New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-05
ZOLA's NEW NOVEL.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE TRlioGf or
THE THREE CITIES" -,

PARIS by Emile Zoia rwn Volun,es Duodecimo.
nn x ass $751; The Macmillan Company
r, will not be unnatural II NJ. zola's gallant
struggle for the reopening CT the pre''u' 90
and for the establishment OF justice mp
many readers to approach MS ne" no'
feelings OF rrwonted sympathy ana hinN".''
II Is almost impossible to take up faii' Wv"
out hope tina; this time at least '''e 80.
NAV have left it possible for decent people 10
be IN agreement with him. But thoush ON
be read with the best will IN the world -
80 ., ,oo-,o q had taste In the mouth That
YOU cannot make silk purse out oi ~" ~
NJ a certain animal was long ago SET oo"' d.
q, incontrovertible fact. That you canlo'
,DoEe a ro,1ob,e artistic and desirable pook out
Of n characteristic novel by NJ. lola seems 10 us
e,uallv beyond contradiction. paris con'ii'''
this impression. .,,
7, IS the last Of those three books In "nich
N Zola has sought to paint the soclet! Va ''ou
ern France a society which he sees as 'n'oue',
q glass darkly. Perhaps the glass was 1883 "
en- obstruction in the writing OF the p'eSe"' wa
u,ne than in the writing Of Its predecessors
"Par;s.. &c not so historical as "Lourdes IL Is
not so puerile in its exaggerations as hoi'e
N. zola knows Paris better than he knows Rome
or Louries. But. after all. 1t Is only queS.o"
Of degree This book has no relation 10 IKE
,s TO be DISTINGUISHED from that harmless IL"
s.rumeDt as being most faithful when II shou'u
not he faithful at all. There is an explosion
cau.ea by the DO NIB of OF NJ. Zolas An
archists AS it occurs young girl approaches
the house doomed by the murderer anu "e'
death is revolt!ngly accomplished ANY ooo'
else would have mentioned It, would nave ue
scribed 1t at length. even. but wouio nave re-
Trained from dragging in superfiuous ana us
gushing details. NJ lola. every time ne mas ~
speak Of the poor victim. specifies with uhc'io"
the particular indisnity inflicted upon her W
the tragedy. The nastness Is brought al W
main force. 1t is not needed. IL uoes nv
hsish,en tho effect Of the book. 1t only brutal
iz.s the page on which 1t is placed NJ. Aoia
has skill in descriptive passages. He never al
lows that skill TO rust. as witness THIS eoii!lne
fragment. apropos Of the execution OF the
Anarchist in the midst OF a crowd composer
chiefly Of the bourgeoisie and of corrupt patti
Glars
Long live Anarchy VA
II was Salvat who had raised this cry. But
In the deep silence his husky. altered w.
seemed to break The few VINO We're ne crnc co,
hand had turned very pale; the distant csoWu
seemed bereft of life. The horse OF one oI nc
Gardes de Paris alone heard snortihg IN lhe
csntre Of the space which had been kept clear;
Then came loathsome scramble $50 sao "a
nameless brutality and ignominy. The heaus-
mans helps rushed upon Salvat as ne cam up
slowly with brow erect. TWO OF tneiil sei1eu
him py the head, but finding little halr the'e'
could only lower II by Juggling at ms heCh;
Next two others grasped him by the legs anu
flung him violently upon a plank. whlcn tIteu
over and rolled forward Then. by dlnt OF push
ing and Juggling the head was got INTO the iu-
nette," the upper part Of which fell III sucn WISE
that the neck was fixed as in a ships porthole-
and all this was accomplished amidst such CON
fusion and with such savagery that one nneht
have thought that head some cuinprous MIX hs
70
greatest speed. But the knife fell win a oulI,;
heavy forcible thud. and two long jets or piouu
spurted from the severed arteries. "nhe .he
dead mans teet moved convulsively. Nothihs
else could be seen
II anything else could have been seen. any
thing more disgusting. we fear that NJ Zoia
would have felt constrained to describe It, TOT
the passage quoted above Is not by any means
exceptional The horrors OF Paris appear III
this book all that is corrupt and hatefui' ai
that is degrading and vile The book lies IN
shadow. Such scenes we have reproduced
are repeated ad neusean. until the reader feels
that he must rush to the window and let in light.
air and the truth Of things. For NJ. lola mas
not told the truth in this novel Of his. He has
told half the truth substituting for the other
half his own terrible imaginings The Panama
scandal provides him with a certain amount OF
copy He gives YOU the scandal with a ven
geance and paints the French Chamber or
Deputies as kind OF antechamber TO the in
fernal regions serious historian of the social
life Of the Third Republic has lately been COM
pelled to admit that 1t is deeply impregnated
with a spirit Of vice. but he has made no such
one-sided report NJ. Zola's We confine our
selves to the novelist's broad panorama OF
Partisan life. because the Abbe Froment is no
more significant in this book than he was in
'Tourdss" or Rome" A tenuous story ram
&c rof wifi
the story that NJ lola is concerned. What he
wishes to do is to hold w a spectacle, TO set
forth the daily and nightly life Of Paris as on
a rnazic-lantern screen only adding enough
verbal description TO let the spectator know
that every hing he sees is vile and implies some
thing viler 1t Is all 'ncoherent. purposeless,
unutterably vulgar and Overwhelmingly tedious.
No one can say Of the author OF Paris that he
makes vice attractive The book Ia dull TO an
almost incredible degree. 1t is 10 be hoped that
this fact will not be lost sight OF In the ex-
cusable impulse to which alluded at the
outset The world would like to think well OF
Zola's work at this time. as 1t Is compelled TO
think well Of the man himself But Paris" is
irredeemable, book TO be treated with con-
tempt The igrominious conclusion of the nov
elists battle in the courts might seem to Justify
the arragnment IN his book OF the French
judiciary. but such a conception of the situa-
ton would be misleading. NJ. lola has proved
something at the Palace OF Justice He has
proved nothing In Paris" This suggests the
hope that his personal experience may perhaps
bear fruit in better, saner work. He has al
ready certain uncouth, gross power. II 1t
could be chastened by discipline. the bitterness
of the recent trial might prove not to have been
borne in vain.
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