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Friday, April 5, 2013

Sunset Views From Zola's The Masterpiece


In The Masterpiece, Émile Zola spoiled me with his beautiful descriptions of Paris in the end of 19th century landscapes. As I always amazed at nature beauties, I am trying to capture here some images which transform the beauties from Zola’s words to more vivid imagination. These passages were taken from chapter 3 (p. 95-96) where Claude was enjoying afternoon strolls together with Christine. While the pictures might not represent the scene accurately, they could still help us to imagine the scenes, while savouring Zola’s beautiful words….

The lovely sunsets they watched on those weekly strolls along the Seine, when the sun shone ahead of them all the way through the many lively aspects of embankment life: the Seine itself, the lights, and shadows dancing on its face, the amusing little shops, each one as warm as a greenhouse, the pots of flowers on the seedsmen’s stalls, the deafening twitter from the birds-shops, and all the joyous confusion of sounds and colours that makes the waterfront the everlasting youth of any city.

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One evening, in an unexpected shower, the sun, as it reappeared through the falling rain, lit up every cloud in the sky, making the rain overhead glowed like liquid fire shot through with pink and blue.”

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 On days when the sky was clear, the sun like a ball of fire would sink majestically into a waveless lake of sapphire."

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"For a moment, as it passed behind the black dome of the Institut, it was horned like a moon on the wane; then as its disc reddened to deepest purple it would pass out of sight in the depths of the lake transformed into a pool of blood.”


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But the most theatrical effects, the most magnificent transformation scenes were only produced in a cloudy sky. Then, according to the whim of the prevailing wind, they would see waves of sulphur breaking on boulders of coral, palaces, towers of buildings piled up in a blazing heap or crumbling down as torrents of lave poured through the gaps in their walls.”

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Or, at other times, the sun already out of sight, hidden by a veil of mist, would suddenly break through with such a mighty thrust of light that a tracery of sparks would be sent shooting clear across the sky like a flight of golden arrows.

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Don't those gorgeous views make you want to visit Paris? In 19th century?.... I do!

10 comments:

  1. Love the photos and the quotes! They go together very well. I'm really looking forward to your review of this Zola!

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    1. I'm glad you like it, Marian! I hope I can finish the book this weekend, and the review early next week.

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  2. Zola is such a master. I'm 2/3 through Germinal and am constantly in the state of in awe and wanting to throw up at the same time (if that makes sense :D). His descriptive skills are just astonishing.

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    1. That's absolutely right! You'll feel like that everytime you read Zola. He would make you disgusted and shocked sometimes, but at the end you'll feel that that's what it is in life. Now I can't wait to read your thoughts about Germinal!

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  3. I love this! Mostly because I love sunsets (and sunrises too). And then I read the passages you quoted here, they are wonderful too! I can imagine you struggling to find the right picture for each passage. Uber cool!

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    1. I was, but those lovely passages from Zola deserve it! ;)
      I'm glad you like it too...

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  4. Breathtaking photos. Between your posts and Delaisse's posts about Zola, I think I am going to need to read his work at some point. I had never heard of him before, but I see you post about him, a lot.

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    1. Thanks Ruth! Yes, I have posted about Zola so many times, yet I will keep doing that years to come, as Zola has fascinated me much more than any other writers. He's so natural, so honest in writing. You should try him! I recommend Germinal, which is his masterpiece.

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  5. I intend to read The Masterpiece for Zoladdiction. But I have started the reading event with Germinal. I began to read a couple of days ago and I am now already a third of the way through. I was looking forward to reading Zola, and, so far, Germinal seems an almost perfect novel for me. I am really enjoying reading it and didn't realise that Zola would be so accessible and easy to read (I don't read French, I am reading an Oxford World's Classics edition translated by Peter Collier).

    Thanks Fanda and O for hosting this event and encouraging me to read Zola for the first time.

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    1. Oh yes, Zola is quite easy to read, but he can be so intense in writing about poverty and crime, that's what amazes me.

      Enjoy your Germinal then, and have a hapy Zoladdiction... ;)

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