A review by betsyelle
L'Assommoir (The Dram Shop) by Émile Zola

3.0

This book is very well written and splendidly translated, moves along quite quickly, and provides a marvelously honest historical perspective. The problem is that none of that makes up for the fact that I hate reading about both endless misery and dislikable characters, and that's... pretty much the sum of this book. (Well, dislikable is arguable; the tone fluctuates between either 1) portraying the unfairness and inequality and general wretchedness of society dooming the characters to their actions, or 2) blaming them for the mess they've gotten themselves into. The latter I also find worrisome in a modern context, since I could see one of a certain bent picking this up and deciding to use it as proof that 'the poor do it to themselves!!1' or some lousiness like that.) If it had not been assigned for a class, I'd have never forced myself to keep going through it.