Jan 2026 The Sin of Abbe Mouret Book 3-End
Original topic subject: The Sin of Abbe Mouret Jan 2026 Book 3-End
Talk Emile Zola Group Read
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2lilisin
Chapters 1-6
Our boy is back at the church having abandonned his Eve, and trying to find himself again in God. I loved the scene of the Friar Archangias and Jeanbernat throwing rocks at each other. Quite fun and comedic.
In chapter 6 I noted down a few quotes.
Voilà ce que c'est que de vivre au milieu des bouquins. On fait de belles expériences; mais on se conduit en malhonnête homme...
Obviously the books in question are religious texts but I kind of chuckled at the idea of all of us LTers being accused of becoming dishonest men due to all of our books. In case of what this quote is actually saying, it is exactly what I was saying in part 1 when I said how convenient a priest's life is being allowed to spend all their day reading a book while the masses pay for their food and accomodations. And considering how many use their religious texts to excuse their dishonesty...
-- Dites-lui qu'elle s'agenouille et qu'elle implore Dieu... Dieu l'entendra comme il m'a entendu; il la soulagera comme il m'a soulagé. Il n'y a pas d'autre salut.
I read this quote and immediately said "thoughts and prayers".
On manque sa vie... De vrais Rougon et de vrais Macquart, ces enfants-là! La queue de la bande, la dégénérescence finale.
And the chapter ending with this final quote made a bold statement vis-a-vis the family we are reading about. Thought it was a great ending to a chapter before we head into the Albine-Serge conflict that is inevitable to come.
Our boy is back at the church having abandonned his Eve, and trying to find himself again in God. I loved the scene of the Friar Archangias and Jeanbernat throwing rocks at each other. Quite fun and comedic.
In chapter 6 I noted down a few quotes.
Voilà ce que c'est que de vivre au milieu des bouquins. On fait de belles expériences; mais on se conduit en malhonnête homme...
Obviously the books in question are religious texts but I kind of chuckled at the idea of all of us LTers being accused of becoming dishonest men due to all of our books. In case of what this quote is actually saying, it is exactly what I was saying in part 1 when I said how convenient a priest's life is being allowed to spend all their day reading a book while the masses pay for their food and accomodations. And considering how many use their religious texts to excuse their dishonesty...
-- Dites-lui qu'elle s'agenouille et qu'elle implore Dieu... Dieu l'entendra comme il m'a entendu; il la soulagera comme il m'a soulagé. Il n'y a pas d'autre salut.
I read this quote and immediately said "thoughts and prayers".
On manque sa vie... De vrais Rougon et de vrais Macquart, ces enfants-là! La queue de la bande, la dégénérescence finale.
And the chapter ending with this final quote made a bold statement vis-a-vis the family we are reading about. Thought it was a great ending to a chapter before we head into the Albine-Serge conflict that is inevitable to come.
3Tess_W
Final Review: This book, while generous in lush detail (especially the "Garden of Eden"), was stark in allowing human beings any choices at all. Devotion to the church was all or nothing, there wasn't room for devotion to any relationship except with God; love was sin. Zola continues his nature vs. nurture argument in this novel. I found that book two went a bit overboard with its description of Paradou (the Garden of Eden), but all in all this was a good read.
4lilisin
Chp 8
-- Qui ça, Dieu? cria Albine affolée, redevenue la grande fille lâchée en pleine nature. Je ne le connais pas, ton Dieu, je ne veux pas le connaître, s'il te vole à moi, qui ne lui ai jamais rien fait. Mon oncle Jeanbernat a donc raison de dire que ton Dieu est une invention de méchanceté, une manière d'épouvanter les gens et de les faire pleurer... Tu mens, tu ne m'aimes plus, ton Dieu n'existe pas.
Chp 9
L'abbé Mouret applaudit furieusement, comme un damné, à cette vision. L'église était vaincue. Dieu n'avait plus de maison. A présent, Dieu ne le gênerait plus. Il pouvait rejoindre Albine, puisqu'elle triomphait.
I liked the imagery of nature destroying the church. If only.
---
There have been a lot of strong scenes in part 3 where I could have highlighted quite a few passages.
I'll be finishing the rest of the book tomorrow.
-- Qui ça, Dieu? cria Albine affolée, redevenue la grande fille lâchée en pleine nature. Je ne le connais pas, ton Dieu, je ne veux pas le connaître, s'il te vole à moi, qui ne lui ai jamais rien fait. Mon oncle Jeanbernat a donc raison de dire que ton Dieu est une invention de méchanceté, une manière d'épouvanter les gens et de les faire pleurer... Tu mens, tu ne m'aimes plus, ton Dieu n'existe pas.
Chp 9
L'abbé Mouret applaudit furieusement, comme un damné, à cette vision. L'église était vaincue. Dieu n'avait plus de maison. A présent, Dieu ne le gênerait plus. Il pouvait rejoindre Albine, puisqu'elle triomphait.
I liked the imagery of nature destroying the church. If only.
---
There have been a lot of strong scenes in part 3 where I could have highlighted quite a few passages.
