Émile Zola’s Followers (3,475)

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: 3.94 · 182,452 ratings · 12,125 reviews · 1,499 distinct works • Similar authors

	Germinal 4.17 avg rating — 35,072 ratings — published 1885 — 1471 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 — 29,244 ratings — published 1867 — 1293 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 — 23,519 ratings — published 1880 — 1465 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) 4.07 avg rating — 15,427 ratings — published 1876 — 538 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 — 15,675 ratings — published 1883 — 864 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) 4.05 avg rating — 10,630 ratings — published 1890	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 3.88 avg rating — 6,195 ratings — published 1871 — 1016 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 by Émile Zola, Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (Translator) 3.92 avg rating — 5,714 ratings — published 1873 — 621 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 — 4,785 ratings — published 1871 — 422 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 — 4,214 ratings — published 1886 — 547 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 — 140,146 ratings

Les Rougon-Macquart (20 books)
by

Émile Zola,

Brian Nelson (Translator)

3.99 avg rating — 140,064 ratings

Three Cities Trilogy (3 books)
by

Émile Zola

3.83 avg rating — 509 ratings

Les Quatre Évangiles (3 books)
by

Émile Zola,

Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (Translator)

3.92 avg rating — 258 ratings

Stories for Ninon (2 books)
by

Émile Zola

3.35 avg rating — 86 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 2016 Old School Classic Poll

1874, Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, 433 pages

70 votes, 28.1%

1603, Othello by William Shakespeare, 314 pages

63 votes, 25.3%

1320, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, 798 pages

35 votes, 14.1%

1796, The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis, 386 pages

18 votes, 7.2%

1861, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, 176 pages

18 votes, 7.2%

1887, Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly, 92 pages

14 votes, 5.6%

1867, Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola, 201 pages

14 votes, 5.6%

1589, The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe, 64 pages

9 votes, 3.6%

1505, Monkey: The Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, 306 pages

8 votes, 3.2%

249 total votes

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Émile Zola’s Followers (3,475)

Émile Zola

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Émile Zola’s books