The Life And Times Of Emile Zola

by F.W.J. Hemmings

Controversy surrounded Zola during his life-time, and controversy has followed him ever since. No other French writer was so violently attacked by contemporaries, none had a more devoted following. This high priest of Naturalism scandalized France by the frankness of his treatment of the seamier side of human nature and electrified the whole of Europe and America by his denunciation of the military establishment of his country over the Dreyfus case. His reputation has remained in dispute ever since his mysterious death in 1902, some critics arguing his work's consistently high and original literary quality, others its undue reliance on cheap sensationalism.

This biography, which at was the first in English for twenty-five years when it was first published in 1966, draws on significant material to present a full and rounded account of a life that progressed from abject poverty to powerful influence and relative affluence, an account that considerably modifies our ideas about a writer who was always a public figure but at the same time a defensively shy and secretive man. F.W.J. Hemmings delineates the social facts that lay behind Zola's great panoramic cycle of novels Les Rougon-Macquart , with its theme of corruption spreading through all levels of French society from the festering economic degradation at the bottom of the social scale. Consideration of the real-life settings of such novels as The Drunkard , Nana , Germinal and Earth gives us enhanced appreciation of the compelling power of these works.

Genres: Biography

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 22, 1977

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the Zola nut, you might find yourself wanting more, a lot more, but since there are so few English-language biographies of everyone's favorite, you take what you can get. This one is apparently favored over Brown's for its brevity and succinctness. But that is my only real complaint with Hemmings' bio, is that we get just enough of the Z-bag, but in the end it feels like a tease. Probably the most "deficient" part with this bio is that the novels aren't properly studied or situated in Zola's life. Hemmings tends to focus on the personal and political facets of Zola's life and career, which is great, but certainly works such as Les Rougons-Macquart deserve more than fleeting mention. For me, I'd like to see a Frank/Dostoevsky style mammoth bio. Zola didn't flinch from involving himself in issues of the day, whether it be the Drefyus Affair, Impressionism, or mistress-hiding. It would be swell to have all of that brought into line with his artistry.
I'm bitching pointlessly, though, since I gave the goddamn book five stars. It really is quite good and eminently readable, free of stupid academic pedantry.

[Maan Kawas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book! Every one wishes to read Emile Zola should start with it in order to understand the foundations of Zola's works. The book is well-organized, and it provides great information about the life and time of Zola, showing how certain events in his life related to each novel of his. What I liked in particular is the chapter that describes him as a man, then, the chapter that describes him as a writer. Now, I feel that I can resume his other works more enlightened.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad at all - good for a basic overview of his life etc

[Wendell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emile Zola caught my imagination relatively early in my reading life, primarily due to his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair that so ensnared fin-de-siecle France in cultural turmoil, but it took me a long time to finally get around to reading one of his books. Whether it was GERMINAL or NANA, it was too early a time for me--he was nowhere near as accessible as someone like Dickens. Imagine my delighted (and appalled) surprise ten or fifteen years later when I revisited some of his works (now adding THE EARTH, THERESE RAQUIN, AU BONHEUR DES DAMES, L'ASSOMOIR and THE DEBACLE). Far from the expected, worthy but slightly dull and pedantic explorations of French social life during one of its most tumultuous eras, his novels were eventful, visceral and thought-provoking, filled with memorable characters and sensually-described scenes (Hemmings suggests, among other things, that Zola's facility with olfactory descriptions derived in part from poor eyesight). I'd instantly recommend any of the above, and maybe because of this, I was expecting a little more from Hemmings' perfectly respectable life of France's most underrated great nineteenth century writer. It's a largely straightforward biography written in the late 70s, and touches on all the major events and productions of Zola's life--the acclaim, the controversy, the affairs--but doesn't really attempt anything more. That's fine, to be sure, but the rare flashes of innovation or the avant-garde--among them trying to imagine, in novelistic terms, some of Zola's reaction to his brief English exile in the wake of the Dreyfus Affair--sit uneasily beside the workmanlike treatment of the rest of the material. The treatment of the actual work is a little uneven, with some novels (Zola wrote few surviving short stories, and those towards the very beginning of his career) mentioned barely in passing (NANA, THE DEBACLE) and others getting rather more sumptuous analysis. I may still be a little piqued that a work I haven't read yet, LA FORTUNE DES ROUGON, had its plot well-detailed up to the spoiler-laden ending, so take that with a grain of salt. A separate chapter on Zola's writing habits and procedure, on the other hand, is very well-done, and L'ASSOMOIR receives the detailed treatment due such an important work in Zola's life and in French literature. I don't mean to damn with faint praise, as for someone who knows little about Zola or his life, Hemmings' study is an excellent beginning. At the very least, it serves as a springboard for more exhaustive studies, like those by Frederick Brown (less familiar with Alan Schom's), not to mention sparking my interest in those remaining works with which I'm unfamiliar.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zola is one of the greatest writers to put pen to page. He seems to over-describe in places, but while you are reading whatever he is describing, a tree, a piece of fruit, the look of someone, you want to hang on to find out what his next word will be. Not overwritten, then, is it? He is lavish with the language. He comes from a time of so many great French artists. He was surrounded b them, with Balzac in his literary past. To me he rates as high as Balzac. Zola was also, in his personal life, vilified for being on the side of justice. This book is an outstanding read, in helping to get to know Zola, though it is incomplete in not covering the injustice that was served. Maybe the author disagreed with Zola's pursuit in the Dreyfus case. Anyway, well written.

[Orion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent biography of one of France's greatest authors. Hemmings follows through Zola's life, showing how personal and societal events tie into the publications he was writing at the time. This makes the book especially useful to someone who has already read Zola's works, but will be of interest to those who want to use this to get acquainted with the author and his works. Although written almost 50 years ago, the scholarship holds up well. Having read most of Zola's novels and short stories in English translation, I found this to be a great way to reminisce about the life and works of one of my favorite authors.

[John Purcell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to Zola's life and work.