The Joy of Life

14 hrs. 30 min.

Classics

Language Russian

Author Émile Zola

Narrator Yuliya Tarkhova

“The Joy of Life” (1883) is Émile Zola’s twelfth novel in the cycle “Rougon-Macquart,” devoted to members of one family who lived during the Second Empire—the period of Napoleon III’s dictatorship. The novel begins in 1863 and spans about ten years. Polina, a ten-year-old girl, loses her parents and moves to Chantau, her father’s relatives, in the seaside village of Bonneville in Normandy. The author contrasts Polina’s optimism and openness of heart with the sickness, resentment, and depression common in the Chantau family. The events do not take place in Paris and not near it, nor in Zola’s fictional Plassan—the town the family is from. Polina’s somewhat weak and unexplored connection with her relatives the Rougons and Macquarts is the only link to the rest of the series.

1. The Fortune of the Rougons (narrated by Alexey Dyakov) 1. The Fortune of the Rougons (narrated by Konstantin Dneprovsky) 1. The Fortune of the Rougons (narrated by Elena Shemet) 2. La Curée (The Kill) (narrated by Inna Sytnik) 2. La Curée (The Kill) (narrated by Konstantin Dneprovsky) 3. The Belly of Paris (narrated by Larisa Tretyakova) 3. The Belly of Paris (narrated by Konstantin Dneprovsky) 3. The Belly of Paris (narrated by Pavel Lomakin) 3. The Belly of Paris (narrated by Vsevolod Kuznetsov) 4. The Conquest of Plassans (narrated by Konstantin Dneprovsky) 5. The Sin of Father Mouret (narrated by Arkady Bukhmin) 5. The Sin of Father Mouret (narrated by Alina Ray) 5. The Sin of Abbé Mouret (narrated by Konstantin Dneprovsky) 6. His Excellency Eugene Rougon (narrated by Valery Tolkov) 7. L'Assommoir (narrated by Veronika Oboyanka) 7. The Trap (narrated by Margarita Ivanova) 8. A Love Episode (narrated by Oleg Martyanov) 8. A Love Episode (narrated by Natalya Frolova) 9. Nana (narrated by Nikolay Orlovsky) 9. Nana (narrated by Natalya Pervina) 9. Nana (narrated by Irina Vorobyova) 10. Pot Luck (narrated by Natalya Domeretskaya) 11. The Ladies' Paradise (narrated by Olga Zyuzina) 11. The Ladies' Paradise (narrated by Yuliya Tarkhova) 11. The Ladies' Paradise (narrated by Veronika Oboyanka) 12. The Joy of Life 12. The Joys of Life (narrated by Sergey Kazakov) 13. Germinal (narrated by Yury Zaborovsky) 13. Germinal (narrated by Natalya Pervina) 13. Germinal (narrated by Konstantin Dneprovsky) 13. Germinal (narrated by Arkady Bukhmin) 14. The Masterpiece (narrated by Tatyana Telegina) 14. The Masterpiece (narrated by Olga Andreeva) 14. The Masterpiece (narrated by Ivan Zabelin) 15. Earth (narrated by Valery Tolkov) 16. The Dream (narrated by Irina Efremova, Olga Evdokimova) 17. The Beast Within (narrated by Arkady Bukhmin) 17. The Beast Within (narrated by Valery Tolkov) 18. Money (narrated by Yury Zaborovsky) 18. Money (narrated by Yaroslav Lukashev) 18. Money (narrated by Olga Andreeva) 18. Money (narrated by Konstantin Dneprovsky) 19. The Debacle (narrated by Ilya Akintyev) 20. Doctor Pascal (narrated by Vladislav Pogiba) La Bête humaine (narrated by Roman Popov) The Dream (narrated by Olga Evdokimova)