Hello/Welcome/Plans

I’m so excited to be reading Zola’s “masterpiece” with friends. Sometimes it is difficult to interpret Zola, and other readers’ insights really add understanding. I will pattern this group read after a couple of others in which I have participated.

Here is the time schedule (Zola’s reading suggestion)
September 2024 The Fortune of the Rougons
November 2024 His Excellency Eugene Rougon
January 2025 The Kill
March 2025 The Money
May 2025 The Dream
July 2025 The Conquest of Plassans
September 2025 Potluck
November 2025 The Ladies of Paradise/The Ladies Delight

More to follow as we progress!

There are some joining who are ahead of this schedule. I encourage you to join in the conversation when you can!

If you can invite others, please do so!

You can also use this post for questions, etc.

Checking in. Have ordered vol with first five books. Are we following publication order?

I'll be checking in in September.

I'm excited for this! I've read about six of Zola's novels, mainly the more popular ones that will come later in the series, and I've been wanting to go back to the beginning and read the whole series.

It looks like you are planning to do Zola's recommended reading order rather than the publication order? That works for me. I couldn't decide which would be better so I'm happy to have someone else make the final call!

I will join in with the September read.

>2 booksaplenty1949: We are reading them in Zola's recommended reading order. (Which really is, as I understand, more chronological)

I read our September read in July and don't wish to re-read so soon. I've ordered a couple to supplement from Amazon and will try to fill in the gaps while I await November's read:

The Dreyfus Affair: The Scandal That Tore France in Two by Piers Paul Read. There were many on this topic from which to choose, however, I have read a book by this author before and while not excellent, it was not bad. Also ordered Zola and the Victorians by Eileen Horne. I was not aware that Zola's publisher was tried on obscenity charges for publishing works of Zola. It ruined his company and his health. My understanding is that Zola's The Earth was banned in the UK and in several U.S. cities, including Boston.

I have fared very badly in LT group reads so far, but this schedule sounds doable, so I will join in and do my best!

>6 Tess_W: I also really liked An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris, a thriller set during the Dreyfus Affair. Zola makes an appearance.

>5 Tess_W: Yes, I meant the chronology of publication, which is how the series is organised on its LT page. The chronology of the story line sounds like a better idea.

>8 japaul22: May look that one up if time.

I'm terrible at group reads but I'm still joining so I can bathe in others' excitement and to have all the info in one place. I also started this project a while ago so I'm already a few books ahead although you guys will catch up quickly as I've only been reading one to two books a year. In fact, that's why I'm here: to try and pick up the pace a bit.

I read the books in the original French so I'm also looking forward to your comments on the translations.

Just as an aside, I took a hint from sassylassy to buy the Oxford edition of Zola. I'm very happy that I did so. Between the preface and the introduction I feel that I'm caught up on the history of the time and am well prepared for the "tone" of the book. I didn't read from the Oxford for book one, but am halfway through book two (which I will leave sit until this group gets there), and it's the difference between night and day.

I ordered the first three books in the Oxford edition, so this is encouraging!

Looking forward to it. I have all of them on the shelves and ready to go! Read all of them before and a couple fairly recently but ......it is Zola!

My copy of Les Rougon-Macquart 1 arrived today. I have read some of the series, but am looking forward to seeing Zola’s literary/sociological project unfold in its entirety.

I'm joining in. I think the group vibe will keep me on track to read these. Just waiting for the first one to arrive at the library!

Welcome everybody! I'm real excited to read this series, in it for the long-haul! I thought a book per month was too much along with all of our other reading and real life commitments. I hope it's not too long and drawn out. I think the group dynamics and discussion will avert that! Interested in what your interpretations and thoughts are. Anybody reading it in French?

>17 Tess_W: I could only wish that my languages skills was good enough for me to read these books in French. If we were doing a group read of Barbapapa or Madeline I’d read it in French.

>17 Tess_W:
I'll be the one reading it in French although I'm already a few books ahead so won't join you guys till much later.

>17 Tess_W: I'm also reading them in French, and I'll be looking forward to hear about the notes about French history.

>18 PawsforThought: Madeline exists in French?

>21 booksaplenty1949: I don't know. It was just an example of a children's book related to France.

