an accessible great (Emile Zola in general)

Member Name: the_grinder

Product:	Emile Zola in general
Date:	02/11/01 (132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: gripping plots

Disadvantages: longish novels

Of the foreign authors I have read, I would recommend Emile Zola as one of the more accessible. Above all, his novels are generally a cracking read. In the opinion of many he falls short of the sophistication of a Flaubert or Stendhal, but to others his novels are far more gripping as a result.

Zola wrote at the end of the nineteenth century, and took it upon himself to beat the drum for literary naturalism - a contradictory notion that he never fully resolved. His basic aim was to show a 'slice of life with no frills attached'. In reality this manaifests itself in some gruesome descriptions of corpses, poverty and violence in hufe epic tales.

He wrote several novels as part of his Rougon-Macquart series, usually dealing with a different central character from one of those two fictional families in each one. He was fascinated by the idea of heredity, and many of the characters suffer the same alcoholism or violence. The novels deal with the squalor of the working class and their struggle against poverty and the ruling classes. A typical novel by Zola (and yes I know there are exceptions) would paint a bleak but vibrant picture of a Parisan slum, make you half fall in love with the main character, set an angry mob on the march through the streets in a tale of death and destruction, and leave you exhausted by the rollercoaster emotion of it all.

Does this sound like your cup of tea? If so, the obvious first novel to try is Germinal, with its cinematic scenes of a crowd on the march and breathless narrative. L'Assomoir is underrated as an example of how to create a flawed but adorable lead character. Therese Raquin - one of his first - is shorter and absolutely gruesome. And once you are used to Zola's style, you must try La Bete Humaine, which has love, death, fatal flaws, relentless pace and tragedy to extreme.

Give Zola a go - I don't know many people who don't enjoy his novels simply as good reads. If you&
#39;re all clever and studying him, then you should probably see what Flaubert and Stendhal did first and reflect on Zola's at times crude attamepts at naturalism.

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