Scott’s Reviews > The Belly of Paris > Status Update

Without the descriptions of food, this book would be half as long. I generally like Zola, but this one reads like bad Proust.

Claude (a painter, based on Cézanne) is interested in new art, and views the Saint-Eustache church as outdated compared with Les Halles, the new covered marketplace made of iron. In 1971, Les Halles was demolished to make way for an underground mall, while Saint-Eustache is still standing.

A hungry guy is walking around a market and isn’t getting any food. This has been going on for quite some time. He met a painter. I am still waiting for this book to begin.