I'll be finishing the rest of the book tomorrow.
5lilisin
I have finished the book so full spoilers ahead.
This book reminded me a bit of Dumas's Le Meneur des Loups (The Wolf Leader); a book that reads like a fable compared to his regular adventure books that he is known for. This book was also quite a departure from Zola's usual presentation style and also read similary like a fable: taking the story of Adam and Eve and replaying that story with our character Serge, or rather, l'abbe Mauret. Zola played heavily with literary devices this time around: foreshadowing, allusions, metaphors, etc. It would make for a great book to dissect at school.
Part 1 was strong in setting up our characters and led to some fun interactions. The two very different representatives for the Church; the towns people and how they relate to the church; the Paradise of Paradou; the three very different locations representing three very real sides of humanity; the tension between nature and Church, man and woman, peaseant and educated being; the descriptions of the beauty of an untouched garden vs the sowed land of the village.
Part 2 went very literal with our Adam and Eve and their garden. Zola didn't try to hide at all his metaphor and he used his power of description at its fullest. While it went on a bit longer than it needed to, I didn't skip a word as he described every flower, every blade of grass, every stream that led our two lovebirds to their fate.
Part 3 went in the most obvious direction as possible. Again, Zola surprised me with the simplicity of plot. There was no questionning a potential alternate ending as it could only end with Albine's death. Her creating a bed of thorned roses was peak religious symbolism. Having Serge preside over her funeral was befitting his cowardly retreat behind the curtain of religion. But Jeanbernat's revenge in stealing the ear of the Friar was incredibly satisfying.
I ended up ranking this one quite high surprisingly as I just found myself lovely all the descriptive passages. There were so many moments I wished I could sear into my memory, so many turns of phrase that I wished to remember, and so many moments I wished I had written myself as they perfectly described many of my feelings towards man, Church, and the sacrifice of the innocent.
This book reminded me a bit of Dumas's Le Meneur des Loups (The Wolf Leader); a book that reads like a fable compared to his regular adventure books that he is known for. This book was also quite a departure from Zola's usual presentation style and also read similary like a fable: taking the story of Adam and Eve and replaying that story with our character Serge, or rather, l'abbe Mauret. Zola played heavily with literary devices this time around: foreshadowing, allusions, metaphors, etc. It would make for a great book to dissect at school.
Part 1 was strong in setting up our characters and led to some fun interactions. The two very different representatives for the Church; the towns people and how they relate to the church; the Paradise of Paradou; the three very different locations representing three very real sides of humanity; the tension between nature and Church, man and woman, peaseant and educated being; the descriptions of the beauty of an untouched garden vs the sowed land of the village.
Part 2 went very literal with our Adam and Eve and their garden. Zola didn't try to hide at all his metaphor and he used his power of description at its fullest. While it went on a bit longer than it needed to, I didn't skip a word as he described every flower, every blade of grass, every stream that led our two lovebirds to their fate.
Part 3 went in the most obvious direction as possible. Again, Zola surprised me with the simplicity of plot. There was no questionning a potential alternate ending as it could only end with Albine's death. Her creating a bed of thorned roses was peak religious symbolism. Having Serge preside over her funeral was befitting his cowardly retreat behind the curtain of religion. But Jeanbernat's revenge in stealing the ear of the Friar was incredibly satisfying.
I ended up ranking this one quite high surprisingly as I just found myself lovely all the descriptive passages. There were so many moments I wished I could sear into my memory, so many turns of phrase that I wished to remember, and so many moments I wished I had written myself as they perfectly described many of my feelings towards man, Church, and the sacrifice of the innocent.
6lilisin
I'm very curious about Dr. Pascal now. He seems like a lovely figure in this book so I'm wondering a) if his book will take place before or after these events, and b) whether Zola will find a way for him to find his downfall.
7MissWatson
>5 lilisin: Thanks for your comments!
8MissWatson
I am reading this as a public domain ebook, and I sorely miss notes and an introduction detailing Zola’s intentions. I am probably reading this too literally and keep missing his literary devices in my impatience for things to start happening. And I really hate that misogynistic Frère Archangias.
9MissWatson
I have finished it now and I am glad to be done with it. I am sure a little academic analysis would help me understand what Zola wanted to do here, but, frankly, the characters don’t interest me enough to go looking for it. Let’s just say that religion is not a subject matter that attracts me. At least it was short.
10japaul22
I've finished and I'm not sure. I was highly annoyed while reading Part 2. I thought it went on too long and was too "literal" of a metaphor.
I quite liked the back and forth in Part 3 between 16 year old Albine and 26 year old Serge, where she came off as much more intelligent and practical and he was too scared of life to let go of the safety and predictability of the church. But then, of course, she dies in a bed of flowers. My edition had a note describing this famous artwork describing the death scene by John Collier.
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-death-of-albine-83556
I think this will be a highly memorable installment in this series. As usual I loved Zola's descriptions, I just felt this one was a little overdone on a single message.
