Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Oxford University Press
Pages
438
Description
"Through charm, drive, and diligent effort Octave Mouret has become the director of one of the finest new department stores in Paris, Au Bonheur des Dames. Supremely aware of the power of his position, Mouret seeks to exploit the desire that his luxuriantly displayed merchandise arouses in the ladies who shop, and the aspirations of the young female assistants he employs. Charting the beginnings of the capitalist economy and bourgeois society, Zola captures in lavish detail the greedy customers and gossiping staff, and the obsession with image, fashion, and gratification that was a phenomenon of nineteenth-century French consumer society. Of all Zola's novels, this may be the one with the most relevance for our own time"--The publisher.
Series
Collection
Language
Original language
French
Original publication date
1883
Physical description
438 p.; 7.75 inches
ISBN
9780199536900
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User reviews
LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
This book can be approached on three levels: as a somewhat conventional 19th century love story, as a study of the inner workings of the retailing business in the late 19th century, and as an indictment of the rampant consumerism. First, the love story:
Denise and her two younger brothers have come
The owner of The Ladies' Paradise is Octave Mouret, who was featured in the previous Rougon-Macquart novel Pot Luck; however, none of the characters or events in that novel spill over to the current novel. In the interval between the two books, Octave has married the widow of the owner of The Ladies' Paradise, she has died in an accident, and he has succeeded to sole ownership. Octave is now a wealthy womanizer, seducing and discarding shopgirls on a regular basis. Initially he is not attracted to Denise, who is described as slight, and somewhat plain, except for a magnificent mane of hair. Denise overcomes a series of hardships, including the disdain of her fellow shopgirls, and Octave gradually takes notice of her and attempts to seduce her. She resists, focuses on her work and family, and is able to work her way into positions of greater responsibility and compensation. Denise gradually comes to love Octave, but doesn't want to be another of his throwaways. SPOILER SPOILDER SPOILER. She holds out for marriage, and in the end he marries her, and I guess they live happily ever after.
This story-line aspect of the novel is the weakest part of the book and the part I liked least. In fact, it was due to my recollection of this story-line that I almost skipped this one in my Rougon-Macquart challenge, since I had initially read it within the last 10 years. While I liked Denise's character, especially in the beginning when she felt something like Jane Eyre to me, after a while she began to grate on me as being too perfect. I found myself wondering what a Dickens heroine was doing in a Zola novel. And, as noted above, unlike any other Zola novel I've read, there's a sappy, happy ending.
Nevertheless, The Ladies' Paradise is a worthy component of the Rougon-Macquart series. It gives us an insider's view of the inner-workings of a major department store at the end of the 19th century, when surprisingly many of the retailing techniques we think of as modern were beginning to be utilized. We see the nitty-gritty mechanics of the business, including the living arrangements of the shopgirls (in dorms over the shop), how receipts are collected and counted, how inventory is controlled, how deliveries are made, even how shoplifters are treated. In addition, we watch as Octave institutes the innovations that allow him to drive the small shopowners out of business and maximize profits.
For example, he begins partially basing compensation of the sales force on their sales receipts: "To make people do their best--and to keep them honest--it was necessary to excite their selfish desires first." He begins a practice of heavy advertising, and begins catelogue sales. He adopts a policy allowing returns, on the theory that the belief that an item can be returned will induce a customer to buy more--will be the tipping factor for whether to purchase an item or not. He scientifically arranges the merchandise and the location of the departments so each customer will have to traverse a larger portion of the store and make impulse purchases. The grand innovation of course is the development of a store in which many categories of goods are sold, rather than just one--the "department" store.
Mouret exploits the greed of his customers. He lures them in with low-advertised prices on a particular item, knowing that the enjoyment of buyers "is doubled when they think they are robbing the tradesman. " He recognizes that if one item is seen as a bargain, other items can be sold at as high a price as anywhere else, and "they'll still think yours are the cheapest." He uses sales in order to expedite turnover of inventory: "He had discovered that she could not resist a bargain, that she bought without necessity when she thought she saw a cheap line, and on this observation he based his system of reductions in price of unsold items, perferring to sell them at a loss, faithful to his principle of continual renewal of the goods."
