les rougon-macquart book 3: Le Ventre de Paris ~
totally hit a snag with the third book of the Rougon-Macquart series. didn't like this one at all, so it feels like it took me forever to get through it. last night i forced myself to read the last 25 pages, though i was mostly just skimming. it's kind of unfortunate since the series started off so fabulously out of the gate.
but this book had none of the wonderful farce of the first book and none of the seedy plot intricacies of the second book. it also had only the loosest connection to the Rougon-Macquart family, which was especially disappointing. instead it treats the reader to endless pages of description about Les Halles (the food market) in Paris, and endless descriptions of mountains and mountains of food. it's actually pretty sickening, which i think was what he was going for, but when you whittle all the food out of the story, you're left with a plot that occupies about 100 out of 275 pages and unfortunately the action (which surrounds two rival market women and a limp revolutionary) is not exactly riveting.
so yeah, our first dud of the set, i think. lots of interesting stuff about the Paris market of the era, one or two curious new characters, but pretty short on anything else by which to recommend it.
the next book promises more political intrigue and returns us to Plassans, where the first two books were set, so i am hoping it will prove a more interesting read.
happy weekend all! hope your own reading is bringing you new and exciting inspirations!
: D