The Kill by Zola

My review.

The kill, the title of this second novel of Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle, refers to the spoils of hunting that are given to the dogs both to reward them and to spur them on to greater efforts. It is a chillingly appropriate image of the chase after wealth and sexual pleasure ("gold and flesh") that rules the lives of the characters in this horrifying work. It takes place as Paris is being transformed through the efforts of Baron Haussmann into the Paris we know today, with broad boulevards replacing rabbit warrens of back streets, in an effort not just to "beautify" but also to eliminate good locations for barricades and to provide routes the police and army could follow to put down rebellions. Then as now, such "urban renewal" involves uprooting the poor and creating ample opportunities for real estate speculation.

Zola tells the tale of speculator par excellence Saccard (formerly Rougon) and his love for scheming, corruption, and prostitutes; his sister Sidonie who profits from other people's secrets and troubles; his second wife Renée who, despite constant purchases of dresses that almost completely display her breasts and life in a mansion decorated to excess, is sufficiently bored to slip into a completely inappropriate sexual relationship; and his son Maxime, devoted only to pleasure, sly and corrupt. It is difficult for the reader to decide which of these characters is most despicable. Their lives are frenetic; Zola describes doors constantly opening and closing, people constantly coming and going, husband and wife and stepson living their own lives while living in the same house. Even as they live in luxury -- and the decor of each of the rooms of the house, and especially the plant-filled hot house are described in infinite, and at times stifling, sensual detail -- both husband and wife owe lots of money, and Saccard, especially, is constantly scheming how to juggle the real money and the money that only exists on paper.

As in his other novels I've read, Zola is a perceptive observer of character and place, and includes a wonderful set piece of a costume ball held in the Saccards' mansion. The deception of the costumes mirror the deceptions of speculative finance, official corruption, sexuality, and adultery that fill the novel. He peoples the ball, and the book, with a variety of vivid secondary characters who, in combination, depict the excesses and corruption of the Second Empire. All in all, he is a consummate story-teller, and I could barely put this book down as I waited for the inevitable train wreck.

Here are my comments on The Kill:

I've read several of Zola's well-known classics, some of which constitute part of his 20 volume Rougon-Macquart series. Each novel in the series is stand-alone, and they do not have to be read chronologically. However, I decided to read/reread the entire series in order. I read the first volume last December and found it only so so. The Kill is the second volume in the series, and it is magnificent.

The Kill (La Curee in French, which means something like 'the division of the spoils') focuses on Aristide Rougon, although his brother Eugene and sister Sidonie play prominent roles as well. Aristide has assumed the surname of his first wife, Saccard, and has come to Paris to make his fortune. Through his brother, he obtains a bureaucratic position as the assistant surveyor of roads for Paris. While initially disheartened by his nominal salary, he soon realizes that his position could enable him to make a fortune in real estate, as the boulevards and throughfares of Paris are just being platted and the property through which they will run is being acquired by the city at grossly inflated prices. However, he can't use his insider information, because he has no capital to invest.

This problem is solved when he is offered the opportunity to marry a rich heiress (she is 'damaged goods'), even as his first wife is still on her deathbed. The Kill chronicles the rise and fall of Aristide as an unscrupulous, dishonest real estate wheeler dealer with his second wife Renee, an extravagant, selfish socialite. They flaunt their wealth in their obscenely opulent mansion, Renee's exquisite wardrobe (300,000 F dressmaker bills are not uncommon) and the lavish galas they host. Still, Renee is bored, and seeks something more to make her feel alive. She begins a love affair with her stepson, Aristide's son from his first marriage.

This book ran afoul of the censors when it began appearing in serial form in 1871, for its outrage to 'public morals' and 'gross materialism.' Today, I think it is particularly relevant as we continue to feel the after-effects of our own real estate bubble and rampant over-consumption. Although not as comprehensive and wide-ranging as some of Zola's other books, this is also a great one.

Some books you read and wonder what outrage to public morals really existed. This isn't one of those! Another great read. Zola has a tremendous gift for descriptive writing. Whether it is a landscape, a person, a room, a tableaux, a dance, an outfit, anything at all, he really brings it to life.

Absolutely, slick; that's why I'm so hooked on him.

