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pagesofmilkandhoney's review
4.0
I read this for my Impressionism class, and while I was at first annoyed that we had to read a novel, I'm so glad we did. It really is tragic watching the deterioration of the marriage and love story of Claude and Christine, feeling her pain at being upstaged by a painting that her husband is obsessed with and loves more than he loves her, but in an infatuating and obsessive way. This adds to the beautiful meeting they have at the beginning of the novel, as well as the loss of their child at the end. Jacques really is the victim in this entire piece, ignored by his father who doesn't notice him and always silenced by his mother who only wishes for the attention of her husband. The various other characters are miserable yet intriguing as well, and it's interesting to try and determine who their real life counterparts are in the Impressionism world. Nevertheless, what became a tragic story intrigued me, and I never regretted reading this for class once.
doc's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ericwelch's review against another edition
Watched a terrific BBC series on the Impressionists and there was mention of this work and the rift it caused between Cezanne, a childhood friend, and Zola. Cezanne apparently took a lot personally. The intro. suggests the main character is an amalgamation of Cezanne, Manet, and Zola himself. Writing is really good so far. Very lucid and descriptive. Must be an excellent translation.
estherounette's review against another edition
2.0
Je ne suis pas arrivée à entrer dedans. Dans deux semaines, je l'aurai oublié. On est loin de Nana, du Ventre de Paris ou de Germinal...
justlucyamelia's review
5.0
zola not only featuring himself in a book but making himself the funny/supportive/wise centre of the friendship group is so extra I love it
annyway47's review
5.0
This book has absolutely WRECKED me. This review is written by a pile of ashes.
The Masterpiece is populated by artists, passionate, ambitious and young, feverish with their ideas and ideals. They are immersed in the world of literature and art, contribute to it, fight against it and for it. They crave glory and kill themselves with work, striving to rise above mediocrity. And people who love them have to deal with all of that, and it's a lot. It was fascinating and heartbreaking, really.
The writing was amazing. I fell in love with the characters and empathized with a lot of what they felt and thought. Zola is now one of my favorite writers. "The Masterpiece" is a work of pure genius.
I picked this book up as a tie-in for my non-fiction read of [b:Degas|27989101|Degas|Bernd Growe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1457290824l/27989101._SX50_.jpg|909352], because the main character, a fictional artist Claude Lantier, is also a XIX-century impressionist making a career in Paris. Though it is said Lantier was actually based partly on Cezanne, partly on Manet, who were friends with Zola.
The Masterpiece is populated by artists, passionate, ambitious and young, feverish with their ideas and ideals. They are immersed in the world of literature and art, contribute to it, fight against it and for it. They crave glory and kill themselves with work, striving to rise above mediocrity. And people who love them have to deal with all of that, and it's a lot. It was fascinating and heartbreaking, really.
The writing was amazing. I fell in love with the characters and empathized with a lot of what they felt and thought. Zola is now one of my favorite writers. "The Masterpiece" is a work of pure genius.
I picked this book up as a tie-in for my non-fiction read of [b:Degas|27989101|Degas|Bernd Growe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1457290824l/27989101._SX50_.jpg|909352], because the main character, a fictional artist Claude Lantier, is also a XIX-century impressionist making a career in Paris. Though it is said Lantier was actually based partly on Cezanne, partly on Manet, who were friends with Zola.
alexture's review against another edition
2.0
C'est un Zola, je ne peux pas décemment lui mettre une seule étoile, mais QU'EST-CE QUE C'ÉTAIT CHIANT WOW J'AI CRU QUE JE FINIRAIS JAMAIS
arbieroo's review
3.0
There's a character in this novel who decides to embark on an ambitious project to write a series of novels that "scientifically" demonstrate the effects of heredity and environment on a large family living during the regime of Napoleon III. (Whatever happened to Napoleon II?) The idea is that each book will examine some specific aspect of society and feature one member of the extended family as main protagonist. Which is odd, because Zola wrote a series of 20 books that examine the effects of environment and heredity on the fictional Rougon-Macquart family who live during Napoleon III's time in power...Yes, having abandoned (in practice if not by admission) his "scientific" plan fairly early in the 20 volume project, by the time Zola gets round to examining the world of artistic endeavor in Paris, he is entirely willing to model aspects of his characters on himself - and on his friends amongst the Impressionists, who, upon reading the book, variously, never spoke to him again, got really angry or found it flattering or funny.
