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moncoinlecture's review against another edition
4.0
J'ai fini les Rougon-Macquart! Incroyable. Et j'ai beaucoup aimé cette conclusion.
Mon billet sur le blogue: http://moncoinlecture.com/le-docteur-pascal-emile-zola/
Mon billet sur le blogue: http://moncoinlecture.com/le-docteur-pascal-emile-zola/
hammard's review against another edition
4.0
And so it ends. After so many terrible Rougons and abominable Macquarts. What are we left with? Two vain monuments to their greed erected on a pile of corpses and burnt dreams.
The novel is really two stories. The first is the love story between Clotide & Pascal and, as is usually the case with Zola, we are given two contradictory ways to view their relationship. On the one hand they are shown to be tender and loving, on the other Pascal is both a father and an uncle to her which makes the whole situation creepy. As such we see them both struggling with their desires and the rumours of people surrounding them.
The second is the conclusion to the Rougon-Macquart saga as Pascal attempts to map the causes of their diseases using an early form of neuro-biological psychology which has a high degree of genetic determinism. I have seen criticism of this as being prescriptive but I think we are meant not to read Pascal's analysis as gospel. He is regularly wrong in his work throughout the story and in fact describes his writing as little more than a theory for future generations to build upon.
My personal reading of it (and I think there is hints towards this in text) is that there is an overriding fixation and drive within the family (on all branches) which manifests itself. For the Rougons this manifests itself in the corruption as they have the resources to succeed, the Macquarts lack this and the depression overrides them. Those that are away from the families influence most of all (Clotilde & Pauline) are the most settled and content.
A good ending to a great journey through one of the finest works of literature I have ever read.
The novel is really two stories. The first is the love story between Clotide & Pascal and, as is usually the case with Zola, we are given two contradictory ways to view their relationship. On the one hand they are shown to be tender and loving, on the other Pascal is both a father and an uncle to her which makes the whole situation creepy. As such we see them both struggling with their desires and the rumours of people surrounding them.
The second is the conclusion to the Rougon-Macquart saga as Pascal attempts to map the causes of their diseases using an early form of neuro-biological psychology which has a high degree of genetic determinism. I have seen criticism of this as being prescriptive but I think we are meant not to read Pascal's analysis as gospel. He is regularly wrong in his work throughout the story and in fact describes his writing as little more than a theory for future generations to build upon.
My personal reading of it (and I think there is hints towards this in text) is that there is an overriding fixation and drive within the family (on all branches) which manifests itself. For the Rougons this manifests itself in the corruption as they have the resources to succeed, the Macquarts lack this and the depression overrides them. Those that are away from the families influence most of all (Clotilde & Pauline) are the most settled and content.
A good ending to a great journey through one of the finest works of literature I have ever read.
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