Jan 2026 The Sin of Abbe Mouret Book 2 Chapters 1-17

Thought & ideas!

Chapters 1-10 so far:

A lot of frolicking in the garden. Spring is in full swing although everything seems to be fruiting miraculously at the same time. Cherries, blackberries, raspberries, etc. should be staggered. Surprised at Zola sacrificing accurate details just so he can create an Alice frolicking in Wonderland moment. Waiting for some plot advancement.

Chapter 15
Adam and Eve finally get together and the forest applauds them. So far part 2 has been very Disney-esque what with the animals leading the way to their copulation. I suspect Adam will remember God (and hopefully his sister?) starting the next chapter as we enter Part 3.

Chapter 16
Serge disait, la reprenant dans ses bras forts:
-- Vois, je suis guéri; tu m'as donné toute ta santé.
Albine répondait, s'abandonnant:
-- Prends-moi toute, prends ma vie.

Chapter 17
Our Adam has been discovered and God is very angry.

Onwards to part 3!

Love your comments, I am looking forward to this.

As foreshadowed in book one, Father Mouret does indeed have a physical and mental breakdown and awakes in the Garden of Eden!

The sudden change from Book 1 to this took me completely by surprise, and I found the transition frustrating. How much of this is actually happening, or is it a figment of Mouret’s fevered brain? Also, those pages and pages of rapture about flowers and fruits are very, very boring to read.

>4 lilisin: Somehow I had expected more entertainment after reading your comments.

>7 MissWatson:
Apologies! My comments were rather tongue-in-cheek as I waited for more plot advancement myself in part 2.

>8 lilisin: No harm done!

>7 MissWatson: I'm also bored with this section. All the time in the garden frolicking . . . why are they alone for such a long period of time? It's like only they exist and I'm up to chapter 12.

>10 japaul22: Well, Adam and Eve had no one with them in the Garden of Eden, either. I think Zola over-designed this section, or his love for his characters ran away with him. But IMO the entire second book could be left out without being missed, it doesn’t advance the plot. What little there is of it.

Okkaaayyy. Well, that was weird. At first Serge gets his wish and is an innocent babe once again. He gets his mother in Albine who teaches him to walk and talk. Then he creates her from his rib, and we are treated to page after endless page of plants and plant sex. Sadly, woman is once again the curious one, the seeker of knowledge, the temptress, and the one blamed. Serge awakens from his fever dream, and the section is blessedly over. I would much have preferred this as a single chapter, instead of 17. I feel like I've been drubbed over the head with one too many flowers.

>7 MissWatson: Notes in my edition indicate that Zola compiled long lists of plant/flower names for this section. Guess he was determined to include them all. It’s all a bit overwhelming, not to mention repetitious. And of course the Eden parallels are abundantly obvious. I was silently urging them to just get on with it.

>13 booksaplenty1949: At times it felt like a lesson in botany.

>13 booksaplenty1949: I agree and I was annoyed while I was reading it. But, in hindsight, it makes the book extremely memorable! I'll never forget this one.

>15 japaul22: So true. People who think of Zola as Germinal only know the half of him.