In fact, drinking on the Underground was already sort-of already banned in 2008, but the ban was rarely enforced. That is Zola's laconic explanation for "L'Assommoir", simply a moral message shown in action. And what devastating action it is. The second half of the novel describes the downward spiral of addiction in its most minute details. Impressive and revolting!

The toilets in the Betjeman Arms used to be where the private dining room is now on the corridor to the current toilets – was nearly very embarrassing when I bowled in fiddling with my zip! In fact, Spiers and Pond were the WH Smiths of refreshment rooms on the London Underground, having been there from the very start, and ending in 1932 with venues at: Zola has an absolutely mesmerizing way of unfolding the vignette that is Gevaise's existence. He describes surroundings, characters, clothing, animals, nothing is left undisturbed.

As such, there is still one pub left, which can be reasonably considered to be “on the London Underground”, and that is at Kew Gardens, although you have to go outside the station to get into the pub, which has windows right next to the platform. In a description that apes later British Railway’s catering, railway food before Spiers and Pond were described as “the scalding infusion, satirically called tea, the stale bad buns, with their veneering of furniture polish, the sawdusty sandwiches, so frequently and so energetically condemned, and, more so than all, the icy stare from the counter, the insolent ignoring of every customer’s existence, which drives the hungry frantic,” Solo i pedanti amavano far la parte di chi muore di sete sulla porta. Facevano proprio bene un tempo a prenderlo in giro, un bicchiere di vino non ha mai ucciso nessuno. Ma si batteva il petto affermando ch’era un suo punto d’onoro bere soltanto del vino, sempre ed esclusivamente del vino, mai e poi mai dell’acquavite: il vino faceva vivere più a lungo, non faceva star male, non ubriacava nemmeno.

Zola may be one of my all time favorite classic writers. He's so brutally honest about pre and post revolutionary France society, which was cruel and hopeless for so many. So far, this novel hasn't failed to disappoint. Gevaise is lost amid poverty and vice, questing to lead a moral life and provide for her children. Just when she swears off men believing they are all rotten, one comes her way. Can life be perfect? What is ideal? Pubblicato nel 1876, settimo del ciclo dei Rougon-Macquart. “L’Assomoir” è un termine argot dal doppio significato"bettola" e "mazzata". A writer in All The Year Round of December 1867 praised the “modern magicians”, who had ended an abuse “under which the British railway traveller had groaned ever since railways were”. The Drinking Den ( French: L'Assommoir) is a 1909 French silent drama movie directed by Albert Capellani [2] [3] and stars Alexandre Arquillière, Jacques Grétillat, and Eugénie Nau. Abandoned by her lover and left to bring up their two children alone, Gervaise Macquart has to fight to earn an honest living. When she accepts the marriage proposal of Monsieur Coupeau, it seems as though she is on the path to a decent, respectable life at last. But with her husband's drinking and the unexpected appearance of a figure from her past, Gervaise's plans begin to unravel tragicallyAt Liverpool Street station could be found Pat-Mac’s Drinking Den, which was on the eastbound platform of the Metropolitan Line. It was converted into a cafe in 1977. That small pub also had the novelty of having a serving hatch leading directly onto the platform, letting passengers drink while waiting for a train. François Zola was an influential French novelist, the most important example of the literary school of naturalism, and a major figure in the political liberalization of France. In the early days, trains were slow and journeys were long, so a pint to fortify the body while waiting 10 minutes wasn’t an unreasonable idea. Today with trains every couple of minutes and delivering commuters to their destinations at speeds that would have amazed our Victorian ancestors, a pint on the Underground seems less necessary. Step by step, she gives in to alcohol and hopelessness, slowly losing all sense of pride and humanity, only lamenting the fact that one can get used to almost anything except that one can't "prendre l'habitude de ne pas manger". Hunger is the only remaining feeling that tells her she is alive. But what kind of life is it?

And of course the big revelation is that their daughter Nana becomes a dancer in the famed, and naughty Folies show. She dumps her cruel parents for her new life entertaining men. This follows in the famous Zola book, Nana. La novela arranca poco antes de que dé inicio el segundo imperio, lo cual me lleva a comentar el golpe de estado del 2 de diciembre de 1851; esto lo quiero recalcar porque hace un par de meses leí La educación sentimental de Gustave Flaubert, y ahí se relata (al igual que en la La taberna) este hecho histórico. ¿Qué es lo que destaco? Que en la obra de Flaubert vemos dicho golpe desde la perspectiva y los ojos de la burguesía, y en el caso de La taberna lo vemos desde el punto de vista de los obreros. Yo me impresioné cuando leí esto, aunque fue mucho más breve en una obra que en la otra, no pude evitar comparar cómo cada autor retrata un mismo hecho desde dos puntos de vista diferentes e incluso, contrarios.Per due volte tornò a piazzarsi davanti alla vetrina, incollandovi di nuovo l’occhio, esasperata nel vedere al riparo quei maledetti ubriaconi che continuavano a bere e a strillare. I fasci di luce che uscivano dall’Assommoir si riflettevano nelle pozzanghere che coprivano il selciato, e su cui la pioggia rimbalzava in mille piccole bollicine. Quando la porta si apriva e si richiudeva con il sinistro cigolio delle sue lastre di rame, era costretta a scansarsi e finiva nel fango. Alla fine si diede della stupida; spinse la porta e andò difilato verso il tavolino di Coupeau.