The Kill (La Curee) is the second volume in Zola's great cycle of twenty novels, Les Rougon-Macquart, and the first to establish Paris - the capita...
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Jan 12, 2012
MJ
rated it: 
If I had to sum up The Kill in one clause (and this clause is coming up now so get ready) I’d say it’s about Haussmannisation and incest. Baron Haussmann transformed Paris during the Second Empire—a period of absolutely fantastic debauchery—where francs flowed in the streets and enterprising capitalists were free to make a monetary killing. So we have Saccard, a heartless but forgiving cash-seeker interested in power and lucre, who marries into wealth to prevent a scandal. He marries Renée, a ca
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Nov 14, 2011
Fabien
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Il en ressort une impression en demi-teinte pour ce deuxième tome de la saga des Rougon-Macquart de Zola.
Dans la curée, on retrouve beaucoup d'ingrédients déjà présent dans le premier volume. Tout d'abord des personnages communs, mais cela est évident puisque nous allons suivre une dynastie. Ici c'est Aristide Rougon mais qui s'est auto-rebaptisé Saccard que nous retrouvons en haut de l'affiche avec quelques apparitions de Pierre, son frère. A cela on ajoute Maxime, son fils et Renée, More...
Dans la curée, on retrouve beaucoup d'ingrédients déjà présent dans le premier volume. Tout d'abord des personnages communs, mais cela est évident puisque nous allons suivre une dynastie. Ici c'est Aristide Rougon mais qui s'est auto-rebaptisé Saccard que nous retrouvons en haut de l'affiche avec quelques apparitions de Pierre, son frère. A cela on ajoute Maxime, son fils et Renée, More...
Nov 11, 2011
Oria
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The Kill (published in 1871 under the title La Curée) is the second book in a series of twenty novels titled Les Rougon-Macquart. The books follow the lives of descendants of a family set on a background of French history. Banned upon publication, the book was translated several times and even made into a movie, The Game Is Over, starring Jane Fonda, in 1966.
The story begins in the Paris of the 1850’s. It is a time of quick money to be made, of speculations which could turn staggerin More...
The story begins in the Paris of the 1850’s. It is a time of quick money to be made, of speculations which could turn staggerin More...
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Jan 29, 2012
Taylor
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Favorite book of all time. The story of Renée and her step-son Maxime's affair is scandalous, and the way in which it is told is equally heady: a whirling, gilded, Champagne-drenched portrait of aristocratic life during Paris's Haussmann years.
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Mar 11, 2011
Leila
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This book was fascinating. At first the gawdy descriptions turned me off, very reminiscent of Huysmans(snooooooze). But ultimately Zola tells a much better story. About a quarter of the way into the book I was hooked. The incestuous affair is of course the main highlight, but no less captivating is the financial scheming of M. Saccard - he would not be out of place today. What I found most fascinating, and something that is frequently startling me with these older books I've read over the past y
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Apr 10, 2011
Call Me
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aristide rougon changes his name to saccard at the suggestion of his brother (the minister)Eugene. At the time of his second marriage, made to gain the cornerstone investment for his fortune after his first wife dies. He brings his metro-sexual son to live with his new wife, who's rape stained honor is restored with the marriage.
This is the story of avarice, lust in all fashion, driving the hedonist slightly made as they pursue amoral wickedness.
This tale could be told of any More...
This is the story of avarice, lust in all fashion, driving the hedonist slightly made as they pursue amoral wickedness.
This tale could be told of any More...
Dec 04, 2010
Marko
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A great novel, filled with images of wealth and excess, with several complex and detailed characters. It gives the picture of Paris at a peculiar point in the history of France. Having read Marx's 18te Brumaire des Louis Napoleon, Zola managed to deepen the overall impression of amorality and decay expressed in the Marx's explanation how the regime described came to power. A moving story, full of immoral, shady characters and those that are more difficult to classify but that are hauntingly well
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Jul 29, 2011
Being the second foray into the Rougon-Macquart series, I was hoping for an improvement from the first - The Fortune of the Rougons, and I was not disappointed. This novel is filled with brilliant passages depicting the blood sucking primitive accumulation of a budding 19th century capitalist. Zola's use of nature and myth to deepen the tale of incestuous love was.... well done. Well done, indeed, sir.
Mar 31, 2008
Tessa
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Because I started this right after I abandoned Bel Canto, I kept comparing the two throughout, and thinking "this is how Patchett wanted to do it but failed." Zola appears to tell instead of show, but he's actually showing (ok, sometimes he tells, because this is a very well-written morality tale, and so he's got to wax on about the vileness of his characters a little bit). Maybe I found this book more satisfying because I am more ready to believe yearning but pathetic and "immo
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Jul 26, 2011
Mttabor
rated it:
This has to be one of my favorite 19th century novels. It has the lush, over-the-top descriptive voice of the period (your mileage may vary), but the story it tells of the city of Paris is absolutely fascinating. This book is about more than the decadent lives of the Saccards- it is about change and the circulation of capital in the city of the spectacle. I fully understand why David Harvey made so much reference to it in Paris: Capital of Modernity.
Jun 24, 2011
Nick
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Zola was an incredible author. Each book in his Rougon-MacQuart series deals with different subject matters, yet Zola handles each of them masterfully. This time he addresses the speculation and greed of the financial world, coupled with the amorality of the wealthy.
My only criticism would be that the story seemed to end rather abruptly.
My only criticism would be that the story seemed to end rather abruptly.
