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The Gin Palace Audiobook
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(4.00) - 3,513 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The Gin Palace is the seventh novel in Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle, which follows two branches of a French family through several generations. It is also the work that made his reputation, introducing one of the most sympathetic heroines in nineteenth-century literature.
Abandoned by her lover and left to bring up their two children alone, Gervaise Macquart has to fight to earn an honest living. When she accepts the marriage proposal of Monsieur Coupeau, it seems as though she is on the path to a decent, respectable life at last. But with her husband's drinking and the unexpected appearance of a figure from her past, Gervaise's plans begin to unravel tragically.
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"My knowledge of the French language is such that the only book I've read thus far in mentioned language is this one. Me nly understanding part of it, dare saying : "seemingly there is a parade of people posing like the French Jan Steen personages".I kept reading like a rhinoceros. "
— E.J. (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Unsurpassable…heroically big…the intensity of her creator’s vision…of the dense sordid life…is one of the great things the modern novel has been able to do.”
— Henry James -
“The Gin Palace delighted me…full of color, movement, and life.”
— Anatole France -
“A born writer, marvelously gifted.”
— Guy de Maupassant
The Gin Palace Listener Reviews
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" One of the saddest stories I've read in a long time. Gervaise starts out as such a beautiful, courageous and ambitious young woman. A man, the drink and losing her child (which was because of a man a& the drink) throws her in downward spiral of desolate destruction. I hope right up until the last few pages that life would turn around for her. "
— Ivy, 2/9/2014 -
" Deprimant, long et difficile a lire! Mais je l'ai fini. Yay me! "
— Charlotte, 2/4/2014 -
" le style de zola est tres trs remarquable et inoubliable aussi "
— Aya, 1/15/2014 -
" Vivid description of working class in Paris "
— Hyojin, 1/12/2014 -
" This definitely took a while to get into. It's sooo depressing! "
— Jillian, 12/17/2012 -
" It's quite a sad story to read. It's well written and makes it plausable that someone who at first tries to make the best out of life in the end will go down hill to end in the gutter. "
— Emgeenl, 5/23/2012 -
" Required reading for anyone who feels smugly superior to poor people. "
— Geoffrey, 4/3/2012 -
" This is an old copy I have left over from my uni days and a class on French lit. It's about a couple of young lovers who move from the countryside into Paris to make a name for themselves but fall into the grips of the green fairy. "
— bitterpale, 7/30/2011 -
" Heart wrenching. I'm not usually a huge fan of tragic novels. I understand the quality of this read and appreciate it for what it is, but would rather a book that does not bring me down to the darkest depths. "
— Paula, 4/14/2011 -
" Emile Zola is my favorite French writer, I like naturalism detailed realism, and l'Assomoir is all what it is about. "
— Mika, 3/6/2011 -
" I read this in college for an honors class and was totally engrossed in the story, but by the time I finished the dreary end, I remember throwing the book across my dorm room. Too sad! "
— Mary, 3/9/2010
About Émile Zola
Émile Zola (1840–1902), French writer and critic, was raised in a poor family at Aix-en-Provence and at age eighteen went to Paris where he worked as a clerk and a journalist before turning to writing novels. For many years he used his fiction in the service of his passion for social reform. He published many masterworks but is perhaps most famous for his series of novels called Les Rougon-Macquart, one of the chief monuments of the French naturalist movement.
About Frederick Davidson
Frederick Davidson (1932–2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile’s Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings.