The Masterpiece (Oxford World's Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Sacrifice on the altar of canvas
Review: "The Masterpiece" is, on the one hand, Emile Zola's depiction of Paris's community of avant garde artists in the 1860s and 1870s, but more thematically it is the story of a man who believes passionately in his unorthodox artistic vision and gives everything he's got to realize his "masterpiece" only to get nothing, not even the self-satisfaction of completion, in return. This is the situation of Claude Lantier, Zola's protagonist, a demon of the palette who is so obsessed with the perfection of his art that his wife, who has chosen to suffer poverty with him, laments that she is only his mistress, that he is truly married to the painted women on his canvases.

Claude's temperamental, dour personality is based loosely on that of Zola's own friend Paul Cezanne, a pioneering postimpressionist who achieved a level of fame and respect nobody in Zola's time could have foreseen, one which Claude is not destined to attain. Indeed, his efforts to forge a new style of painting conflicts with the conventional sensibilities of bourgeois Paris and the eponymous Salon, apparently the sole arbiters of the city's artistic taste. He is increasingly frustrated, but ever more determined, by the ridicule directed by the public at large towards his harshly rendered paintings, displayed in the rejects' gallery. "We are the future!...the day will come when we'll kill their Salon stone dead," Claude vows to his circle of sympathetic friends.

Friends are what Claude needs. His two boyhood chums--Pierre Sandoz, a novelist supposed to represent Zola himself, and Louis Dubuche, an architecture student--become financially successful in very different ways (Sandoz by writing a popular series of Zola-esque novels about members of a Parisian family in various strata of society, Dubuche by marrying a sickly heiress), while Claude labors obscurely in an austere apartment, living on a meager stipend from a generous benefactor and making a little extra cash by selling some of his less objectionable paintings to a dealer. He has another friend who is his antithesis of a sort, a traditional painter of genteel portraits named Fagerolles, who wins the money and even the critical acclaim that Claude seeks.

One of the novel's major elements is the intense and beautifully imagined love affair between Claude and a girl named Christine whom he meets on the street one rainy night. Initially his radical art horrifies her, but she easily accustoms herself to it, even modeling for him. Their cohabitation produces a son they name Jacques, whose deformity and retardation seem grotesque implications of their neglect of him. It is not revealing too much to say that Jacques dies at twelve, for it is indicative of Claude's peculiarly callous state of mind that the sight of the dead boy inspires him to complete another canvas--the most attention he has paid to his son in years.

Zola is not the best of the great French novelists of the nineteenth century, but he is arguably the easiest to read and understand; and he is certainly original, having made a conscientious effort to set his style apart from that of his forebears Hugo and Balzac and providing the foundation for the new realism of the twentieth century as practiced by Americans like Frank Norris and Theodore Dreiser. Zola's style, and that of his proteges, is characterized by what seems to be a necessary irony--that a writer who was so successful could be so morbidly fascinated with failure.






Rating:
Summary: A point made
Review: "The Masterpiece" is Zola's critical (as opposed to personal) attack on the painting styles of Manet and perhaps the Impressionists, the point being that here was a style in which it was impossible to paint one single painting that would stand as a salon masterpiece, apart from a series or greater body of work. The point is well made, but otherwise this is a depressing book that seems almost ridiculous at times in its representation of the tortured artist. In my opinion, this is a book that few women or Americans would be fond of, but it is thought-provoking for students of the period.

Rating:
Summary: reading this book is a great artistic experience, a journey
Review: A human need for perfection was never described better: The attempts, The difficulties, the pain of the soul and the boby... The specific plot relates to Art but it brings a massage that is true for every human creation that might become to one's absession. Reading this book takes the reader on an amazing journey that begins as fine arts and crosses the lines to a tragedy. A full CATARSIS. recommanded :)

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: Here is a book which truly and accurately describes the life of an artist and his relationship with the world, his friends, his lover, and, most importantly, himself. It is a book of passion and the attempt of an artist to break through the boundaries set upon him and to come to grips with his own limitations. I could hardly put the book down at all once I'd begun reading it as Zola's prose is a joy to behold and a work of art in itself.

Rating:
Summary: Zola at his best
Review: I must disagree with the reviewer who said that The Masterpiece would be hard to like as a woman or as an American! I am both and I loved it. Partly this is because of Zola's whole series of books in which you meet characters you knew before or their children or relations--I loved that Claude was related to Etienne, the hero of Germinal, as well as Gervaise from The Dram Shop. It gives you the sense that you already know something of the genetic makeup (fragility, instability, whatever) of the character before the plot even begins. It was captivating to feel that Zola was giving more reign to his own voice as an art critic and to the specific things he loved and found problematic about Impressionism. Of course it is terribly depressing in the end; but how many Claudes must go down for every Renoir or Monet who rises to the top? Seems very realistic to me--and it's Zola, so you have no illusions that anyone will be happy in the end. I might even give it four and a half stars if I were allowed.

Rating:
Summary: The greatest of artistic genii
Review: In Claude Lantier, Zola achieves the pinnacle of artistic creation. The tortured soul of Lantier is beautifully depicted in a novel which rivals, in its descriptions the artist's creation itself. The question of heredity is also challenged in Claude's ultimate fate. I loved it and for anyone who is at all interested in Art history of the nineteenth century this is a definite must.

Rating:
Summary: The agony and the ecstasy
Review: Most of this book is quite happy and uplifting, full of noble and high-minded pronouncements about the role of art and the demands it places on the artist, wise sayings about life in general and the question of how far should an artist go to gain recognition, plus an initially idyllic love story. It is also interesting to see what became of Claude, the carefree painter glimpsed briefly in "Le Ventre De Paris/The Underbelly Of Paris" and contrast his fate with that of his younger brother, Etienne, from the previous Rougon-Macquart volume, the blockbuster "Germinal". Zola's cameo role in the plot as the writer, Sandoz, helps provide stability as the various characters inevitably break down under the pressure and anguish of artistic creation or compromise their ideals for worldly riches. However, the ending tends to undermine the whole book. The story goes on for too long (even beyond the end of the Second Empire itself, which Zola gave himself as the time-span of the Rougon-Macquarts' activities). It seems as if the writer did not know how to end his tale, so after several false build-ups we are left with a suicide by hanging as in the twelfth volume in the series. A good read on the whole, but this book could have been even better.

Rating:
Summary: The Masterpiece
Review: This book is most likely not as well known as some other of Zola's novels due to the fact that it draws too much upon subject matter from his previous works or fails to elaborate upon some themes expressed. Zola tends to include a "courtesan" in almost all his novels, and this is no exception; with one incident pertaining to the main character's adventure with one such courtesan named Mathilde included which could very well have been transcribed from Nana. Other such examples abound, therefore to a certain extent this book has some unoriginal incidents included which are detrimental overall. Another "discrepancy" is the ending, which is in many ways unfulfilling, although emotionally packed by naturalist standards. It is as if there was no other way to end this book which also happens to contain most of its best cliamxes about halfway through. Otherwise, the book is a great read; with the most enjoyable passages relating to Claude (a painter and the main character) and his relationship with his wife. Of course, misfortunes abound, but described in a such a way (it must be the "naturalist" technique) that they don't so much sadden the reader individually, but only after the book is read and taken as a whole. Most of the themes in the book are grand, anything from what makes a genius to the change produced in people or landscapes during the space of a few years. Some have charged the book with attempting to undermine the Impressionist art movement of the time and to prove the flaws existent in its practitioners. This must seem absurd, as the portrait we get of Claude (said to be based upon Zola's friend Cezanne) is the most sympathetic of any tragic hero of Zola's I have read of. And, in fact Zola even uses impressionistic techniques to describe scenery, and one feels as if one understands impressionism by reading this work. In one instance we have Claude explaining to Christine (his wife) why he has included blue when painting a tree. He shows her the spot where the sun's light is distilled blue and extols many such modern ideas. All in all, the unsatisfying ending could be caused by Zola's affection for this particular hero and he simply didn't know how to have him end his existence in a more dignified manner.

Rating:
Summary: The Masterpiece
Review: This book is most likely overlooked as compared to some of Zola's other novels due to the fact that it includes many incidents and themes drawn from his previous works. Zola tends to include "courtesans" in most of his books, and this is no exception; with a scene in which the main chracter (Claude) has a nightly adventure with Mathilde (one such courtesan). About twenty pages dealing with this incident seem transcribed directly from his previous work Nana. Other such examples exist, which may have helped keep the book from universal recognition as compared to others. Another "discrepancy" being detrimental overrall is the ending which, although emotionally packed by naturalist standards, still is in some ways unfulfilling. A reader gets the impression that no other way existed for the book to end, and in fact the best climaxes are about halfway through the work. Misfortunes abound, yet individual incidents do not so much sadden and shock by themselves, only when taken with the rest of the book (it must be the "naturalist technique"). What was most enjoyable about the entire novel is not so mcuh the act of creating as its effect upon Claude (a painter) and his relationship to his wife (Christine), which ranges from idylls during summer to a secluded winter atmosphere. Most of the themes in the book are grand; anything from what makes a genius to the change in people and landscapes over time. Some have charged The Masterpiece with attempting to undermine the Impressionist art movement of the time and to show the failings existent in its practitioners. This must seem absurd, if only for the fact that Claude (said to based upon Zola's friend Cezanne) is described with more sympathy than any other tragic hero of Zola's I have ever read of. In fact, if one reads this book, one feels as though one truly understands Impressionism. Here, we have Claude explaining to his wife why he has used the color blue when painting a tree. He shows her a spot where the sun's light is distilled in such a way as to appear blue. And in fact, many other such modern concepts are explained by Claude to the benefit of Impressionism. All in all, the ending may be unfulfilling precisely because Zola must have thought too well of this particular hero and there truly was no other way, with as much didgnity, to end his existence. Read this novel (to fully appreciate it) before reading other more famous works by Zola. Many modern readers may not appreciate the main message of the book: That genius must be chaste.

Rating:
Summary: The Masterpiece
Review: This book is most likely overlooked as compared to some of Zola's other novels due to the fact that it includes many incidents and themes drawn from his previous works. Zola tends to include "courtesans" in most of his books, and this is no exception; with a scene in which the main chracter (Claude) has a nightly adventure with Mathilde (one such courtesan). About twenty pages dealing with this incident seem transcribed directly from his previous work Nana. Other such examples exist, which may have helped keep the book from universal recognition as compared to others. Another "discrepancy" being detrimental overrall is the ending which, although emotionally packed by naturalist standards, still is in some ways unfulfilling. A reader gets the impression that no other way existed for the book to end, and in fact the best climaxes are about halfway through the work. Misfortunes abound, yet individual incidents do not so much sadden and shock by themselves, only when taken with the rest of the book (it must be the "naturalist technique"). What was most enjoyable about the entire novel is not so mcuh the act of creating as its effect upon Claude (a painter) and his relationship to his wife (Christine), which ranges from idylls during summer to a secluded winter atmosphere. Most of the themes in the book are grand; anything from what makes a genius to the change in people and landscapes over time. Some have charged The Masterpiece with attempting to undermine the Impressionist art movement of the time and to show the failings existent in its practitioners. This must seem absurd, if only for the fact that Claude (said to based upon Zola's friend Cezanne) is described with more sympathy than any other tragic hero of Zola's I have ever read of. In fact, if one reads this book, one feels as though one truly understands Impressionism. Here, we have Claude explaining to his wife why he has used the color blue when painting a tree. He shows her a spot where the sun's light is distilled in such a way as to appear blue. And in fact, many other such modern concepts are explained by Claude to the benefit of Impressionism. All in all, the ending may be unfulfilling precisely because Zola must have thought too well of this particular hero and there truly was no other way, with as much didgnity, to end his existence. Read this novel (to fully appreciate it) before reading other more famous works by Zola. Many modern readers may not appreciate the main message of the book: That genius must be chaste.