The Fortune of the Rougons

by Émile Zola, Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (Translator)

Overview

‘The Fortune of the Rougons' is the first novel in Zola's monumental 'Les Rougon-Macquart' series. The novel is partly an origin story with an enormous cast of characters, many of whom go on to become the main characters of later novels in the series. It is also a testament to the December 1851 coup d'état that gave rise to the Second French Empire, from the perspective of a large provincial town in southern France. As the title suggests. the protagonists Pierre and Felicité Rougon chase fortune in all its symbolic and tangible meanings in one grand, captivating and hilarious adventure. The title also pays homage to the fortunes of many different family members introduced in the novel, whose lives take on an integral importance throughout later books. An unquestionably successful foundation for the ensuing masterpieces of the series - 'The Fortune of the Rougons' is sure to be savoured by fans of 'Germinal' as an exciting and engrossing read. Nominated twice in the first two instances of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Zola is cited as a major literary influence on authors of the new journalism style of writing, namely Tom Wolfe, Truman Capote, and Gay Talese. Émile Zola (1840-1902) was a French novelist, journalist, and playwright, and one of the most important representatives of French naturalism. His literary topics address violence and its repercussions, alcoholism and issues within the family unit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788726612073
Publisher:	Saga Egmont International
Publication date:	03/29/2022
Series:	The Rougon-Macquart Series: Natural and social history of a family under the Second Empire , #1
Sold by:	De Marque
Format:	eBook
Pages:	181
File size:	600 KB

About the Author

Émile Zola (1840-1902) was a French novelist, journalist, and playwright. Born in Paris to a French mother and Italian father, Zola was raised in Aix-en-Provence. At 18, Zola moved back to Paris, where he befriended Paul Cézanne and began his writing career. During this early period, Zola worked as a clerk for a publisher while writing literary and art reviews as well as political journalism for local newspapers. Following the success of his novel Thérèse Raquin (1867), Zola began a series of twenty novels known as Les Rougon-Macquart, a sprawling collection following the fates of a single family living under the Second Empire of Napoleon III. Zola’s work earned him a reputation as a leading figure in literary naturalism, a style noted for its rejection of Romanticism in favor of detachment, rationalism, and social commentary. Following the infamous Dreyfus affair of 1894, in which a French-Jewish artillery officer was falsely convicted of spying for the German Embassy, Zola wrote a scathing open letter to French President Félix Faure accusing the government and military of antisemitism and obstruction of justice. Having sacrificed his reputation as a writer and intellectual, Zola helped reverse public opinion on the affair, placing pressure on the government that led to Dreyfus’ full exoneration in 1906. Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 and 1902, Zola is considered one of the most influential and talented writers in French history.