Throughout, the madness of consumerism is condemned. Many of the new retailing techniques are based on a low opinion of the customer. For the most part the customer is female, and as a woman she is implicitly compared to the victim of sexual seduction:
"Mouret's unique passion was to conquer woman. He wished her to be queen in her house, and he had built this temple to get her completely at his mercy. His sole aim was to intoxicate her with gallant attentions, and traffic on her desires, work on her fever. Night and day he racked his brain to invent fresh attractions."
Then, "...when he had emptied her purse and shattered her nerves, he was full of the secret scorn of a man to whom a woman had just been stupid enough to yield herself."
However, the woman is not excused:
"It was the woman that they were continually catching in the snare of their bargains, after bewildering her with their displays. They had awakened new desires in her flesh; they were an immense temptation, before which she succumbed fatally, yielding at first to reasonable purchases of useful articles for the household, then tempted by their coquetry, then deoured. In increasing their business tenfold, in popularizing luxury, they became a terrible spending agency, ravaging the households, working up the fashionable folly of the hour, always dearer. And if woman reigned in their shops like a queen, cajoled, flattered, overwhelmed with attentions, she was an amorous one, on whom her subjects traffic, and who pays with a drop of her blood each fresh caprice."
I found myself fascinated with these two aspects of the book, perhaps because, unlike Denise, the seductions of The Ladies' Paradise prevailed over the good sense of its customers.
Denise and her two younger brothers have come
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to Paris, where their uncle, a small shopkeeper, had promised her a position in his shop after their parents died. When they arrive at their uncle's store, Denise finds that the store is suffering and her uncle is unable to offer her a position, primarily because a large and growing establishment, The Ladies' Paradise, is siphoning off his customers. Other small shops in the area are also in decline, and Denise feels fortunate to obtain a position at The Ladies' Paradise.The owner of The Ladies' Paradise is Octave Mouret, who was featured in the previous Rougon-Macquart novel Pot Luck; however, none of the characters or events in that novel spill over to the current novel. In the interval between the two books, Octave has married the widow of the owner of The Ladies' Paradise, she has died in an accident, and he has succeeded to sole ownership. Octave is now a wealthy womanizer, seducing and discarding shopgirls on a regular basis. Initially he is not attracted to Denise, who is described as slight, and somewhat plain, except for a magnificent mane of hair. Denise overcomes a series of hardships, including the disdain of her fellow shopgirls, and Octave gradually takes notice of her and attempts to seduce her. She resists, focuses on her work and family, and is able to work her way into positions of greater responsibility and compensation. Denise gradually comes to love Octave, but doesn't want to be another of his throwaways. SPOILER SPOILDER SPOILER. She holds out for marriage, and in the end he marries her, and I guess they live happily ever after.
This story-line aspect of the novel is the weakest part of the book and the part I liked least. In fact, it was due to my recollection of this story-line that I almost skipped this one in my Rougon-Macquart challenge, since I had initially read it within the last 10 years. While I liked Denise's character, especially in the beginning when she felt something like Jane Eyre to me, after a while she began to grate on me as being too perfect. I found myself wondering what a Dickens heroine was doing in a Zola novel. And, as noted above, unlike any other Zola novel I've read, there's a sappy, happy ending.
Nevertheless, The Ladies' Paradise is a worthy component of the Rougon-Macquart series. It gives us an insider's view of the inner-workings of a major department store at the end of the 19th century, when surprisingly many of the retailing techniques we think of as modern were beginning to be utilized. We see the nitty-gritty mechanics of the business, including the living arrangements of the shopgirls (in dorms over the shop), how receipts are collected and counted, how inventory is controlled, how deliveries are made, even how shoplifters are treated. In addition, we watch as Octave institutes the innovations that allow him to drive the small shopowners out of business and maximize profits.
For example, he begins partially basing compensation of the sales force on their sales receipts: "To make people do their best--and to keep them honest--it was necessary to excite their selfish desires first." He begins a practice of heavy advertising, and begins catelogue sales. He adopts a policy allowing returns, on the theory that the belief that an item can be returned will induce a customer to buy more--will be the tipping factor for whether to purchase an item or not. He scientifically arranges the merchandise and the location of the departments so each customer will have to traverse a larger portion of the store and make impulse purchases. The grand innovation of course is the development of a store in which many categories of goods are sold, rather than just one--the "department" store.
