Earth

I'd been putting off these rural Zola's and re-reading the moneyed Parisian ones, but spent lockdown catching up on the Rougon-Macquarts. I'm glad I did read this, it took my breath away. So vivid, so brutal and heartless. The rhythm of the seasons, the love/hate of families. At one point I was in tears, and the ending just left me horrified.

This novel created a stir when it was first published for its barbaric depiction of agrarian life. It definitely is brutal with all kinds of callous outrage and sexual assault. I only got half way through before I was worn out by the constant rage going on between the characters. Since I didn't finish the book I can't say if there was an underlying point. In terms of the writing quality, I have to say it is exceptionally descriptive. The depiction of the landscape is the one source of serenity in the story of hostile engagement. You can tell the beauty of nature is always present, and it makes you wonder if that beauty is only an illusion since nature is by far more brutal than what humans can do.

I am a Zola’s fun

It is next to impossible to read such small print.

Now I know what life was like on farms in the 1800s—grueling and highly odiferous.