Title: Delicious detail
Product review: Zola's sweeping novel series, Les Rougon-Macquart, includes "The Ladies' Paradise" (Au Bonheur des dames), a fascinating look into "modern" Paris of mass consumption and new urban values. With the exacting physical eye of an entomologist and the social-moral vision of the great writer he was, Zola immerses us in a world of detail, and a complex world of people all vying for various pieces of the pie. There's the brash capitalist who owns the new megastore that dwarfs all else in the neighborhood (reflecting the actual, new reality of the department store), the hierarchy/community of the store's management, employees, and shoppers, and there's the small businesses in the neighborhood struggling to maintain their traditional values of business, personal business relationships, and quality that are being swamped by the new model of mass consumption and desire. This is all given form by the story of country girl Denise, who improbably ends up--no, let's not ruin a good book...
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
