Pot-Bouille

by Emile Zola
This marks the half way stage in the Rougon-Macquart series being the tenth out of 20 novels. It is set in Paris and describes the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie through the goings on in one house in the Rue de Choiseul. Only one member of the Rougon-Macquarts features and this is Octave Mouret who comes to Paris from the South and sets about conquering Paris and its women, with varying success.
It was a good read and as usual peopled with a number of great characters, notably the horrible Mme Josserand and her equally obnoxious brother, Bachelard 8/10

Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen
A very enjoyable yarn from Jane Austen. Her books are very amusing and this one has a great, but not too taxing, mystery running through it. 9/10

Zola, A Life

by Frederick Brown

An excellent book. It is very readable and has a great balance between Zola's life and his works and a very good chapter summarising the Dreyfus affair. There are also some interesting photos spread throughout the book. If you want a comprehensive introduction to Emile Zola and his work then this would be a good place to start. 9/10

Amazing Disgrace

by James Hamilton-Paterson

This is the follow-up to the excellent Cooking with Fernet Branca and gives us the further exploits of the snobbish but very funny ghost writer Gerald Samper. This time he is writing the biography of a one armed and obnoxious woman sailor while longing for more worthwhile subjects, such as Max Christ the composer.
The book has some very amusing episodes but seems to rely to heavily on its predecessor and I did not enjoy it as much. 5/10

The Bullet Trick

by Louise Welsh

This was a good thriller set between Glasgow, London and Berlin and involves the bizarre tale of a conjuror going through a tough time. It was gripping and I read it very quickly although in places it felt a bit strung out. Would still recommend it though. 7/10

Nana

by Emile Zola

The ninth book in the Rougon Macquart series.
This is one of the best known of Zola's novels, not least for the allegations of pornography when first published. Now, more than 100 years later it still has the ability to shock in its depiction of a society rotting beneath a facade of respectability.
I did not enjoy this as much as some of his books as I found it difficult to differentiate some of the characters early on but still a good read. 7/10

Une Page d'Amour

by Emile Zola
The eighth novel in the Rougon Macquart series and featuring Helene Mouret and her daughter Jeanne. The novel is set around the Passy area of Paris and describes the love affair that Helene has with a neighbour and its disastrous consequences. One of the saddest books but almost Dickensian in its sentimentality at the end. Great depictions of Paris and the childrens ball is great writing 8/10

See www.emilezola.info

Seven Ages of Paris

Alistair Horne
This is one of the most fascinating and absorbing history books I have ever read. It brings Paris to life and makes you want to get back there as soon as possible to relive some of the pages from its history. I could not fault this book and is even better than Horne's great history of the Algerian war. 10/10

The Maine Massacre

by Jan willem van de Wetering
One of our heros and the Commissaris go off to New England to solve this one. This adds to the humour as they try and decipher America and in particular the meaning of motherfucker. One of the best so far 8/10

The Japanese Corpse

by Jan willem van de Wetering
Another good yarn about the Dutch detectives but with a twist on the personal front that is a shock. Very enjoyable for those who, like me, like their crime served with a light touch and a sense of humour 8/10

L'Assommoir

Widely acknowledged as one of the great novels from the Rougon Macquart series of novels by Emile Zola.
It is a very tightly structured book charting the rise and fall of Gervaise Macquart and a devastating comment on the effects of poverty. As ever with Zola some of the descriptive passages are suberb, the wedding walk and the huge feast in the shop for instance and the unforgettable death scene with Madame Coupeau. 9/10

I have some pictures from a modern day following of the wedding day walk on my web site at www.emilezola.info

Time to catch up

It is July since I have posted anything so hopefully over the next few days I will catch up with my reading of the past few months.
Have done a reasonable amount of research around Zola and will -hopefully over christmas get to update the website at www.emilezola.info
Until then it is on with the books.

The Corpse on the Dyke

by Jan willem van de Wetering
Third in the series of Amsterdam crime novels and a lot of fun. Maybe not for the purist but great if you do not take the genre too seriously. I am becoming a fan! 8/10

The life and Times of Emile Zola

by F.W. Hemmings
A great introduction to Emile Zola and the France of his time. Has some excellent photographs.
9/10

Trace

by Patricia Cornwell
Good crime novel in the Scarpetta series. By chapter 2 you know who the killer is but it still holds the suspense until the end of the book. Excellent. 8/10

Tumbleweed

The second in the Amsterdam detective series and probably better than the first as the characters of the detectives develop alongside the plot. These books maybe 30 years old but I still think they are a great train read. 8/10

Abbé Mouret's Transgression

The fifth book in Zola's Rougon-Macquart series.
I found this book different from the previous four. It was not so peopled and had a very dream-like feel to the key central part of the book. The garden descriptions were fantastic and when I get around to putting this book on the website I will try and include a page on the flowers of the paradou.
Am I alone in hating the hero by the end? 7/10

Link: www.emilezola.info

Three books

Body Double by Tess Gerritsen
Very easy read and a good thriller that I read in a short space of time. 7/10

The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
A classic American novel I guess. I read this right around the time I visited New York (it has definitely changed) which made it more interesting. These characters are all pretty horrible and you will certainly not believe a word you read in the press after this. I did not rate the ending that highly but the rest was great. 7/10

Outsider in Amsterdam by Jan willem van de Wetering
A crime thriller based in Amsterdam and the first in a series. This was off the wall and amusing in parts as well as a conventional who dunnit. I really enjoyed it and will read more in the series. 8/10

Goat Song

A crime novel set in present day Montmartre. I loved the main character but found the text a bit laboured in places. The overall plot was good and had a really good solution. Definitely worth a read 7/10

We need to talk about Kevin

By Lionel Shriver.
Wow! I don't know if we needed to but we did. This was a disturbing book that was very well written with twists along the way right up to the end.
The book was a challenging look at school shootings and was a demanding read. Having said that I did not want to put it down. However, this is one book I would not contemplate reading again-too sad. 8/10