Zola's "Bonheur des Dames Department Store" Synopsis and Impressions - The Secret of Desire and Mass Consumption Society - To understand the origins of the department store.
This is the story referenced in "The Couple Who Invented the Department Store" by French literary scholar Shigeru Kashima.
Zola is a writer who places great importance on on-the-spot interviews, and in writing this novel, he actually went to Bon Marché, Louvre, and other department stores to conduct long-term interviews.
Reading this book will help you understand the origins of the modern society we live in.
This is where the department stores and large shopping centers that are no longer the face of the city and to which we are all indebted on a daily basis originated.
I highly recommend this work.