so much worse by the"ruling" classes' desire to have it so. Zola is an artist, and spoke so eloquently about this, his passion, that he inflamed readers with his words. So much so that he paid for it with his life.
Show More
consumers' eyes, as it is in this country, lest the consumers' "delicate" senses be offended by screams and the sight of blood and guts.Other than that, it's a book about the great divide between the beourgoisie and the poor, made so much worse by the"ruling" classes' desire to have it so. Zola is an artist, and spoke so eloquently about this, his passion, that he inflamed readers with his words. So much so that he paid for it with his life.
Show Less
Language
Original language
French
Original publication date
1873
Physical description
320 p.; 7.56 inches
ISBN
0192806335 / 9780192806338
Local notes
French title: Le Ventre de Paris (1873). Many other titles in English
Similar in this library
Nana by Emile Zola