Zola Dictionary: The Characters of the Rougon-Macquart Novels of Emile Zola

by J.G. Patterson

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Genres: Reference, Literary Criticism

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1912

Reviews

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The skeleton key to the sprawling Rougon-Macquart novels of Emile Zola.

I've read three or four of the twenty novels and think I might take a stab at going completist. Getting organized, I purchased the guide to the Characters, a standard edition by JG Patterson. Next step: what order to read them in? It is not at all settled what should be read first...

Per Wikipedia, here is the Canon, cited in the order of its Publication:
1. La Fortune des Rougon (1871)
2. La Curée (1871–2)
3. Le Ventre de Paris (1873)
4. La Conquête de Plassans (1874)
5. La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret (1875)
6. Son Excellence Eugène Rougon (1876)
7. L'Assommoir (1877)
8. Une page d'amour (1878)
9. Nana (1880)
10. Pot-Bouille (1882)
11. Au Bonheur des Dames (1883)
12. La joie de vivre (1884)
13. Germinal (1885)
14. L'Œuvre (1886)
15. La Terre (1887)
16. Le Rêve (1888)
17. La Bête humaine (1890)
18. L'Argent (1891)
19. La Débâcle (1892)
20. Le Docteur Pascal (1893)

But there are other, more internally chronological or just more coherent orders, readily available online. Looks like either way I start with La Fortune des Rougon, so that will be the start. But even before that: as I can't read French, which translations?

This will be a large undertaking, but no pressure, I seem to have the rest of my life to undertake the mission. If there was a perfect hardback set of the volumes, I'd buy it, but I don't see it out there. No ebooks or kindle version, I think. Got the character map in hand, at least.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

(5 stars if I were the kind of person who gave 5 stars more regularly.)

Zola's Rougon-Macquart series has 20 novels, takes place over 25 years, and features at least 1,200 characters! This book from 1912 catalogues them all (including the occasional non-human) with brief biographies. A great supplement to the series - and available for free online these days, of course.

I assume it's accurate - although I note that the English translations available in 1912 were often censored and bowdlerised all over the place. So perhaps it's time for someone to update it. (I'm not offering. Well, maybe I am.)

[Laura]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still reading through A Zola Dictionary; the Characters of the Rougon-Macquart Novels of Emile Zola. An excellent companion to his works.

[Bcoghill Coghill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like all things Zola. This is a nice reference book to remind one of how it all fits together (when it does fit together).
It has me warmed up to dive back into the saga. I was suprised how many of the books I have already read.

[Nick Park · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was sort of weird. I love the Rougon-MacQuart novels - but a dictionary that lists the names of cows and horses as characters seems a little obsessive?

[Velvetink]

ebook