Mouret exploits the greed of his customers. He lures them in with low-advertised prices on a particular item, knowing that the enjoyment of buyers "is doubled when they think they are robbing the tradesman. " He recognizes that if one item is seen as a bargain, other items can be sold at as high a price as anywhere else, and "they'll still think yours are the cheapest." He uses sales in order to expedite turnover of inventory: "He had discovered that she could not resist a bargain, that she bought without necessity when she thought she saw a cheap line, and on this observation he based his system of reductions in price of unsold items, perferring to sell them at a loss, faithful to his principle of continual renewal of the goods."
Throughout, the madness of consumerism is condemned. Many of the new retailing techniques are based on a low opinion of the customer. For the most part the customer is female, and as a woman she is implicitly compared to the victim of sexual seduction:
"Mouret's unique passion was to conquer woman. He wished her to be queen in her house, and he had built this temple to get her completely at his mercy. His sole aim was to intoxicate her with gallant attentions, and traffic on her desires, work on her fever. Night and day he racked his brain to invent fresh attractions."
Then, "...when he had emptied her purse and shattered her nerves, he was full of the secret scorn of a man to whom a woman had just been stupid enough to yield herself."
However, the woman is not excused:
"It was the woman that they were continually catching in the snare of their bargains, after bewildering her with their displays. They had awakened new desires in her flesh; they were an immense temptation, before which she succumbed fatally, yielding at first to reasonable purchases of useful articles for the household, then tempted by their coquetry, then deoured. In increasing their business tenfold, in popularizing luxury, they became a terrible spending agency, ravaging the households, working up the fashionable folly of the hour, always dearer. And if woman reigned in their shops like a queen, cajoled, flattered, overwhelmed with attentions, she was an amorous one, on whom her subjects traffic, and who pays with a drop of her blood each fresh caprice."
I found myself fascinated with these two aspects of the book, perhaps because, unlike Denise, the seductions of The Ladies' Paradise prevailed over the good sense of its customers.
Show Less
LibraryThing member nessreader
A brilliant book about the retail industry. It's about daring schemes to cut prices to the bone, and how that means pressure to increase turnover so that a smaller percentage of profit on many sales outweighs a larger profit on few. And it's about how it feels to work in retail, the necessary small
It's a negative take on the job, but recognisable.
Oh, yes. There is a love story in there too. This grips me less, as the principals are exasperating.
The heroine Denise is Cinderella, she's Patient Griselda, she's King Cophetua's beggar maid. She is abused and overwrought and made a drudge by family, by bosses, workmates, customers and passing strangers. Her angst is vast. She's fate's punchbag.
The hero, if I must call him that, treats her appallingly too. All through the insults, the sacking (unmerited of course) the starvation, the reputation for whoring, the consumptive cousin, the explosive umbrella carver, the crisis scene when she has to fit a haute couture coat on the shoulders of her rival, Denise remains brave, noble, uncomplaining and with - her one identifying feature - great hair.
Mouret - Henry VIII to her Anne Boleyn - is not much of a prize. He's a visionary businessman who rants and struts the Paris afternoon tea party scene. A less charismatic business partner functions to worry over the balance sheets. It takes Mouret a long time and chapters of pining to work out that offering Denise's own weight in gold will not get her in bed. She wants enough to go round the third finger of her left hand.
The book is studded with set pieces; detailed verbal pictures of habedashery displays, the forming of an architectural facade, the dispersal across town of horsedrawn delivery vans. The foreword assures me these are much admired.
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insincerities, the infuriating situation of not being able to answer back no matter what, the office politics on the shop floor, the exhaustion and sore feet and meticulous tedium of keeping control of the stock, the mutual disdain between big store and independent shop. It's a negative take on the job, but recognisable.
Oh, yes. There is a love story in there too. This grips me less, as the principals are exasperating.
