In The Masterpiece, Émile Zola spoiled me
with his beautiful descriptions of Paris in the end of 19th century landscapes.
As I always amazed at nature beauties, I am trying to capture here some images
which transform the beauties from Zola’s words to more vivid imagination. These
passages were taken from chapter 3 (p. 95-96) where Claude was enjoying
afternoon strolls together with Christine. While the pictures might not
represent the scene accurately, they could still help us to imagine the scenes,
while savouring Zola’s beautiful words….
“The lovely sunsets they watched on those
weekly strolls along the Seine, when the sun shone ahead of them all the way
through the many lively aspects of embankment life: the Seine itself, the
lights, and shadows dancing on its face, the amusing little shops, each one as
warm as a greenhouse, the pots of flowers on the seedsmen’s stalls, the
deafening twitter from the birds-shops, and all the joyous confusion of sounds
and colours that makes the waterfront the everlasting youth of any city.”
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“One evening, in an unexpected shower, the
sun, as it reappeared through the falling rain, lit up every cloud in the sky,
making the rain overhead glowed like liquid fire shot through with pink and
blue.”
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"For a moment, as it passed behind the black
dome of the Institut, it was horned like a moon on the wane; then as its disc
reddened to deepest purple it would pass out of sight in the depths of the lake
transformed into a pool of blood.”
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“But the most theatrical effects, the most
magnificent transformation scenes were only produced in a cloudy sky. Then, according
to the whim of the prevailing wind, they would see waves of sulphur breaking on
boulders of coral, palaces, towers of buildings piled up in a blazing heap or
crumbling down as torrents of lave poured through the gaps in their walls.”
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“Or, at other times, the sun already out of
sight, hidden by a veil of mist, would suddenly break through with such a
mighty thrust of light that a tracery of sparks would be sent shooting clear across
the sky like a flight of golden arrows.”
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Don't those gorgeous views make you want to visit Paris? In 19th century?.... I do!
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