Émile Zola’s Followers (3,909)

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

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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 · 204,804 ratings · 14,467 reviews · 2,987 distinct works • Similar authors

	Germinal 4.19 avg rating — 38,445 ratings — published 1885 — 36 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 3.72 avg rating — 33,330 ratings — published 1867 — 10 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 — 25,329 ratings — published 1880 — 1383 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 3.99 avg rating — 17,808 ratings — published 1883 — 450 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 — 17,158 ratings — published 1876 — 1031 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 — 11,733 ratings — published 1890 — 97 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 — 7,091 ratings — published 1871 — 983 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 — 6,430 ratings — published 1873 — 102 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 3.86 avg rating — 5,521 ratings — published 1871 — 97 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 3.97 avg rating — 4,759 ratings — published 1886 — 542 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 (23 books)
by

Émile Zola,

Robin Buss (Translator)

3.99 avg rating — 155,917 ratings

Les Rougon-Macquart (20 books)
by

Émile Zola,

Brian Nelson (Translator)

3.99 avg rating — 155,809 ratings

Three Cities Trilogy (3 books)
by

Émile Zola

3.87 avg rating — 601 ratings

Les Quatre Évangiles (3 books)
by

Émile Zola,

Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (Translator)

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 267 ratings

Stories for Ninon (2 books)
by

Émile Zola

3.29 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

July 2021 Old School Classic Poll

Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac

32 votes, 19.0%

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

28 votes, 16.7%

Nana by Émile Zola

28 votes, 16.7%

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

20 votes, 11.9%

Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes

16 votes, 9.5%

The Bhagavad Gita by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

15 votes, 8.9%

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott

15 votes, 8.9%

Liza of Lambeth by W. Somerset Maugham

14 votes, 8.3%

168 total votes

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Émile Zola’s Followers (3,909)

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