I quite liked the back and forth in Part 3 between 16 year old Albine and 26 year old Serge, where she came off as much more intelligent and practical and he was too scared of life to let go of the safety and predictability of the church. But then, of course, she dies in a bed of flowers. My edition had a note describing this famous artwork describing the death scene by John Collier.
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-death-of-albine-83556
I think this will be a highly memorable installment in this series. As usual I loved Zola's descriptions, I just felt this one was a little overdone on a single message.
11Tess_W
>9 MissWatson: Just very quickly and only from top of my head (I did not research) but I felt that Zola is making two statements: 1) religion=repression. 2) criticisms of organized religion, specifically the Catholic Church. I think Zola felt repression is/was destructive. I saw two forces at loggerheads: nature/sexuality vs religion/repression. I actually enjoyed this book a bit more than most of the others.
12MissWatson
>11 Tess_W: Yes, I agree with that. It’s just that these are not topics that I can get excited about. I found the political machinations of Eugene Rougon much more fascinating.
13Tess_W
>12 MissWatson: I did too!
14labfs39
Phew! I'm done! After the slow-as-death book two, book three fairly galloped along. Here are some passages I marked:
Serge speaking to Albine in the church (p. 242): You're right, this is a place of death, death is what I want, death that delivers and saves us from all corruption... Do you hear? I deny life, I refuse it, I spit upon it. (But of course it is Albine who dies in the end.)
And: Between us, there is a war, centuries-old and implacable. (Represented also in Brother Archangias and Teuse who play the card game War with vehemence.)
Then on page 248:Meanwhile, he had abandoned Mary for Jesus, sacrificing his heart in order to conquer his body, striving to put virility into his faith.
His sin has killed the virginity of Mary. (as he began to see Albine in Mary's features)
I read the introduction after finishing, and I found it not quite as good as some of the intros to the Oxford editions have been. I did find it interesting that she talked about Abbe Mouret's sin being sex and betraying his vow of chastity, but Serge's sin being abandoning Albine and their child. Albine cries out and asking what sin did she commit, tempting Serge? And adds, that will be the last straw. Finally Dr. Pascal feels that he sinned in bringing the two together in the first place, trying to cure Serge and civilize Albine.
My biggest question after reading this book is what Zola was trying to convey about Nature in this novel. At times he sexualizes Nature to the point of it practically pimping the two youngsters into making love. At other times, Zola describes Nature in scientific terms, as a force without intent. Is Nature a personified female force of creation or an impersonal system of instincts? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to take away on that score.
Serge speaking to Albine in the church (p. 242): You're right, this is a place of death, death is what I want, death that delivers and saves us from all corruption... Do you hear? I deny life, I refuse it, I spit upon it. (But of course it is Albine who dies in the end.)
And: Between us, there is a war, centuries-old and implacable. (Represented also in Brother Archangias and Teuse who play the card game War with vehemence.)
Then on page 248:Meanwhile, he had abandoned Mary for Jesus, sacrificing his heart in order to conquer his body, striving to put virility into his faith.
His sin has killed the virginity of Mary. (as he began to see Albine in Mary's features)
I read the introduction after finishing, and I found it not quite as good as some of the intros to the Oxford editions have been. I did find it interesting that she talked about Abbe Mouret's sin being sex and betraying his vow of chastity, but Serge's sin being abandoning Albine and their child. Albine cries out and asking what sin did she commit, tempting Serge? And adds, that will be the last straw. Finally Dr. Pascal feels that he sinned in bringing the two together in the first place, trying to cure Serge and civilize Albine.
My biggest question after reading this book is what Zola was trying to convey about Nature in this novel. At times he sexualizes Nature to the point of it practically pimping the two youngsters into making love. At other times, Zola describes Nature in scientific terms, as a force without intent. Is Nature a personified female force of creation or an impersonal system of instincts? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to take away on that score.
16booksaplenty1949
Finished the novel. On the one hand, very formulaic—-especially the Garden of Eden theme. But very well-written. The contrast of pre-lapsarian nature at Paradou, where, as someone noted earlier, everything seems to be in flower/in fruit at the same time, and the reality of fallen nature—red in tooth and claw—in Desirée’s barnyard, is very cleverly done. A book to admire, if not entirely enjoy.
17lilisin
>16 booksaplenty1949:
A note to myself after reading your post:
lapsarian (plural lapsarians)
One who believes that mankind has fallen from a better state. A theological viewpoint concerning the fall of man from innocence in the Garden of Eden.
A note to myself after reading your post:
lapsarian (plural lapsarians)
One who believes that mankind has fallen from a better state. A theological viewpoint concerning the fall of man from innocence in the Garden of Eden.
18booksaplenty1949
>17 lilisin: “Pre-lapsarian” and “post-lapsarian” refer to the state of things before and after the Fall of Man. Paradise Lost is of course another famous work of literature exploring the contrast.
19Tess_W
>16 booksaplenty1949: You brought to mind, Desiree, a minor character introduced in Conquest of Plassans, but is she really a minor character? She more or less embodies Zola's "scientific thinking" in that she is the result of poor breeding and the degeneration of the families. She is also an example of 19th century thinking of the happy "idiot."
