I hadn't really meant to delve into this at all, but Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart series has always intrigued me, and though I have inadvertently read several of the novels completely out of sequence... Germinal, The Ladies' Paradise, Nana I had never really paid much attention to the rest. I had no idea of the titles, the order in which they were published or should be read in, nor even knew much about the premise of the series which has hovered over there on the edges of my radar for years.
Wandering around the shelves trying to decide who to read I stopped in front of the Zola Shelf and there was The Fortune of the Rougons, in a new Oxford World's Classics edition, the first in the series and the one that, unbeknown to me, establishes this sprawling family dynasty envisaged by Zola thus...
'I do not want to paint contemporary society, but a single family, by showing the play of race modified by milieu.'
Twenty novels later and I should imagine he may well have acheived that if the first one is any indication, and, knowing what I know now, I can see how involved and interesting further reading will be. Zola's books all stand alone with ease and I love reading them, but I am feeling a real sense of anticipation at the thought there is so much more there than I have previously discovered.
The Fortune of the Rougons, and quite how the matriarch of the family Adelaide Fouque had spawned both legitimate and illegitimate branches of the family, is key to that greater understanding. Enmities, rivalries, alliances and feuds are established within the framework of a turbulent political era... 'twas probably ever thus in nineteenth century France. As the Rougons Senior, ambitious social climbers both, establish themselves as firmly anti-Republican you can only wonder what sort of messy soup their drawing room politics will land them in when it becomes clear that revolution is brewing. Needless to say the Marquarts are on the march and ready to lop off heads.
I can't pretend to have a particularly in-depth grasp of the nineteenth-century French political scene beyond knowing that the bourgeoisie, the clergy and the aristocracy held the reins and rode the carriages whilst the voiceless proleteriat plodded along on foot. But what Zola achieves so precisely is that sense of political see-sawing and duplicity, and the indecision of many who would wait to see where the balance was tipping before swearing their allegiance in any direction. Plenty of deceit and plotting along the way too.
Trust No One would seem to be a useful motto and I feel sure this will open up some wonderful reading trails along the way. I already have Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety in my sights...and on the subject of our 'ilary... how delighted I was at her Costa Prize win earlier this week for Bring Up the Bodies.
My thanks to Kirsty at Oxford University Press for this information about the Rougon-Maquart publication versus reading order
The twenty novels in publication order are as follows...
1. The Fortune of the Rougons
2. The Kill
3. The Belly of Paris
4. La Conquete des Plassans
5. The Sin of Father Mouret
6. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon
7. L’Assommoir
8. Une Page D’Amour
9. Nana
10. Pot Luck
11. The Ladies’ Paradise
12. La Joie de Vivre
13. Germinal
14. The Masterpiece
15. The Earth
16. The Dream
17. La Bete Humaine
18. L’Argent
19. The Debacle
20. Le Docteur Pascal
Intrestingly, this is Zola's recommended reading order..
1. The Fortune of the Rougons
2. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon
3. The Kill
4. L’Argent
5. The Dream
6. La Conquete des Plassans
7. Pot Luck
8. The Ladies’ Paradise
9. Une Page D’Amour
10. The Sin of Father Mouret
11. The Belly of Paris
12. La Joie de Vivre
13. L’Assommoir
14. The Masterpiece
15. La Bete Humaine
16. Germinal
17. Nana
18. The Earth
19. The Debacle
20. Le Docteur Pascal
There are some availability and possibly translation gaps which I will have to explore, though I have already sourced a copy of No 2 Son Excellence Eugene Rougon and several books are available for e reader.
Now I can't see me completing this Zolathon any time soon, but as an ongoing reading project that keeps classics in my reading pile I am really looking forward to it, and I would love to know your experiences of reading Emile Zola.
Have you read any of the books and did you realise they were part of a much bigger whole??
Has anyone read the whole Rougon-Macquart series??
Or is there a Zola-shaped gap in your reading you feel tempted to fill??
I was scared of even opening one for years thinking they would be far too 'difficult' but have found them the most enjoyable and accessible of reads once I had plucked up the courage.
If so and if you fancy reading along with this Zolathon please do... no time schedule at this stage, but I will be posting about a book every so often.
Oh yes and please do scroll down where Le Magnus awaits avec gifts...
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