Estela
Estela asked:

Do I need to read all the former books from Les Rougon-Macquart series before reading Germinal?

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Stebbins While they can be read in any order, I feel that it's best to start with "The Fortune of the Rougons" and end with "The Doctor Pascal".
Lewis Definitely not. According to the intro in my Germinal. Zola himself didn't even plan out all the components of the Rougon-Macquart series, he was improvising as he went along and had to later invent a brother to Germinal's protagonist for another novel. They're more like separate novels tied loosely together.
Darian Danilevich No, they can be read as separate novels
Vlady Peters Bought this book unaware that it was part of a series, and certainly didn't feel any loose ends when I finished it. As it dealt with the dreadful existence of the poor. I'll be interested to read about Doctor Pascal. the last novel of, apparently of 20 in the series, with Germinal somewhere in the middle.
Peter Li No, not at all.
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