>22 PawsforThought: Okay. I thought maybe you thought it was originally in French. Or written by a Frenchman. Actually when I looked to see if it has been translated into French (yes) I noted that many LT members own a Spanish version. Also Hebrew.

>20 MissWatson: I hope I can post some "good ones." Sadly, in all my university work, we studied the Congress of Vienna (1815) and the next topic was the assassination of Francis Ferdinand. Leaving me (and other American students) with a century hole in world history. So, it's all new to me, but it has made sense in the Oxford edition introduction(s). I can't say an entire hole, we did study the Industrial Revolution in great detail, but from a British perspective only.

>24 Tess_W: I am guessing that the Oxford editions would do a better job of explaining French politics of the Second Empire in more detail to non-French readers than the French editions, who assume that their readers learned about this in school.

Guess what happened - my husband picked up the parcel of the first three books from the Packstation today, only the parcel did not contain the books, but a box of sports socks! Can you believe it?
It is too much hassle to deal with Amazon to get the money back, so my husband decided to keep the socks if no one claims them (they are his size!), and I ordered the books again from a different shop.
When I purchase English books and wish to have new ones (not used ones), I usually order from Amazon because it is cheapest and fastest there (even my local bookshop tells me to do so because English books are ridiculously expensive when ordered by them), but I will try to find other ways after this experience.

I do not want to read this series in ebook format because of all the notes etc. - I wish to have the Oxford editions recommended here, even more so because the covers are so beautiful!

>26 MissBrangwen: Disappearance of The Book Depository (acquired by Amazon and eventually closed) was a real loss, IMHO. Much more reliable than Amazon.

>26 MissBrangwen: At least something useful. To the person who ordered socks, gonna be hard to wear those books!

>26 MissBrangwen:
Actually Amazon customer service is known to be quite good here. You would keep the socks and they’d refund you the books. No reason to lose money over an easy fix.

>26 MissBrangwen: I’m sorry to hear about your boom delivery woes. If I were you I’d try out Blackwell’s. I’ve not tried them myself but have only heard good things. According to this page, they have free worldwide delivery on new books. Might be a successor to BookDepository (which declined dramatically in quality after being bought by Amazon).

>27 booksaplenty1949: >30 PawsforThought: I think I missed the heyday of Book Depository, when I started ordering from them, the books were often not in the condition that was indicated. But I will try Blackwell's! Thanks for reminding me of that.

>28 Tess_W: Haha, that's what I thought!

>29 lilisin: I found it to be more complicated in this particular case, but I will look into it again!

>31 MissBrangwen: Yeah, things went down quickly when they were bought up by Amazon. I tried ordering a copy of Shakespeare’s sonnets and got different editions than I’d ordered - twice. And the second time there were blood stains on the book! I stopped buying from then after that.

>12 Tess_W: Anyone who wants the Oxford.... Be very careful to buy it in treeware, not Kindle, at least for The Fortune of the Rougons. The Kindle edition appearing on the page is not Oxford! And I guess it would be well to download a sample to check out any other Kindle volumes you buy if you specifically want Oxford.

I have The Fortune in Oxford around the house somewhere but I may have trouble putting my hands on it immediately, so if need be I'll go Kindle via the "Delphi Classics" edition of the complete Zola if I can't find that Oxford treeware. I've also got and can easily put my hands on treeware for La Fortune des Rougon but I'd rather do a translation first and then see if I want to go en français on a follow-up.

Heh-heh. This group read is going to force me to do a good bit of clean-up and cataloging of books so I can find all my Zola.

In preparation for reading Zola's 20 volumes, Les Rougon-Macquart, I thought I would become better acquainted with the Dreyfus Affair, in which Zola was heavily involved. The Dreyfus Affair was a major political scandal in France from 1894 to 1906 that involved the wrongful conviction of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French army officer, for treason. The case became a focal point for debates on anti-Semitism, injustice, and the misuse of power. Zola, a prominent writer and social critic, became a vocal supporter of Dreyfus and a critic of the military and judicial authorities who had wrongfully convicted him. Zola’s famous open letter, "J'accuse…!" published in 1898, was a bold and critical piece denouncing the military’s cover-up and the injustice done to Dreyfus. This letter was a significant factor in bringing the case to public attention. Zola was convicted of libel, sentenced to a year in prison, and stripped of his Legion d'Honneur. Instead of serving prison time, Zola fled to England and lived in exile for one year before returning to France. I won't give the details of Dreyfus' third and final trial so as to not spoil the story. This very generic retelling of the trial sufficed for what I needed, but there was nothing in depth nor did it provide any notes/footnotes. 52 pages

oops...I read The Dreyfus Affair by Charles Rivers Editors

>34 Tess_W: This extremely interesting video tour of “Jewish Paris” maintains that Zola was an anti-Semite until he became interested in the Dreyfus affair: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-hub/virtual-tour-of-jewish-paris-2024/?utm_...
I gather that all the Jewish characters in the Rougon-Macquart series are contemptible money-grubbers.