Zola in this series is talking about a world only slightly in his past, that he lived through, and all of its members that I've read feel very believable in terms of the society and atmosphere portrayed, if possibly somewhat exaggerated, but in this one he is talking directly about his own experiences which differentiates this from the others in the series in a way beyond just that of being a separate plot about a seperate character in a different stratum of French society from the others - which is, of course, what they have in common. If you are interested in that kind of game you could spend hours pondering exactly which aspects of which characters are taken from which real-life world-famous Impressionist painters.
Strangely, the world of art portrayed seems entirely familiar; paintings used as investments, people trying to manipulate the market for profit, resultant hyper-inflation of prices. The public ridiculing works that later generations see as genius. Young artists spouting revolutionary theories about art and society, an old-guard establishment who try to keep the new-comers and their radical ideas down.
The main protagonist, Claude (yes, after that Claude) is the leader of just such a group of young, ambitious, would-be (art) world-changers. His battles with the establishment and his own flaws and genius are affectingly set out over the course of the book and leads to an end that many readers of other Rougon-Macquart novels can probably guess early. Other recognisable Zola themes are to be found; for instance promiscuity amongst the poor and attempts to describe the passionate aspects of romance explicitly that outraged many contemporary readers. A challenge as to what was permisable still being fought by D.H. Lawrence many decades later.
The style is also instantly recognisable, even across at least three different translators of his novels in the 6-10 Zola books I've read. The narrative voice, dramatic mood-swings and slow build-up (that can leave one bogged-down in the middle third) to a moving climax are all typically Zola. Despite the description of a man tortured by his obsessions and self-doubt, this member of the series was not for me as powerful as some of its more famous brethren, such as [b:Germinal|28407|Germinal (Les Rougon-Macquart, #13)|Émile Zola|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309206372s/28407.jpg|941651], [b:The Earth|28420|The Earth (Les Rougon-Macquart, #15)|Émile Zola|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1167946519s/28420.jpg|1810722] or [b:La Débâcle|28419|La Débâcle (Les Rougon-Macquart, #19)|Émile Zola|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1167946518s/28419.jpg|3522286]. Worth reading, then, but not the one to pick as one's first or even perhaps fifth work by Zola.
Zola in this series is talking about a world only slightly in his past, that he lived through, and all of its members that I've read feel very believable in terms of the society and atmosphere portrayed, if possibly somewhat exaggerated, but in this one he is talking directly about his own experiences which differentiates this from the others in the series in a way beyond just that of being a separate plot about a seperate character in a different stratum of French society from the others - which is, of course, what they have in common. If you are interested in that kind of game you could spend hours pondering exactly which aspects of which characters are taken from which real-life world-famous Impressionist painters.
Strangely, the world of art portrayed seems entirely familiar; paintings used as investments, people trying to manipulate the market for profit, resultant hyper-inflation of prices. The public ridiculing works that later generations see as genius. Young artists spouting revolutionary theories about art and society, an old-guard establishment who try to keep the new-comers and their radical ideas down.
The main protagonist, Claude (yes, after that Claude) is the leader of just such a group of young, ambitious, would-be (art) world-changers. His battles with the establishment and his own flaws and genius are affectingly set out over the course of the book and leads to an end that many readers of other Rougon-Macquart novels can probably guess early. Other recognisable Zola themes are to be found; for instance promiscuity amongst the poor and attempts to describe the passionate aspects of romance explicitly that outraged many contemporary readers. A challenge as to what was permisable still being fought by D.H. Lawrence many decades later.
The style is also instantly recognisable, even across at least three different translators of his novels in the 6-10 Zola books I've read. The narrative voice, dramatic mood-swings and slow build-up (that can leave one bogged-down in the middle third) to a moving climax are all typically Zola. Despite the description of a man tortured by his obsessions and self-doubt, this member of the series was not for me as powerful as some of its more famous brethren, such as [b:Germinal|28407|Germinal (Les Rougon-Macquart, #13)|Émile Zola|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309206372s/28407.jpg|941651], [b:The Earth|28420|The Earth (Les Rougon-Macquart, #15)|Émile Zola|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1167946519s/28420.jpg|1810722] or [b:La Débâcle|28419|La Débâcle (Les Rougon-Macquart, #19)|Émile Zola|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1167946518s/28419.jpg|3522286]. Worth reading, then, but not the one to pick as one's first or even perhaps fifth work by Zola.