Dec 08, 2011
Capsguy
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Certainly not Zola's strongest, although it was one of his first, well definitely one of the first in the Rougan-Macquart series, in a time in which he was not yet an established writer.
It shows.
There is a significant amount of filler of over emphasis of descriptive languages of localities, specific objects, dress and the like. Although it doesn't detract from the story, it does get bothersome at times.
The story itself is typical Zola. Incest. Corruption. Plotting. More...
It shows.
There is a significant amount of filler of over emphasis of descriptive languages of localities, specific objects, dress and the like. Although it doesn't detract from the story, it does get bothersome at times.
The story itself is typical Zola. Incest. Corruption. Plotting. More...
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Jun 16, 2010
Smtolkin
rated it:
Reading this book does for Paris what Sinclair's The Jungle does for tinned meat. When you hear the evil behind how the city took its current gorgeous shape, it may not look so gorgeous anymore... but what glittering civilization wasn't built on rapacity and deception? A dark and exciting read. And SEXY.
Oct 13, 2011
Matthew
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French decadence, infidelity, and incest. This book is full of excess and scheming. Lovers are passed around like currency, and debauchery becomes commonplace. Zola’s portrait of Paris during the Second Empire is defined by indulgence.
It’s a novel about a city being reinvented. Everywhere houses are being torn down to make way for new thoroughfares and elaborate building projects while the government reimburses the owners for their losses—a system ripe with abuses as speculators purc More...
It’s a novel about a city being reinvented. Everywhere houses are being torn down to make way for new thoroughfares and elaborate building projects while the government reimburses the owners for their losses—a system ripe with abuses as speculators purc More...
Oct 13, 2011
David
rated it:
For those inclined to trace the origins of naturalistic crime fiction—a.k.a. noir—beyond Frank Norris’s McTeague (1899), the next logical stop is French naturalist Èmile Zola. The Kill (La Curée), the second in Zola’s twenty-volume cycle Les Rougon-Marcquart, traffics in familiar noir themes of uncontrolled greed and lust. The novel begins in medias res as we are plunged into the tacky decadence of the nouveau riche of the Second Empire, and then rewinds to show how the environment of Paris crea
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Jul 11, 2009
chris
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Orwell,in Down and Out, states when he is trying to describe his surroundings, that he wishes he had could do description like Zola.
Zola's descriptions of the Paris of Napoleon III are sensual, suffocating and vivid. I felt exhausted, enthralled and suprised - it reads as though
it was not written in 1871, rather the 1970s.
Well worth reading - I got into the story in the second part of the book.
Reminded me of Tender is the night, as the style is discrip More...
Zola's descriptions of the Paris of Napoleon III are sensual, suffocating and vivid. I felt exhausted, enthralled and suprised - it reads as though
it was not written in 1871, rather the 1970s.
Well worth reading - I got into the story in the second part of the book.
Reminded me of Tender is the night, as the style is discrip More...
Aug 13, 2011
Noémie
rated it:
Un roman très bien écrit et pensé. Chapitre mémorable de la description des plantes d'une serre, métaphore de la sensualité ou du désir ardent de la femme principale.
Jan 31, 2010
Alice
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This was part of the "Paris in Literature" course I took while in Paris. According to an essay for the class, this novel was about the Second Empire.
Sep 15, 2011
Joshua
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Nov 11, 2008
Rebecca
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I read this back in September but have been slow to review. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, a book I've been wanting to read since I heard about it five years ago. I used to teach a Lit of Paris class and this would be perfect for such a syllabus: it's a vivid and compelling portrait of Second Empire Paris, with boulevards and mansions springing into existence overnight. Note: I read the Arthur Goldhammer translation (Modern Library edition) but found it a bit off in spots, so perhaps this one
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Jan 23, 2012
Riodelmartians
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Full of life , trendy and corrupt. Lush descriptions of interior design, architecture, and fashion. Descriptions of the plants and theirs toxins in the conservatory make you live the moment. Although rich to start, Renee is consumed by the Rougons, father and son. Incredible descriptions of politics and the mechanics of urban renewal during Napoleon ||| regime. I'm ready to move on to the next in the series of Rougons novels. Thank goodness there are 20.
May 20, 2009
Christine
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The second book in the 20 volume Rougon-Macquart series. It is not necessary to read the books in sequential order as each stands on it's own. I recommend the new Goldhammer translation. A story of greed and excess in 19th century Paris with colorful characters not unlike the Bernard Maddoff types of today. A very interesting book once you get past Zola's exhaustive descriptions of interiors.
Oct 13, 2011
Zzoeeeee
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Certainly I've read better in the Rougon-Macquart series but this is still excellent. A modern retelling of Phedre with the intention of exposing the debauchery of the upper classes in late 18th Century Paris. However the storyline I found most interesting was that of Saccard's property fraud that seemed incredibly modern to me.
Apr 04, 2008
Analucia
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I highly recommend it to anyone who likes encyclopedic descriptions of societal rules, characters described so well that they walk on their own, and a poignant critique of excessive wealth accumulation.
Oct 13, 2011
Julie
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This was trashier than I expected (e.g., boobs). Saccard's real estate scams are reminiscent of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. This features more of Zola's delirious description of interiors.
Oct 13, 2011
Gina
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Amazing, luxurious descriptions of Second Empire decadence. Kind of a bourgeois version of Nana. This one is interesting for lovers of fashion and gender studies.
Aug 14, 2011
Céline
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Read at the high school for the final exam. I really enjoyed it as well, most for the E.Zola style than the story.