The heroine Denise is Cinderella, she's Patient Griselda, she's King Cophetua's beggar maid. She is abused and overwrought and made a drudge by family, by bosses, workmates, customers and passing strangers. Her angst is vast. She's fate's punchbag.
The hero, if I must call him that, treats her appallingly too. All through the insults, the sacking (unmerited of course) the starvation, the reputation for whoring, the consumptive cousin, the explosive umbrella carver, the crisis scene when she has to fit a haute couture coat on the shoulders of her rival, Denise remains brave, noble, uncomplaining and with - her one identifying feature - great hair.
Mouret - Henry VIII to her Anne Boleyn - is not much of a prize. He's a visionary businessman who rants and struts the Paris afternoon tea party scene. A less charismatic business partner functions to worry over the balance sheets. It takes Mouret a long time and chapters of pining to work out that offering Denise's own weight in gold will not get her in bed. She wants enough to go round the third finger of her left hand.
The book is studded with set pieces; detailed verbal pictures of habedashery displays, the forming of an architectural facade, the dispersal across town of horsedrawn delivery vans. The foreword assures me these are much admired.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jessicariddoch
I randomly selected this from a shelf because it said "as seen on TV" don't know what it was on TV but it was a lovely read. Set in the beginnings of the department store it follows the time of a single girl who came to the city as her life in the country has gone south.
What most surprised me was
this novel has depth and character as well as story. it is also not too complicated for an easy read. would recommend to most readers - even men
What most surprised me was
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that this novel was originally published in 1883. the quality of the story that it has held up for over 100 years, this effect was assisted by the fact that I think this is a recent translation from the original French.this novel has depth and character as well as story. it is also not too complicated for an easy read. would recommend to most readers - even men
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LibraryThing member amydross
Okay, so the descriptions of the early department stores were terrific. And it was interesting seeing them as triumphant over the "ancien commerce", when now grand old department stores are barely holding on, having been largely displaced by chain stores, plus Target. Plus ca change?
The storyline,
The storyline,
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on the other hand... Denise was just *such* a dud of a character compared to Nana. The whole arc of this perfectly pure, silent, passive, humble, etc. girl who wins the heart of the store owner through her very passivity just really annoyed me. Out of desperation, I developed a reading of her as kind of dominatrix, which made her seem a little livelier, but I had a hard time rooting for her nonetheless. Show Less
LibraryThing member amelish
I can't write an informed review at this point because I merely skimmed it for a theory paper, but did enjoy reading this on the back of a novel ostensibly about shopping: "Mouret's sole passion was the conquest of Woman. He wanted her to be queen in his shop, he had built this temple for her in
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order to hold her at his mercy. His tactics were to intoxicate her with amorous attentions, to trade on her desires..." Show Less
LibraryThing member bakabaka84
This was my first experience reading Zola and I loved every minute of it. I think what I really liked about this book was that, having worked in retail it was funny to see that not much has changed since the dawn of the department store in the late 1800's. Even back then office politics abound with
Although the cast is filled with well-rounded characters, the real stars of the book are the goods themselves. Zola goes into painstaking detail about the different quality of cloth and silks as well as the numerous garments that were popular at the time. If there is anything lacking in the book I would say it's the love story between Octave Mouret, the owner of Au Bonheur des Dames and Denise Baudu, the leading lady and new arrival to Paris. Its not that its bad, just that I felt it was drawn out too long and really to a back seat to Zola exploring the world of the department store.
Overall it was a great read and one I say you defiantly should read if you ever worked in retail as you can laugh along with the employees of Au Bonheur des Dames going through situations you have probably found yourself in.
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the gossip as ruthless as ever. The employs constantly try to undermine their boss in hopes of taking his position while constantly complaining about the quality of customers they are getting. In addition, Zola also looks at how the new retail world meant the death-knell for the old trade system of small independent shops of Paris and the despair it brings to their owner. While Zola makes it clear that he is in favor of the new retail world he points out that not everyone would gain from it. Although the cast is filled with well-rounded characters, the real stars of the book are the goods themselves. Zola goes into painstaking detail about the different quality of cloth and silks as well as the numerous garments that were popular at the time. If there is anything lacking in the book I would say it's the love story between Octave Mouret, the owner of Au Bonheur des Dames and Denise Baudu, the leading lady and new arrival to Paris. Its not that its bad, just that I felt it was drawn out too long and really to a back seat to Zola exploring the world of the department store.