>35 booksaplenty1949: Pretty much admitted, in an interview here: https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2017-07-26/emile-zola-socialism-and-anti-se...

Looky Looky It arrived today!



ETA: Read Chapter 1 today and it is almost identical to chapter 1 of His Excellency Eugene Rougon.

Quote by John Stirling (Translator who wrote the preface) "His love of truth is incorruptible, and the exhibition of this Truth, he believes to be the highest aim of a novelist."

Quote by Zola "In it I have studied temperaments rather than characteristics--this it the distinguishing features of my writings......"

>33 CurrerBell: In the interest of full disclosure I have to reveal that my books with authors whose names start with Y and Z are awaiting a bookshelf. This reading project has given acquisition of same new urgency.

>37 Tess_W: DUH! The alternate name for this book is His Excellency, Eugene Rougon! (or Clorinda. No wonder chapter 1 seemed familiar! This is the book slated to be read in November! Now I have 2 Oxford copies!

>39 Tess_W: Interesting! I've never seen The Mysteries of the Court of Napoleon as the title before. It would have fooled me too.

It is annoying with these Zola books that publishers haven't seemed to agree on English title (or consistently leave them in French). Some seem to stay in French, and others are translated in a variety of ways to English.

>40 japaul22: Well, it seems unfair that a translator would be stuck with a title s/he deemed —misleading, lame, whatever—just because some translator a hundred years ago had used it.
I did buy a French copy of Une ténébreuse affaire, obviously print on demand, that was inexplicably titled Une affaire ténébreuse. Some copyright issue?

>41 booksaplenty1949: Very good point. And case in point: there was a new Swedish translation of the Lord of the Rings some 15-ish years ago (compared to the ones from the 60s-70s something). The old titles of the books are definitely better known, still, and are the ones used for the Peter Jackson films, but they’re not very accurate translations of the originals and not better in a lyrical sense either. If they’d been made around the same time I’m sure the now newer titles would have won (although sources tell me the translations of the contents of the books are worse in the newer ones).
Like I said, the new titles are pretty much direct translations of the English originals but the older ones are as follows (trilogy and the first book, books two and three are pretty much the same but with “the tale of” added):
The Lord of the Rings = Sagan om ringen (the tale of the ring)
The Fellowship of the Ring = Sagan om ringen (the tale of the ring, yes it’s the same title)

We recall Agatha Christie’s most-held mystery story: Ten Little N-words, whoops!-Ten Little Indians, nope!-And Then There Were None. Foreign language titles seem to exist in all three variations.

Fair points! It is confusing, though.

Thank you to everybody that participated in the first Zola read! Please continue to read and comment if you haven't completed The Fortune of the Rougons. Per our "agreement", there will be no read in October, but I have posted Novembers read, for those of you who can't wait!;)

Learning about this group late. I would like to join.

>46 urania1: Welcome! We read The Fortune of the Rougons in September. (See discussions and by all means, post when you have read). This month, (November) we are reading His Excellency, Eugene Rougon. We decided to read a book (in the order that Zola preferred--not by publication date) every other month. So the next book read is not till January--lot's of time to "catch up," if you need to!

>47 Tess_W: I am reading Son Excellence Eugène Rougon in French, but like to follow up each chapter with a look at an English version. Project Gutenberg has a free version, edited by Edward Alfred Vizetelly. Apparently his family publishing firm ran into legal trouble over his father’s translation of an earlier Zola novel and after that the younger Vizetelly went through the English versions and bowdlerised them before they were published. I could see that the references to Clorinde’s posing in the nude in chapter 3, and the descriptions of her breasts, thighs, etc, had all been excised. Presumably other LT members are reading later translations.

