In this moving depiction of a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the master French realist has created a novel of vivid characters and subtle commentary on suffering and the belief in miracles as the last desperate refuge from pain. Based on his own trip to the fabled grotto, the novel follows a simple five-part structure corresponding to the five-day train trip from Paris to Lourdes and back. Zola's brilliant observational powers are at their best as he moves from character to character describing in great detail the physical effects of their illnesses, their hopes, beliefs, fears, and above all endurance. The great novelist himself makes a brief appearance in the story, disguised as a sceptical reporter whose probing questions embarrass a doctor in charge of verifying the alleged miracles. In the end, amidst the tumult of emotions whipped up by religious fervour a miracle of a sort does take place, a psychosomatic cure of a woman suffering from hysterical paralysis. To a few sceptical observers in the entourage the event is a predictable natural occurrence, but to the majority of simple believers it is proof of divine intervention. In our age of televangelists and faith healers, this story has lost none of its relevance.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French
Original Language: French
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A story of lost faith, suffering, and hope.,
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This review is from: Lourdes (Pocket Classics) (Paperback)
LOURDES tells the story of a four day pilgramage to the famous shrine in the late 19th century from the point of view of an abbe who has lost faith. He accompanies a childhood friend and her father as they seek a cure for her paralysis and pain. The abbe is no believer in miracles and his story is about the faith of those who have no where else to turn. Still powerful today, as many turn from a science-based medical establishment, when it offers no cures, to faith healings which heal, if not always the physical symptoms, the anguish and pain of hopelessness, this book explores the hearts and minds of the faithful with respect and insight. Zola's descriptions of trains and hospitals full of the diseased hopeful are overwhelming to read. His mixing of the political, the spiritual and the personal is well-balanced and provides a great tale. You will find the story of Bernadette and the Lady of Lourdes here, but if you are looking for inspirational reading about miraculous cures, you should look elsewhere. This book is about the very human side of a place usually known only for its miracles.
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First Sentence:
THE pilgrims and patients, closely packed on the hard seats of the third-class carriage, were just finishing the ' Ave maris Stella,' which they had begun to chant on leaving the terminus of the Orleans line, when Marie, slightly raised on her couch of misery and restless with feverish impatience, caught sight of the Paris fortifications through the window of the moving train. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
heal our sick, healthy pilgrims, verification office, national pilgrimage, inclined ways, gradient ways, visible sores, ailing ones, white train, rolling onward, divine illusion, whole carriage, miraculous water, night procession Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sister Hyacinthe, Doctor Chassaigne, Father Massias, Father Fourcade, Madame Vincent, Doctor Bonamy, Our Lady of Lourdes, Baron Suire, Madame Volmar, Madame Maze, Elise Rouquet, Madame Chaise, Brother Isidore, Blessed Sacrament, Madame Vigneron, Place du Rosaire, Sophie Couteau, Fathers of the Grotto, Sister Claire des Anges, Des Hermoises, Immaculate Conception, Madame Dieulafay, Plateau de la Merlasse, Elise Bouquet, Lord Jesus New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
THE pilgrims and patients, closely packed on the hard seats of the third-class carriage, were just finishing the ' Ave maris Stella,' which they had begun to chant on leaving the terminus of the Orleans line, when Marie, slightly raised on her couch of misery and restless with feverish impatience, caught sight of the Paris fortifications through the window of the moving train. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
heal our sick, healthy pilgrims, verification office, national pilgrimage, inclined ways, gradient ways, visible sores, ailing ones, white train, rolling onward, divine illusion, whole carriage, miraculous water, night procession Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sister Hyacinthe, Doctor Chassaigne, Father Massias, Father Fourcade, Madame Vincent, Doctor Bonamy, Our Lady of Lourdes, Baron Suire, Madame Volmar, Madame Maze, Elise Rouquet, Madame Chaise, Brother Isidore, Blessed Sacrament, Madame Vigneron, Place du Rosaire, Sophie Couteau, Fathers of the Grotto, Sister Claire des Anges, Des Hermoises, Immaculate Conception, Madame Dieulafay, Plateau de la Merlasse, Elise Bouquet, Lord Jesus New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 30
books:
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- Scenes of Clerical Life (Penguin Classics) by George Eliot in Front Matter
- The Love Songs of Sappho (Literary Classics) by Sappho in Front Matter
- The Ecstasy of Owen Muir (Literary Classics Series) by Ring Lardner Jr. in Front Matter
- My Life And Loves, v5 by Frank Harris in Front Matter
- Rachel Dyer (Literary Classics) by John Neal in Front Matter
See all 30 books this book cites
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