Emile Zola

If you have a solid, basic knowledge of French grammar and a moderately-developed range of vocabulary, you should find pleasure in reading this novel in the original French with the help of the Vocabulary Keys: lists of vocabulary words and their translations that accompany each page. Zola uses to great effect a rich vocabulary and quite a few metaphors to paint scenes, actions and personalities of the working class society around Les Halles (The Markets) of mid-19th century Paris. Because of these extensive, detailed descriptions, someone not perfectly fluent in French would find the reading rather difficult. However, nearly 3,300 words, idioms and phrases are underlined and defined for you in the Vocabulary Keys so that you will have full comprehension. The plot line of the novel is almost secondary to Zola's luscious, painterly visual, auditory, tactile and olfactory images. Basically, the story line revolves around the "fat" and the "thin" of Paris. There is great tension between the comfortable, well-fed food merchants of Les Halles, who are contentedly unbothered by the corruption and tyranny of the ruling elites, and a group of revolution-minded socialist idealists who want to overthrow the government. The main protagonist of the novel, a "beanpole" named Florent, had been falsely imprisoned during the coup of 1851. He escapes and returns to Paris to work as the inspector in the fish market. The merchants distrust him, thinking that such a thin man cannot be trusted. For his part, Florent is overpowered and repulsed by the overflowing abundance of food and while also harboring resentment against the government for falsely imprisoning him. He eventually conspires with the socialists to plot an insurrection, not aware that he is being watched by malicious, gossipy neighbors and is secretly being followed by the police.