I recommended The Kill to a co-worker for her reading group. It is so trashy, but it is Zola so it is also well-written and has some high-brow cred. (middle brow at least!) I am taking a short break before starting The Belly.

I won't repeat everything I said in my review of The Kill, but as the rest of you have said I think the chief appeal of the novel in in Zola's descriptive powers. Who can forget that hothouse!

Zola seems to lose some of his objectivity in this one, condemning the excesses of the age with a religious fervor. I didn't see as much of the science of heredity and environment as in the other novels of his I've read. (But, speaking of religion, the only religious reference I can recall from the novel is of Renée's having been raised in a convent--and Zola blames this for her lack of inhibitions!)

As a novel about a woman in a bad marriage embarking on a risky affair, it bears comparison with Madame Bovary, Lady Chatterley's Lover, and perhaps Anna Karenina. But The Kill is different in that Renée certainly isn't starved for love or sexual experience, she just craves the added stimulation of forbidden fruit. It doesn't matter to her whether Maxime loves her as long as he belongs to her. Do female readers find her to be a sympathetic or a repulsive character?

I have to say I found Renée despicable, but then I found Saccard and Maxime equally despicable, as well as some of the secondary characters. I am not sure that I consider Zola "objective," though; in the books I've read, he definitely seems to have a point of view, even if he tries to portray characters with different perspectives. I also didn't see this book so much as a "novel about a woman in a bad marriage embarking on a risky affair" because I thought there was a lot bad sexual behavior on the part of many of the characters, male and female, and that Zola was making a comparison between sexual excesses and risks and economic excesses and risks. I really liked this book!

ETA I wrote this before reading your review, and I enjoyed your thoughts there about Zola's indulgence in "sensory overload."

I started to read The Kill thanks to rebeccanyc's comment about it in The Lady's paradise thread. The transformation of Paris is a topic I'm interested about. I'm about a quarter through, so I didn't read your reviews yet.
I'm really into it so far. The construction of the novel, where the first chapter shows Saccard as a wealthy man, and the sequel describes how he became rich, creates a suspense. I wonder how much of the book is devoted to Saccard's ascention.

I finished it today and really liked it.
I too find all characters unlikable. I'd say that Saccard at least has the positive thing that he's working towards a goal. Maxime and Renée are just weak and bored and try to get excitement out of depravation.
There are some hints that Renée has more complexity than that: some parts of the text picture her as verging on madness. All in all I feel the author did not fully complete her character's portrayal. I am left wanting for more details about the affair she had that forced her to marry Saccard. It is explicitely described as a rape at some point, yet she seems not that troubled by it. That didn't seem quite convincing to me.

All in all I was surprised by the fact that all characters are despicable. I don't remember well the other Zolas I've read because it was a long time ago, but it seemed to me that the characters were a mix of good and bad traits, often in a same individual. This makes me feel like Steven when he says that Zola lost his objectivity here. But then maybe I just remember poorly. My next Zola read will probably be Pot bouille (although not right now), I'll try to keep this point in mind when I read it.

The Kill was lurid and extreme. (And I liked it!). Every few years a newspaper report about actual people confirms that the events in The Kill are not outside reality.

#10: Absolutely, the characters in The Kill are totally realistic, even for today, saddenningly.

I'm in the process of writing my review for the book and I had to note that the descriptions bugged me somewhat. They're very well written but they seemed a bit long to me. For instance in the first chapter the story progress is consistently interrupted by several pages-long descriptions of the Saccard's mansion, the hothouse, etc.
Moreover I did not remember such lengthy descriptions for the other Zolas I've read. Is this because I remember poorly? Did anyone else feel the book could have done with shorter descriptions?

BTW very lengthy descriptions are something I _hated_ in the few Balzac books I've read or tried to read when I was younger, and they completely turned me from this author (but I think they were much longer than in The kill).

I think Zola is known for his lengthy descriptions. They are even longer in some of his novels I've read than in The Kill, which seemed to zip along like a train wreck for me!

Funny how we can misremember things sometimes.
I'll be on the lookout for lengthy descriptions in my next Zola read(s)!

I really like the extended desciptions in Zola (I'd take them over Hardy) and I think they balance his only deficit -a lack of dialogue.

I didn't pay much attention to dialogue, and I will certainly think about it in my next read. Thanks for this input.