I'm tragically behind but am finally making some headway with The Fortune of the Rougons. I'm making some vague plans for next year so was looking at the reading plan for 2025 and notised that the recommended reading order posted in >1 Tess_W: isn't the one that I can find - the places of Potluck (Pot-Bouille) and The Ladies Paradise/The Ladies' Delight (Au Bonheur des Dames) have been switched. It's doesn't make much difference, I suppose, but I thought I'd point it out.

>49 PawsforThought: Yes, I just checked that.

>37 Tess_W: I note that “John Stirling” was the pseudonym of Mary Neal Sherwood (1829-1914). Although originally published in 1880, her version of the novel, which seems to have been published both as The Mysteries of the Court of Louis-Napoleon and as Clorinda, seems less bowdlerised than the Vizetelly version available on Project Gutenberg.

>49 PawsforThought: Here is the list from Zola's last page in his last book:

Émile Zola recommended reading Les Rougon-Macquart novels in the following order in the introduction to his final novel, Le Docteur Pascal:
La Fortune des Rougon: (1871) READ
Son Excellence Eugène Rougon: (1876) READ
La Curée: (1872) READ
L'Argent: (1891) READ
Le Rêve: (1888) READ
La Conquête de Plassans: (1874) READ
Pot-Bouille: (1882) (Potluck) READ
Au Bonheur des Dames: (1883) (The Ladies Paradise) READ
La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret: (1875) (The Sin of Abbe Mouret) READ
Une page d'amour: (1878) (A Love Story) READ
Le Ventre de Paris: (1873) (The Belly of Paris) READ
La joie de vivre: (1884) (The Brighter Side of Life)
L'Assommoir: (1877) (The Taproom)
The Masterpiece (1886)*
The Beast Within (1890)*
Nana (1880)*
Germinal (1885)*
The Earth (1887)*
Le Débâcle (1892)*
Le Docteur Pascal (Dr. Pascal) (1893)


You are correct.......I have switched them. They are "fixed" now!

* These works are part of the 20 book Rougon-Macquart series. Zola failed to mention them when he posted his suggested reading order. However, according to the "experts" following Zola's sort of chronological pattern, they are to be placed thusly.

>52 Tess_W: Oh, that's great!

>51 booksaplenty1949: You are probably correct. Unfortunately, I gave my copy to a friend who is reading along with me, not LT, so I do not have access to look at it!

>54 Tess_W: November has come and gone but I have finished other reading projects and am determined to finish SEER ASAP.

>55 booksaplenty1949: I need to finish Felix Holt, The Radical by George Eliot and that is all my commitments for this year. I think I will then seek out and begin the Zola January read, just so I don't get caught up in all things 2nd semester and not get to it.

>52 Tess_W: Plus six more. List can be seen at bottom here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Rougon-Macquart

I have (unsurprisingly) fallen behind and have not started His Excellency Eugène Rougon yet so will read that while the group starts on The Kill.

>59 PawsforThought: I'm with you...

FYI: I have added a series in LT for Zola's recommended reading order. The existing series was for the publication order. I was going crazy trying to remember which book came when, this should make it easier.

>62 labfs39: Thank you. Kept having to look it up at the end of a lengthy Wikipedia article.

I read an interesting biography of Zola this week:
95. Emile Zola: A Very Short Introduction by Brian Nelson This is one in a series of author biographies published by Oxford Press. The author is also a translator of Zola. I felt this biography was very insightful as it gave context to what else was happening at the time Zola was writing and what influenced his writings. A lot of time is spent on Zola's naturalistic approach, which he also felt was scientific in nature. Nelson analyzes three of Zola's novels (none of which I have yet read) as well as a lot of coverage on the Dreyfuss Affair and Zola's penchant for political activism. Interesting to note that at the same time Zola was writing more graphically about real subjects, artists were also leaving rural landscapes for more gritty urban paintings. Zola's writing are also take place in urban settings, for the most part. A great, shorter biography! 4.5 stars 162 pages

>64 Tess_W: Not related to this bio, although it sounds interesting, but just a shout-out to this reading project. Health issues have put me in a low mood and it is tempting to just loll about wasting time on the net. Knowing that I need to clear the deck for the next Zola novel is very helpful. With added bonus of trying to find something intelligent to say. All good.