Overall it was a great read and one I say you defiantly should read if you ever worked in retail as you can laugh along with the employees of Au Bonheur des Dames going through situations you have probably found yourself in.
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LibraryThing member Glorybe1
This is the book that The Paradise television series is based on, although I have to say it is very very loosely based! Set in Paris, it is full of beautiful descriptions of the shops displays and the women who shopped there. The author almost likens the Ladies Paradise to a great Cathedral where
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the women may worship and praise!! Very interesting and enjoyed it immensely. Show Less
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Depending on how you look at it, The Ladies' Paradise is either a story of a romance across lines of class and wealth, or it's a story of sexual harassment. The Ladies' Paradise is a rapidly expanding department store in 19th century Paris. Its growth is driving the neighborhood's small retailers
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out of business. The owner, Octave Mouret, is a young widower who has affairs with society women and shop girls. Denise Baudu, a recent arrival from a provincial town, is the young niece of one of the struggling retailers and a surrogate mother to her two younger brothers. Denise does not have affairs with either wealthy men or fellow salesmen. There is a battle of wills between small retailers and big business, social welfare and capitalism, and, on a personal level, Mouret and Denise. I was fascinated by the account of the rapid growth of the department store and the change it produced in consumer attitudes and behavior. I wasn't so fascinated by the romance (if you could call it that). Show Less
LibraryThing member Smiler69
A young girl called Denise Baudu arrives in Paris from the provinces with her two younger brothers to look for work now that their parents are deceased. She pays a visit to her uncle who owns a specialty shop, hoping she can count on him to put them up and give her work, having previous experience
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as a salesgirl. But her uncle's business is hurting and he can't give her work, as are all the other small specialty shops on the street, thanks to the constant growth of what used to also be a small shop but has now grown into a huge new department store, The Ladies' Paradise of the title. We'd met the owner of the department store, Octave Mouret, in the previous novel [Pot Luck], in which he himself had just arrived from the provinces filled with dreams and counting on making them come true by seducing rich women. Now he is a young widower and with his innovative business ideas, has made a huge success of his department store which all the rich women of Paris flock to for his large selection of merchandise and the pull of strategical low pricing. Mouret prides himself on having used women to succeed in life, and now continues to take pride that all women are now at his mercy, since he knows how to manipulate their desires to get them to become dedicated customers. Denise has little choice but to apply to the store, which is the biggest employer around and while she must suffer the unending taunts and malice of her coworkers as the unsophisticated newcomer from the provinces, is immediately drawn to Mouret, whom she admires for his big ideas. But unlike the other salesgirls who are only too glad to supplement their meagre income with help from lovers on the side and who hope Mouret will choose them as his next playthings with all the bonuses that implies, Denise is determined she won't give herself away at any price, leading Mouret to rue his success, which brings him all the riches in the world, but not the one woman he progressively and predictably enough becomes completed obsessed with. The struggle between the small business owners and this giant superstore were still a new phenomenon when this novel was published, and though this kind of thing continues into the 21st century, it is one of the most poignant parts of the story. The trouble I had with this novel is that there is very little story or character development to be had, unless you count the Ladies' Paradise itself, which is the central character, and which Zola, in his characteristic way depicts in lavish detail, with many descriptions of the merchandise and displays, but also the inner workings of the store and rivalries and gossip among what eventually grow to be thousands of employees. This in itself would have been interesting, but the lists of items described went on endlessly so that very little happened in the process, with a long drawn out paroxysm of the biggest display of all the tints of white merchandise ever seen before, which I believed went on for three chapters. It was all very pretty, but a bit tiresome in the end, much like a day spent shopping. Very glad I've finally finished this one and can now move on. Show Less
LibraryThing member MarysLibrary
This classic of naturalism describes the development of the first big department store in Paris. Small shopkeepers were forced out of business and a way of life disappeared.
