The debacle.
Ratings2
Average rating3
15
Ratings2
Average rating3
Conservative and working-class, Jean Macquart is an experienced, middle-aged soldier in the French army, who has endured deep personal loss. When he first meets the wealthy and mercurial Maurice Levasseur, who never seems to have suffered, his hatred is immediate. But after they are thrown together during the disastrous Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, the pair are compelled to understand one other. Forging a profound friendship, they must struggle together to endure a disorganised and brutal war, the savage destruction of France's Second Empire and the fall of Napoleon III. One of the greatest of all war novels, The Debacle is the nineteenth novel in Zola's great Rougon-Macquart cycle. A forceful and deeply moving tale of close friendship, it is also a fascinating chronicle of the events that were to lead, in the words of Zola himself, to 'the murder of a nation'.
Reviews with the most likes.
An excess of melodrama, plus an unpleasant degree of anti-German racism spoiled an excellent read.
A powerfull novel about war. Zola puts together a plot with fantastical coincidences. One which is very stereotypical, everything happening in the right order much like in modern day soap-opera.
Nonetheless, the historical events and battles are real. Zola describes the distruction of the war and the destroyed battlefields very vividly. The annoyance of the French over Prussia getting stronger comes trough vividly as does the shock of the invincibly advancing german coalition and the ultimate capitulation. This was not supposed to happen it was afterall just 2 generations ago as the French themselves ran over the then small german states. The whole French perception of the world was centered around past heroics and nationalism and now this capitulation.. Unfortunately it took a couple of more wars to abandon those sentiments on both sides.
Ps. This is the first Rougon-Macquart series book I remember ever to have read and allthough this is supposed to be read second to last, this book stands on its own.
Series
15 primary booksLes Rougon-Macquart is a 15-book series with 15 primary works first released in 189 with contributions by Émile Zola, Brian Nelson, and 7 others.
