July 2026 La joie de vivre: (1884) (The Brighter Side of Life) (Joy of Life) Chapters 4-6

Thoughts

Everything in this book moves so painfully slowly toward disaster: the squandering of Pauline's fortune, Lazare's weakness and lethargy, Madame's illness. Like Bonneville, which is eroding inch by inch into the sea, so too does this family sink into the mire. I find it interesting that Pauline, the one infected with the Macquart hereditary insanity, is the strongest one. Lazare and his mother seem more like Macquarts than Pauline.