Novel
The Belly of Paris
Le Ventre de Paris
Émile Zola · 1873
Synopsis
Florent, a political deportee in the penal colony of Cayenne, escapes after seven years and returns to Paris. He finds his half-brother Quenu, a prosperous pork butcher, and his wife Lisa, near the Halles pavilions that Baltard has just built. A post as fish inspector is found for him. An idealist among well-fed tradesmen, he joins a small group conspiring against the Empire.
Context
The novel was published in 1873; it is the third of the twenty Rougon-Macquart novels. According to his preparatory notes, Zola wanted to paint the belly of Paris, the Halles where food flows in and piles up, and through them a bourgeoisie that ruminates and digests its joys. The painter Claude Lantier moves through the narrative alongside Florent. The book accumulates descriptions of the stalls to the point of relegating the plot behind them.
Who it is for
A novel of medium length, rich in descriptions, which can be read independently of the other volumes of the cycle.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English as early as 1888; in 2007 Brian Nelson produced a translation for Oxford World's Classics.
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