L’Assommoir
Gervaise Macquart, a lame young laundress abandoned by her lover, tries to build a decent life in the slums of working-class Paris. For a while she succeeds, opening her own shop and finding modest happiness, but drink, debt, and the pressures of poverty close in from every side, and the neighborhood grog shop that gives the book its name drags her family down by degrees. The seventh novel in Zola’s Rougon-Macquart series, it caused a scandal with its unflinching picture of alcoholism and hardship and its raw use of working-class speech. Pitiless yet deeply compassionate, it is one of the great novels of the industrial city. Free to download as a PDF or EPUB.
About the Author
Émile Zola (1840-1902) was a French novelist and the leading figure of literary naturalism. His twenty-volume Rougon-Macquart cycle traced one family under the Second Empire, and his open letter J’accuse in defense of Alfred Dreyfus reshaped the writer’s role in public life.
See all books by Émile Zola →
Listen to L’Assommoir Audiobook Free
Listen to L’Assommoir by Émile Zola free online. The full audiobook (16 hr 45 min, 61 chapters, read by volunteer narrators) streams free on this page.
L’Assommoir (1885) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 00 - Author's preface and introduction | 25:21 | |
| 2 | 01 - Chapter I, part one | 17:19 | |
| 3 | 02 - Chapter I, part two | 16:54 | |
| 4 | 03 - Chapter I, part three | 16:53 | |
| 5 | 04 - Chapter I, part four | 17:46 | |
| 6 | 05 - Chapter II, part one | 15:19 | |
| 7 | 06 - Chapter II, part two | 15:37 | |
| 8 | 07 - Chapter II, part three | 14:36 | |
| 9 | 08 - Chapter II, part four | 16:28 | |
| 10 | 09 - Chapter III, part one | 16:56 | |
| 11 | 10 - Chapter III, part two | 15:42 | |
| 12 | 11 - Chapter III, part three | 15:49 | |
| 13 | 12 - Chapter III, part four | 16:20 | |
| 14 | 13 - Chapter III, part five | 17:01 | |
| 15 | 14 - Chapter IV, part one | 13:52 | |
| 16 | 15 - Chapter IV, part two | 14:51 | |
| 17 | 16 - Chapter IV, part three | 13:52 | |
| 18 | 17 - Chapter IV, part four | 14:17 | |
| 19 | 18 - Chapter IV, part five | 15:05 | |
| 20 | 19 - Chapter V, part one | 16:31 | |
| 21 | 20 - Chapter V, part two | 16:41 | |
| 22 | 21 - Chapter V, part three | 16:42 | |
| 23 | 22 - Chapter V, part four | 16:46 | |
| 24 | 23 - Chapter V, part five | 16:06 | |
| 25 | 24 - Chapter VI, part one | 13:20 | |
| 26 | 25 - Chapter VI, part two | 13:51 | |
| 27 | 26 - Chapter VI, part three | 13:46 | |
| 28 | 27 - Chapter VI, part four | 12:46 | |
| 29 | 28 - Chapter VI, part five | 13:11 | |
| 30 | 29 - Chapter VII, part one | 17:39 | |
| 31 | 30 - Chapter VII, part two | 16:45 | |
| 32 | 31 - Chapter VII, part three | 17:17 | |
| 33 | 32 - Chapter VII, part four | 15:52 | |
| 34 | 33 - Chapter VII, part five | 18:25 | |
| 35 | 34 - Chapter VIII, part one | 16:40 | |
| 36 | 35 - Chapter VIII, part two | 16:34 | |
| 37 | 36 - Chapter VIII, part three | 18:01 | |
| 38 | 37 - Chapter VIII, part four | 16:43 | |
| 39 | 38 - Chapter VIII, part five | 18:13 | |
| 40 | 39 - Chapter IX, part one | 18:04 | |
| 41 | 40 - Chapter IX, part two | 15:46 | |
| 42 | 41 - Chapter IX, part three | 16:02 | |
| 43 | 42 - Chapter IX, part four | 14:56 | |
| 44 | 43 - Chapter IX, part five | 15:39 | |
| 45 | 44 - Chapter X, part one | 17:28 | |
| 46 | 45 - Chapter X, part two | 17:16 | |
| 47 | 46 - Chapter X, part three | 15:04 | |
| 48 | 47 - Chapter X, part four | 17:23 | |
| 49 | 48 - Chapter X, part five | 18:54 | |
| 50 | 49 - Chapter XI, part one | 17:00 | |
| 51 | 50 - Chapter XI, part two | 16:58 | |
| 52 | 51 - Chapter XI, part three | 16:04 | |
| 53 | 52 - Chapter XI, part four | 17:29 | |
| 54 | 53 - Chapter XI, part five | 17:40 | |
| 55 | 54 - Chapter XII, part one | 16:00 | |
| 56 | 55 - Chapter XII, part two | 16:21 | |
| 57 | 56 - Chapter XII, part three | 16:02 | |
| 58 | 57 - Chapter XII, part four | 18:09 | |
| 59 | 58 - Chapter XII, part five | 16:29 | |
| 60 | 59 - Chapter XIII, part one | 18:37 | |
| 61 | 60 - Chapter XIII, part two | 20:14 |
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