Émile Zola

Author profile

born

in Paris, France

April 02, 1840

died

September 29, 1902

genre

Literature & Fiction, Short Stories, Nonfiction

influences

Honoré de Balzac

About this author

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Émile 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)...more Émile 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.

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Émile Zola's Books

Average rating: 3.90 · 37,184 ratings · 2,009 reviews · 205 distinct works · Similar authors

	Germinal (Les Rougon-Macquart, #13) by Émile Zola, Roger Pearson (Translator, Introduction) 4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 avg rating — 8,909 ratings — published 1885 — 163 editions	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 (Les Rougon-Macquart, #9) 3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 avg rating — 7,129 ratings — published 1880 — 160 editions	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 by Émile Zola, Robin Buss (Translator) 3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 4,973 ratings — published 1867 — 170 editions	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 (The Dram Shop) (Les Rougon-Macquart, #7) by Émile Zola, Robin Buss (Translator) 4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 3,516 ratings — published 1877 — 117 editions	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 (Les Rougon-Macquart, #17) 4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 2,212 ratings — published 1890 — 63 editions	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) by Émile Zola, Brian Nelson (Translator) 3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 2,463 ratings — published 1883 — 103 editions	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) 3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 933 ratings — published 1871 — 67 editions	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) 3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 1,108 ratings — published 1873 — 84 editions	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 (Les Rougon-Macquart, #14) by Émile Zola, Roger Pearson 3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 897 ratings — published 1886 — 59 editions	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 (Les Rougon-Macquart, #2) 3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 avg rating — 829 ratings — published 1872 — 48 editions	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)
3.936719077906564 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 30,973 ratings

Zola's Les Rougon-Macquart (20 books)
by Émile Zola, Brian Nelson (Translator)
3.936719077906564 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 30,973 ratings

Three Cities Trilogy (3 books)
by Émile Zola
3.8859649122807016 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 114 ratings

Les Quatre Évangiles (3 books)
by Émile Zola, Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (Translator)
4.023809523809524 of 5 stars 4.02 avg rating — 42 ratings

Quotes by Émile Zola

“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.”
― Émile Zola

tags: art, calling, life

2,166 people liked it

“Civilization will not attain to its perfection until the last stone from the last church falls on the last priest.”
― Émile Zola

tags: atheism, civilization, organized-religion, religion

155 people liked it

“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.”
― Émile Zola

tags: art, enterprise, talent, work

129 people liked it

See all Émile Zola's quotes »

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