Émile Zola’s Followers (3,984)

Émile Zola

Born

in Paris, France

April 02, 1840

Died

September 29, 1902

Genre

Fiction, Short Stories

Influences

Honoré de Balzac, Stendhal, Hippolyte Taine, Charles Darwin, Gustave F ...more

edit data

Émile François Zola was an influential French novelist, the most important example of the literary school of naturalism, and a major figure in the political liberalization of France.

More than half of Zola's novels were part of a set of 20 books collectively known as Les Rougon-Macquart. Unlike Balzac who in the midst of his literary career resynthesized his work into La Comédie Humaine, Zola from the start at the age of 28 had thought of the complete layout of the series. Set in France's Second Empire, the series traces the "environmental" influences of violence, alcohol and prostitution which became more prevalent during the second wave of the Industrial Revolution. The series examines two branches of a family: the respectable (that is, le Émile François Zola was an influential French novelist, the most important example of the literary school of naturalism, and a major figure in the political liberalization of France.

More than half of Zola's novels were part of a set of 20 books collectively known as Les Rougon-Macquart. Unlike Balzac who in the midst of his literary career resynthesized his work into La Comédie Humaine, Zola from the start at the age of 28 had thought of the complete layout of the series. Set in France's Second Empire, the series traces the "environmental" influences of violence, alcohol and prostitution which became more prevalent during the second wave of the Industrial Revolution. The series examines two branches of a family: the respectable (that is, legitimate) Rougons and the disreputable (illegitimate) Macquarts for five generations.

As he described his plans for the series, "I want to portray, at the outset of a century of liberty and truth, a family that cannot restrain itself in its rush to possess all the good things that progress is making available and is derailed by its own momentum, the fatal convulsions that accompany the birth of a new world."

Although Zola and Cézanne were friends from childhood, they broke in later life over Zola's fictionalized depiction of Cézanne and the Bohemian life of painters in his novel L'Œuvre (The Masterpiece, 1886).

From 1877 with the publication of L'Assommoir, Émile Zola became wealthy, he was better paid than Victor Hugo, for example. He became a figurehead among the literary bourgeoisie and organized cultural dinners with Guy de Maupassant, Joris-Karl Huysmans and other writers at his luxurious villa in Medan near Paris after 1880. Germinal in 1885, then the three 'cities', Lourdes in 1894, Rome in 1896 and Paris in 1897, established Zola as a successful author.

The self-proclaimed leader of French naturalism, Zola's works inspired operas such as those of Gustave Charpentier, notably Louise in the 1890s. His works, inspired by the concepts of heredity (Claude Bernard), social manichaeism and idealistic socialism, resonate with those of Nadar, Manet and subsequently Flaubert. ...more

Combine Editions
Émile Zola’s books

Average rating: 3.93 · 209,201 ratings · 14,941 reviews · 2,884 distinct works • Similar authors

	Germinal 4.19 avg rating — 39,069 ratings — published 1885 — 1404 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thérèse Raquin 3.73 avg rating — 34,056 ratings — published 1867 — 1259 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nana 3.84 avg rating — 25,664 ratings — published 1880 — 1386 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ladies' Paradise (Les Rougon-Macquart #11) 3.98 avg rating — 18,237 ratings — published 1883 — 816 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	L'Assommoir by Émile Zola, Robin Buss (Translator) 4.08 avg rating — 17,492 ratings — published 1876 — 1027 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La Bête humaine by Émile Zola, Henri Mitterand (Editor) 4.04 avg rating — 11,924 ratings — published 1890 — 528 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fortune of the Rougons (Les Rougon-Macquart, #1) 3.89 avg rating — 7,253 ratings — published 1871 — 975 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Belly of Paris (Les Rougon-Macquart, #3) by Émile Zola, Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (Translator) 3.92 avg rating — 6,571 ratings — published 1873 — 663 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La Curée 3.87 avg rating — 5,619 ratings — published 1871 — 461 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Masterpiece 3.98 avg rating — 4,851 ratings — published 1886 — 536 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Émile Zola…

Series by Émile Zola

Les Rougon-Macquart (20 books)
by

Émile Zola,

Robin Buss (Translator)

3.99 avg rating — 158,783 ratings

Les Rougon-Macquart (20 books)
by

Émile Zola,

Brian Nelson (Translator)

3.99 avg rating — 158,673 ratings

Three Cities Trilogy (3 books)
by

Émile Zola

3.86 avg rating — 567 ratings

Les Quatre Évangiles (3 books)
by

Émile Zola,

Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (Translator)

4.01 avg rating — 280 ratings

Stories for Ninon (2 books)
by

Émile Zola

3.31 avg rating — 91 ratings

More series by Émile Zola…

We all have our reading bucket lists. James Mustich's 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die is bound to seriously expand that list...

Polls

November 2022 Old School Classics Poll

The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1851, 176pp

35 votes, 26.9%

The Symposium by Plato, -380, 90pp

27 votes, 20.8%

Germinal by Émile Zola, 1885, 592pp

26 votes, 20.0%

Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol, 1835, 178pp

16 votes, 12.3%

The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse by Pierre Abélard, 1133, 383pp

13 votes, 10.0%

Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins, 1870, 464pp

13 votes, 10.0%

130 total votes

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Classics and the ...: First Readings of Self-Reliance	120	146	Sep 22, 2009 03:53AM
Chicks On Lit: A to Z world wide travel through books.	45	125	Mar 24, 2010 12:00PM
Book lovers : A-Z Challenge	48	268	Apr 14, 2010 09:59AM
Project Gutenberg...: Vous ne savez pas par où commencer?	1	56	Aug 30, 2010 05:03AM
Chicks On Lit: Favorite Book of 2010........so far?????	243	830	Dec 17, 2010 08:06AM
Challenge: 50 Books: Alex Khype - 2010	28	164	Jan 08, 2011 04:09PM
UK Book Club: Favourite Books of 2010?	46	180	Apr 10, 2011 10:42AM

More…

Émile Zola’s Followers (3,984)

Émile Zola

Combine EditionsÉmile Zola’s books

Series by Émile Zola

Related News

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Émile Zola’s books