Tag Archives: RKS French Literature

RKS French Literature: The Charity of the Family of the Owner of the Coal Mines (Émile Zola)

“The Grégoires delegated the distribution of alms to Cécile. It was their idea of giving her a good education. One had to be charitable, they said, their house was God’s house. Moreover, they flattered themselves that they were intelligent about their charity, being forever concerned that they should not be duped and encourage evil ways.Continue reading “RKS French Literature: The Charity of the Family of the Owner of the Coal Mines (Émile Zola)”

RKS French Literature: The Underground Hell of a French Coal Mine (Émile Zola)

“Stretched out on their sides, they were now tapping away harder than ever in their single-minded determination to fill a decent number of tubs. They became oblivious to all else as they gave themselves up to this furious pursuit of a reward so dearly won. They ceased to notice the water streaming down and causingContinue reading “RKS French Literature: The Underground Hell of a French Coal Mine (Émile Zola)”

RKS French Literature: An Abused Childhood (Émile Zola)

“For a moment he was lost in contemplation of the dark reaches of the mine; and as he sat there, deep beneath the crushing weight of the earth, his mind went back to his childhood, to his mother, when she was still pretty and game for the struggle, to how she’d been abandoned by hisContinue reading “RKS French Literature: An Abused Childhood (Émile Zola)”

RKS French Literature: Extreme Poverty and Quasi Starvation (Émile Zola)

“Buried beneath the blanket, all that could be seen of her was her long face with its broad features, which had a certain heavy beauty, but which at the age of thirty-nine, had already been disfigured by her life of poverty and the seven children she had borne. She told him how there was noContinue reading “RKS French Literature: Extreme Poverty and Quasi Starvation (Émile Zola)”

RKS French Literature: The Reek of the Human Herd in the Coal Miner’s Tenement (Émile Zola)

“At the Maheus’ house, Number Sixteen in the second block, nothing stirred. Thick darkness filled the one and only first-floor room: it bore down like a crushing weight on the people sleeping there, whose presence could be felt rather than seen as they lay crowded together, their mouths open, stunned by exhaustion. Despite the bitterContinue reading “RKS French Literature: The Reek of the Human Herd in the Coal Miner’s Tenement (Émile Zola)”