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Les Rougon-Macquart
''Les Rougon-Macquart'' is the collective title given to a cycle of twenty novels by French writer Émile Zola. Subtitled ''Histoire naturelle et sociale d'une famille sous le Second Empire'' (''Natural and social history of a family under the Second Empire''), it follows the lives of the members of the two titular branches of a fictional family living during the Second French Empire (1852–1870) and is one of the most prominent works of the French naturalism literary movement. Influences Early in his life, Zola discovered the work of Honoré de Balzac and his famous cycle ''La Comédie humaine''. This had a profound impact on Zola, who decided to write his own, unique cycle. However, in 1869, he explained in ''Différences entre Balzac et moi'', why he would not make the same kind of book as Balzac: In one word, his work wants to be the mirror of the contemporary society. My work, mine, will be something else entirely. The scope will be narrower. I don't want to describe the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Fortune Des Rougon
''La Fortune des Rougon'' ''(The Fortune of the Rougons)'', originally published in 1871, is the first novel in Émile Zola's monumental twenty-volume series '' Les Rougon-Macquart''. The novel is partly an origin story, with a large cast of characters - many of whom become the central figures of later novels in the series - and partly an account of the December 1851 coup d'état that created the French Second Empire under Napoleon III. The events are experienced through the eyes of a large provincial town in southern France. The title refers not only to the "fortune" chased by protagonists Pierre and Felicité Rougon, but also to the fortunes of the various disparate family members Zola introduces, whose lives are of central importance to later books in the series. Plot summary After a stirring opening on the eve of the coup d'état, involving an idealistic young village couple joining up with the republican militia in the middle of the night, Zola then spends the next few chap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