LibraryThing member TrgLlyLibrarian
The sensory description was very effective, but there was simply too much of it. The plot was quite slow, hampered by the author's need to emphasize the effects of big business upon society. There was a lot of social/economic commentary, expressed in a hardly secondary plotline. The romantic aspect
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caught my interest. I enjoyed it and gladly finished reading it, but it has some major faults as a fiction work. Show Less
LibraryThing member oataker
Denise, a 20 year old from the sticks come penniless to Paris with her two younger brothers hoping to live with her Uncle Baudu. But he cannot help her as he is being ruined by the Ladies Paradise department store opened up by Mouret.
Lots of stuff about Woman being seduced by the riches on
There are shocking descriptions of poverty, awful food and accommodation, although at first the shops provided rooms and food for their assistants.
The most striking thing to me was its descriptionof sexual mores at the time. Everybody male has mistresses, there is lots of casual sex among the young, the conversation among the sales people is coarse and knowing. All this in contrast to the Victorian attitudes and coyness on the other side of the channel.
Zola gives us a bevvy of female caricatures de Bauve snooty, Guibal ex lover, Marty spendthrift, Bourdelais, who is sensible.
Stunning display of vocabulary from Zola! The complexity of fabric, but it all gets a bit monotonous.
Mouret's love of the anaemic scrawny Denise seems somewhat unlikely but ultimately having overcome Woman financially he is defeated by love of one of them.
Women are portrayed as childish people only interested in fashion, in a way that would exasperate any modern feminist,
Lots of stuff about Woman being seduced by the riches on
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display, and the little shops who are all unwilling to modernise and ruined if they compete. There are shocking descriptions of poverty, awful food and accommodation, although at first the shops provided rooms and food for their assistants.
The most striking thing to me was its descriptionof sexual mores at the time. Everybody male has mistresses, there is lots of casual sex among the young, the conversation among the sales people is coarse and knowing. All this in contrast to the Victorian attitudes and coyness on the other side of the channel.
Zola gives us a bevvy of female caricatures de Bauve snooty, Guibal ex lover, Marty spendthrift, Bourdelais, who is sensible.
Stunning display of vocabulary from Zola! The complexity of fabric, but it all gets a bit monotonous.
Mouret's love of the anaemic scrawny Denise seems somewhat unlikely but ultimately having overcome Woman financially he is defeated by love of one of them.
Women are portrayed as childish people only interested in fashion, in a way that would exasperate any modern feminist,
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LibraryThing member bereanna
Dept store in Paris as it grows. Love between poor Denise, the shopgirl, and the owner, dreamer, planner Octave Mouret. His departments and pricing create closures of small stores ala Walmart.
Too wordy for my tastes.
Too wordy for my tastes.
LibraryThing member aine.fin
I actually enjoyed this but its length and pages and pages of descriptive language could easily turn people off - it nearly did for me but something drew me through it. I had never read Zola before and thought this would be a good way to do so. Follows country girl Denise as she comes to Paris to
This edition seemed to be a good translation but of course I'm not familiar with the French. I didn't notice it being "translated" so I think that's a good sign. All the French names confused me at times.
Some things in retail have never changed!
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try her luck as a shopgirl and ends up in the growing department store the Ladies' Paradise.This edition seemed to be a good translation but of course I'm not familiar with the French. I didn't notice it being "translated" so I think that's a good sign. All the French names confused me at times.
Some things in retail have never changed!
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LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
It took a little while for me to get into Zola's epic investigation into the workings of a major Parisian department store, but once I got to know the characters and saw where the plot was heading, it was hard to put this one down.
LibraryThing member thorold
Zola's big sex-and-shopping novel turns out to have surprisingly little obvious sex, but makes up for it by giving us what's essentially a complete primer in retail theory and practice circa 1870. And some gloriously erotic descriptions of textiles and haberdashery, which help us to see Zola's
We follow the unstoppable expansion of the Bonheur des Dames from simple draper's shop to vast department store from the perspectives of its proprietor, Octave Mouret (last seen marrying into the business in Pot-Bouille), and of a young shop assistant from the provinces, Denise, who comes to work for him. And we experience the effect of the new retail phenomenon as seen by Octave's middle-class women friends — the customers whose money it is designed to extract — and from the less sanguine viewpoint of the small shopkeepers in the neighbourhood who are being crushed under Mouret's wheels.
