The debacle.

An excess of melodrama, plus an unpleasant degree of anti-German racism spoiled an excellent read.

A powerfull novel about war. Zola puts together a plot with fantastical coincidences. One which is very stereotypical, everything happening in the right order much like in modern day soap-opera.

Nonetheless, the historical events and battles are real. Zola describes the distruction of the war and the destroyed battlefields very vividly. The annoyance of the French over Prussia getting stronger comes trough vividly as does the shock of the invincibly advancing german coalition and the ultimate capitulation. This was not supposed to happen it was afterall just 2 generations ago as the French themselves ran over the then small german states. The whole French perception of the world was centered around past heroics and nationalism and now this capitulation.. Unfortunately it took a couple of more wars to abandon those sentiments on both sides.

Ps. This is the first Rougon-Macquart series book I remember ever to have read and allthough this is supposed to be read second to last, this book stands on its own.