Claude’s Confession

Quite the first novel from Zola!
I've been reading early novels from many authors complete collections of their works. Frequently the early works of famous authors are a struggle. I was pleased to find that this was engrossing from the start.
The story is perhaps a bit tawdry, but the narrator's voice is raw and compelling, his descriptions, evocative. At times I was reminded of Poe, Dostoevsky, Lovecraft, Huysmans, Tolstoy, and, of course, La Bohème.
Since the narrator is 20 years old, the over-the-top style of narration, while at times a bit irritating, did not seem out of character.