Several minor parts of the story are told from the viewpoint of a dog: unique! M. Bergeret, a professor, is moving to Paris as a lecturer at the Sorbonne. As a house-hunter, he is a real connoisseur. His great selection is a former chemical warehouse. Fortunately, his sister has better taste. The majority of the novel appears to be a political treatisead nauseum. Dominating this is The Affair (Dreyfus). Didnt Zola do that to death in JAccusé? Like Zola, M. France is persistent, reverting again and again to The Affair as his players ply their politics. Replete dropping of obscure names is about all that would aid in dating the action in the novelif anyone could find the time and patience to research them. All that I can glean is that it falls somewhere between 1856 (when M. Bergerets father resided in Paris) and 1921 (the year of publication of the novel). Of course the reference to Zola would place it somewhat after The Affair.

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