>65 booksaplenty1949: Awwwww, here's hoping for some better days!

>66 Tess_W: Thank you.

Are we planning to continue the every other month plan in 2026? The initial post only goes through November of 2025. I'm interested in continuing and hope others are as well!

>68 japaul22: Absolutely!

I'm still in for sure. I haven't been commenting as I'm a book ahead of the group pace but once I inevitably fall behind I'll be right there with you! In any case, it's thanks to this group that I finally committed to seriously reading the series at a book every two months pace.

Although I fell behind pretty quickly, I am still chugging along and enjoy reading the comments and even chatting a bit about books you read months ago. I do hope the group continues!

I have more or less decided not to continue with this, I'm afraid. I could not get into Piping Hot in September, and I don't think I will get to book 8 this month.

I love the concepts around the Rougon-Macquart cycle and some of the characters, but have struggled with the realisations of it in a few of the first seven books.

I am a year behind, but still intend to continue reading the series. I keep an eye on the threads but don’t write anything as I obviously haven’t read the books in question yet. I would never have thought to get started on a project like this without the group read.

Yes, planning to continue on! Every other month in 2026 beginning in January!

I plan to continue as well, thanks!

>72 john257hopper: Let me put in a plug for The Ladies’ Paradise. I read it shortly before this project got started and found it quite charming. A subtle comparison between the rise of the department store and the building of the great mediaeval cathedrals, with the heroine as a kind of Virgin Mary character. Also a top saleswoman. Great stuff.

>72 john257hopper: sorry to hear that, John! I think you might have liked Ladies Paradise, it was quite different from all the others. Anyway, if you change your mind, feel free to jump back in!

P.S. Piping Hot was just awful--for me!

>71 labfs39: Don't feel bad. I'm currently about halfway through The Dream (the first so far that I'm feeling a little blah about). But this is the Reading Through Time group's quarter for 19th century, excluding America, so I'm combining RTT with Zola catchup.

ETA: But I've barely even been lurking on this group. Once I catch up I hope to participate a bit.

Splurged and bought the last 10 Zola novels on our reading list. They look so pretty on my shelf!

I have decided that when there is a large oeuvre to read, that it is best, for me, to read at the pace of one every other month. I've not been successful in completing Hardy, Trollope, Gaskell, or Dickens because I've been going about it wrongly and burning out. When finished with Zola, I will tackle another writer with the every other month scheme.

>79 Tess_W:
Congrats on such an amazing purchase! Having the entire collection on the shelf is indeed very satisfying. I've also found the one book every other month to be the perfect pace. It is so much more realistic a goal than one a month, or reading them back to back. But it's also not so slow a pace that it'd take 5 or more years the read the entire series.

I'm tempted to do Balzac's oeuvre next as he also has a gazillion books.

>79 Tess_W: Although I haven't bought all the remaining ones, I have all the ones to date in the Oxford edition, and they do look so nice together. :-)

I hope that you lead another group read if you do tackle another author. This group has been so motivating for me. I would be especially interested in Balzac or Trollope.

>80 lilisin: I had also thought of Balzac, but I would like to do something other than a French author. I would like to read Hardy--I've read about 10 books but he has dozens including short stories and poems. I've read about 75% of Dickens and most of Eliot. I need lots of work on Trollope. I would like to finish them in the next 4-5 years. Right now my reading isn't really organized, I just flit from genre to genre and read whatever takes my fancy. I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. I also don't like real organized and rigid reads.

>81 labfs39: Thank you, but I really only put the group together and don't consider myself the "leader." I consider all of you who are well read and have wonderful insights and analyses to be the real "leaders." I learn a lot from you!

I, myself, would not be interested in Balzac at this time. I would like to read a series other than by a French author. I'm thinking Trollope or Hardy, even Wharton or Eliot.

I do like this pace, every other month. It's doable. I like it because, if in a pinch, you can read it the "off" month and still be current.

>82 Tess_W: I can’t stand Hardy’s novels. Trollope, on the other hand, is consistently entertaining. I just finished two novellas: Nina Balatka/Linda Tressel dealing with women in romantic conflict—-quite outside Victorian predictability.

>84 booksaplenty1949: Not read those, but on my WL they go!

>85 Tess_W: Nina Balatka, especially, remarkable. Trollope published them anonymously, interestingly enough.