L'Assommoir (Zola)

Overview

L'Assommoir (1877) is the seventh novel of Émile Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle, a story of working-class life and drink in Paris. Its stage version, a drama in 5 acts and 9 tableaux by William Busnach and Octave Gastineau, opened at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on 18 January 1879 (Wikipedia, "William Bertrand Busnach"; BnF data record of the 1879 production). This entry covers both the novel and the play.

Relevance to Marie

• The play, 2 February 1879: «Hier, je suis allée voir "L'Assommoir" et je trouve que c'est très beau» (084.0165, entry of 3 February 1879), a fortnight after the premiere.
• The novel, December 1879: with Berthe, she leaves «l'Assommoir» and «les Mémoires de Casanova» at a bookbinder's (086.0660, 1879-12-14).
• The novel, February 1881: «J'ai fini "l'Assommoir" avant-hier, j'en ai été presque malade, tellement saisie par la vérité du livre…» (091.0056, 1881-02-03).

Related Entries

• Zola

References in Diary

• First mentioned: 1879-02-03 (084.0165)
• Key entries: 1879-02-03, 1879-12-14, 1881-02-03