Not Zola's strongest novel in terms of its human plot, which turns out to be a very standard sort of romance. But he more than makes up for it with the non-fiction aspect of the book, its detailed analysis of how big retail works, not only the front-of-house manipulation of customer psychology we expect, but also the behind-the-scenes business administration that makes it all possible. Right down to the economics of staff-canteen menus. All very fascinating, and surprisingly modern: it's a shock to be reminded that we're still in the age of gas-light, horses and carts, and snail-mail...
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point that in the new capitalist society of the Second Empire there isn't any meaningful distinction to be made between sex and shopping: they are simply two different aspects of the way society is based on the exploitation of women. We follow the unstoppable expansion of the Bonheur des Dames from simple draper's shop to vast department store from the perspectives of its proprietor, Octave Mouret (last seen marrying into the business in Pot-Bouille), and of a young shop assistant from the provinces, Denise, who comes to work for him. And we experience the effect of the new retail phenomenon as seen by Octave's middle-class women friends — the customers whose money it is designed to extract — and from the less sanguine viewpoint of the small shopkeepers in the neighbourhood who are being crushed under Mouret's wheels.
Not Zola's strongest novel in terms of its human plot, which turns out to be a very standard sort of romance. But he more than makes up for it with the non-fiction aspect of the book, its detailed analysis of how big retail works, not only the front-of-house manipulation of customer psychology we expect, but also the behind-the-scenes business administration that makes it all possible. Right down to the economics of staff-canteen menus. All very fascinating, and surprisingly modern: it's a shock to be reminded that we're still in the age of gas-light, horses and carts, and snail-mail...
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LibraryThing member Cecrow
The Ladies' Paradise of the title is one of the world's earliest department stores, gathering a multitude of goods and services under one roof in the heart of Paris. Its size and cash flow exceeds all known bounds, beggaring the surrounding drab mom-and-pop establishments with its enormous,
The heart of the story revolves around two characters: Octave Mouret, the driving force behind the Paradise's epic success, and Denise, a small-town girl with sales experience who comes to the big city in search of work. Zola does not set them at odds in their views about this burgeoning capitalist venture, but he doesn't shy away from depicting its downsides either. The hardships of small-time shopkeepers are explored as they're driven out of business, necessary grist for the mill of progress. One admirable trait the novel possesses is its coy ability to be read as tragedy, if you're so inclined to draw a parallel between the resistance of Denise and Bouras. This just-okay classic is ultimately light romantic reading.
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glittering window displays and sales, drawing customers at a rate its competitors can't possibly match. Zola tirelessly (sometimes tiringly) describes the wonders of the Paradise, its ocean of merchandise and effect on its customers, making Biblical comparisons both heavenly and otherwise.The heart of the story revolves around two characters: Octave Mouret, the driving force behind the Paradise's epic success, and Denise, a small-town girl with sales experience who comes to the big city in search of work. Zola does not set them at odds in their views about this burgeoning capitalist venture, but he doesn't shy away from depicting its downsides either. The hardships of small-time shopkeepers are explored as they're driven out of business, necessary grist for the mill of progress. One admirable trait the novel possesses is its coy ability to be read as tragedy, if you're so inclined to draw a parallel between the resistance of Denise and Bouras. This just-okay classic is ultimately light romantic reading.
