The Paradise (TV tie-in): A Novel (Les Rougon-macquart) Paperback – September 4, 2013

I'm fascinated by the history of dept. stores so I enjoyed this a lot. The book is a commentary on evolution of shopping patterns brought about by industrialization and modernization of transportation, the disparity of social class, working conditions and other interesting topics. It's mainly about the birth of the dept. store as we know it today, and what a thrill it was at the time. It also shows how the new ways left the ones clinging to the old ways extinct. It describes all sorts of different types of shoppers, those who are more prudent as well as those obsessed, Kleptomaniacs, and all. It describes things we take for granted now as remarkable innovations, such as allowing people to return something they don't like, and naturally the predators who take advantage of it.The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is a couple things I disliked: repetitive descriptions of the same goods piled in the store, descriptions of the layout that were hard to follow, and in-depth descriptions of mundane activities like the guys eating food in the cafeteria..do we really need to hear each one say his order? "chicken" "chicken" "chicken" And taking inventory, do we really need to hear each fabric, the quantity and price? so i did skim some parts like that.Also too many characters with similar names I couldn't tell them apart, continued reference to her brothers as "children" who needed support when the one was a strapping lad of 16 already in an apprenticeship and having countless affairs with women. Also the "love story" of the two main characters who had barely spent more than a few minutes alone together yet knew they were "in love." The whole book would have been just as interesting as social commentary without the 'love story' thrown in. But I enjoyed the book and couldn't wait to see what happened to all the characters in the end.

This particular edition of The Ladies' Paradise by Emile Zola is one of the few instances when I actually WANT the "movie" cover. It's lovely. This novel has been on my to-read list for ages but propelled itself to the top of the list after I watched the BBC adaption on PBS. I adore the show. The novel, though rather short, is charming in it's own right but VASTLY different than the tv adaption. Some of the main characters on the show are combined or spread out over a few different characters in the novel. The basic personalities of the main characters are quite different as well. The most notable diffence between the two is the general tone. The tv adaption is mostly positive and the dramatics are intensified. The novel is much darker. Our heroine is a long-suffering saint with morals that NO ONE around her appreciates or approves of. The French attitude about sex and all one can achieve via sex is very different that the Engish. I much prefer the English. Just when I thought the novel was getting too dark and depressing and our heroine would, indeed, lose her place on her lovely pedestal, the relatively happy ending snuck up on me and put my fears to rest.

Many of you will not be surprised when I say that the book is much, much better than the BBC’s Drama “The Paradise”. At its heart, there is a love story in this book. But there is so much more. The Ladies Paradise is symbol of capitalism, changes in consumer culture, sexual mores, and class relations taking place at the end of the 19th century. This novel was a page turner, I could not put it down. It’s a story that is as relevant today as it was in the 19th century. Department stores spelled the demise of the small merchant. In our day big retail book sellers foretold the demise of the small book shops, but the retail giants themselves were undone by Internet book sales. Retail giants like Wal-Mart and Target have taken business from traditional department stores. Manufacturing capacity and jobs have died in the U.S. businesses built factories overseas. And the list could go on and on.As for the romance, the real joy here is seeing Mouret falling slowly in love with Denise. We know it and can see it even before he does. For her part, Denise is at first distracted by a crush on a fellow salesman, her own poverty, and taking care of her brothers, to realize that she is attracted to Mouret. That comes later. One wonders what she sees in this man, who is so contemptuous of women, takes lovers and tosses them out when he is through with them, and is responsible for the destruction of the small shop keepers in the area, some of whom are members of Denise’s own family. As for Mouret, he is made a better man by his love for Denise. She is at once beautiful, smart, poised and kind. Mouret doesn’t know what to make of her. Their love is mostly chaste in the novel, as Denise is afraid of giving in to Mouret – probably due to his past. Her refusals of his advances makes his love, understandably, more intense. But the scenes between these two – weather they are walking together in silence on a Paris street, or alone together in his office, or in a backroom where the staff have left them alone on purpose while Mouret pours his heart out to Denise – are fueled with such sexual tension that no groping or kissing is needed to feel the desire between these two.Someone mentioned that Denise had no ‘ideas’ in this novel like she does in the BBC production. This is incorrect. She understands the changes taking place in the business of the day, and she and Mouret have a discussion about it. She also uses her influence with Mouret to secure better working conditions for the sales staff. Denise is tormented by what the Paradise is doing to the small shop keepers, but believes in market mechanisms of the new order. She is not without heart, but realizes these forces cannot be turned back.Some have also complained about the descriptions of the department store going on and on in the book. I would say to future readers of this novel to stick with it and not to skip any sections to try to get to ‘the good parts’. The descriptions of the lavish layout of the departments, as well as the store operations and the politics among the staff are vital to understanding the story and the place of the two main characters in it.Add to all of this Denise’s rags to riches story where she gets her handsome prince and you have a great novel. I cannot begin to explain how beautifully Zola is able to write, and how vividly his characters come to life. Obviously this English translation is perfection.

This is not the story from the tv show. You will not find out more about any of the tv show characters or situations. Only 2 characters from the tv show are in here & they are not as depicted in the show. it is not the clean bright happy story of love in women's heaven depicted in the tv show. You can find where they took a few & I mean a few ideas to make the show from this but they are not similar at all. The book is dark, Denise's life is hard, the city dirty. She is not full of ideas that set her apart or raise her up in the show. This book is a social commentary really about capitalism & greed. A good history in itself of society evolving with spendable income but it is not the clean bright happy story of love in women's heaven depicted in the tv show. I liked the book for the history of merchandizing development in France.

Took me a while to get into as it is set in Paris, some characters are quite different from the TV series. I think they did a brilliant job with the TV series given that it was based on this book because it was way better I felt. I did eventually get into it but thought that the storyline was a little bit weak but again I think that was just me expecting way too much based on the brilliant storylines the TV came up with. Once it got going, I had to keep reading but think I may leave it quite a while before reading again to let the memory of the TV series fade and let me read the book as a stand-lone story without comparing.

A nicely told love story, mixed in with tragedy, pathos and 19th century descriptions of life in Paris, France. One wonders if anything is lost in the translation, but it was was an enjoyable experience none the less. It did not leave me with any great desire to read more Zola, although he has always been a hero of mine through the Dreyfus defence and his acclaimed ' J'accuse'.

I work in a well known retail shop in Plymouth so it is nice to reed about shops from the past, how they operated and about the staff.very good reed, will recommend it to other people.

Not a bad read

lettura in inglese. Un racconto dolce, amore, ho scelto questo romanzo perchè seguo la fiction in TV.lettura per tutti, corto, si legge in mezzo pomeriggio, sorprendentemente un approccio commerciale modernissimo,