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LibraryThing member booksaplenty1949
Zola’s usual in-depth description and intoxicating lists. A modern grasp of the role of women in a consumer culture. A comparison drawn between the 19th C department store and the mediaeval cathedral; not unique to Zola, perhaps, but elaborated with a heroine who is a kind of contemporary BVM
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bringing healing to those around her through the power of virginal mediation. She’s also a top sales rep. Needless to say I enjoyed this book greatly. Show Less
LibraryThing member ritaer
It is strange to think of a novel in which a department store is almost a protagonist. The story is set in 1880' Paris as one store begins to encompass drapers, linen, ladies' wear and other fabric merchandise. The store eventually includes an entire city block, with children's wear, shoes, and
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even furniture under the same roof. Modern merchandising enables price cuts that drive neighboring shops into bankruptcy but provide a largely female clientele with a seemingly endless supply of household necessities and personal luxuries. Into this engine of social change comes Denise Baudu, a young woman from a provincial town who has two brothers to support. Finding that her uncle, a draper (owner of a yardage or fabric shop) is unable to employ her she seeks a position at The Ladies Paradise, owned by merchandising innovator, Octave Mouret, a man known for numerous long- and short-term mistresses, many of them salesgirls in his employ. Denise appears as an awkward country bumpkin but after periods of unemployment and great hardship eventually becomes an assistant buyer in ladies' wear. Mouret becomes attracted to her, and she realizes that she loves him, but she refuses to become his mistress, maintaining her caution and her principles. Show Less
LibraryThing member oataker
Denise, a 20 year old from the sticks come penniless to Paris with her two younger brothers hoping to live with her Uncle Baudu. But he cannot help her as he is being ruined by the Ladies Paradise department store opened up by Mouret.
Lots of stuff about Woman being seduced by the riches on
There are shocking descriptions of poverty, awful food and accommodation, although at first the shops provided rooms and food for their assistants.
The most striking thing to me was its descriptionof sexual mores at the time. Everybody male has mistresses, there is lots of casual sex among the young, the conversation among the sales people is coarse and knowing. All this in contrast to the Victorian attitudes and coyness on the other side of the channel.
Zola gives us a bevvy of female caricatures de Bauve snooty, Guibal ex lover, Marty spendthrift, Bourdelais, who is sensible.
Stunning display of vocabulary from Zola! The complexity of fabric, but it all gets a bit monotonous.
Mouret's love of the anaemic scrawny Denise seems somewhat unlikely but ultimately having overcome Woman financially he is defeated by love of one of them.
Women are portrayed as childish people only interested in fashion, in a way that would exasperate any modern feminist,
Lots of stuff about Woman being seduced by the riches on
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display, and the little shops who are all unwilling to modernise and ruined if they compete. There are shocking descriptions of poverty, awful food and accommodation, although at first the shops provided rooms and food for their assistants.
The most striking thing to me was its descriptionof sexual mores at the time. Everybody male has mistresses, there is lots of casual sex among the young, the conversation among the sales people is coarse and knowing. All this in contrast to the Victorian attitudes and coyness on the other side of the channel.
Zola gives us a bevvy of female caricatures de Bauve snooty, Guibal ex lover, Marty spendthrift, Bourdelais, who is sensible.
Stunning display of vocabulary from Zola! The complexity of fabric, but it all gets a bit monotonous.
Mouret's love of the anaemic scrawny Denise seems somewhat unlikely but ultimately having overcome Woman financially he is defeated by love of one of them.
Women are portrayed as childish people only interested in fashion, in a way that would exasperate any modern feminist,
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LibraryThing member BookAddict
Of all of Emile Zola's books this one is the most cheerful. Wonderful story. Fabulous writing. Excellent subject. Interesting characters. Beautiful descriptives. I will remember the decadent images in this novel for a long time to come and there is a sales/marketing/consumer education in here that
Highly recommended.
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applies even today. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member burritapal
The birth of the department store: A huge store opens in Paris, putting small tradespeople out of business, employing thousands and giving women a place to congregate in public without being escorted by a man.
I loved the protagonist of the book, Denise. When the owner of the store falls in love
In this age of the downfall of the department store, Zola's study of the change made in culture and lives by the advent of an open, clean, well-lighted place where goods are intentionally displayed to seduce the shopper is well-researched and a fascinating read.
I loved the protagonist of the book, Denise. When the owner of the store falls in love
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with her, she refuses to be one of his one-night-stands, and he becomes a good employer with her guidance.In this age of the downfall of the department store, Zola's study of the change made in culture and lives by the advent of an open, clean, well-lighted place where goods are intentionally displayed to seduce the shopper is well-researched and a fascinating read.
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Subjects
Call number
FIC A3 Zol