Zola

Faguet, Émile, 1847-1916Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 32K words
Chapters: 4

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Zola by Émile FaguetAuthor: Faguet, Émile, 1847-1916,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jun 5, 2008

Editor's review

This is a commentary on Zola written in French by the French critic Émile Faguet, an important early systematic study of Zola. Faguet, with a critic's eye, traces Zola's creative path and naturalist tenets, combining the immediacy of a contemporary with the reference value of later scholarship. The book's analysis of works and ideas reflects late nineteenth-century French literary reception of Zola and preserves a distinctive perspective in the history of criticism. For readers studying French literature, naturalism, or Zola's life, it offers criticism rather than biography or the works themselves, and is best read alongside Zola's originals to observe how critical stance shapes a classic. Reading it requires some French and a background in French literary history; otherwise one may remain at the literal level.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying French literature and naturalism who need primary critical texts
Literature enthusiasts who have read Zola's major works and want contemporary criticism
Advanced undergraduates or graduate students with French reading ability

Not a good fit for

General readers with no French who want a Chinese translation
Those seeking a biography of Zola or plot summaries of his works
Beginners new to French literature without background knowledge

Reading tips

Read one or two of Zola's major works first, then use this book's criticism to understand its critical stance
Read slowly in the French original, marking passages about specific works and characters and checking the originals
Consult late nineteenth-century French literary history to grasp the context of Faguet's criticism

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel by Zola or a biography?

No. It is a critical work about Zola by Émile Faguet, written in French, consisting mainly of literary criticism and analysis of his works. It does not provide a complete biography or include Zola's novel texts.

Can I read this book without knowing French?

The original is in French, and reading without French would be very difficult. It is advisable to have some French reading ability first, or to use a French-Chinese dictionary and background in literary history, otherwise it is hard to grasp the specific points of criticism.

Is it suitable for writing a research paper on Zola?

It can be used as an early critical text to show late nineteenth-century reception of Zola. But it is one perspective; it should be placed alongside later scholarship and Zola's originals, and Faguet's judgments should not be taken as definitive.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Faguet, Émile, 1847-1916 Author

Émile Faguet (1847–1916) was a French literary critic and essayist. His writing centres on literary-historical criticism and intellectual commentary, with a clear style and a gift for tracing the development of ideas through specific works. Eight of his works are held in the collection, spanning literature, philosophy, and social and political questions: they include studies devoted to literary education and the interpretation of classics, such as Études Littéraires dix-huitième siècle and Corneille expliqué aux enfants, as well as introductory works like Initiation into Literature and Initiation into Philosophy. L’Anticléricalisme and Le féminisme show his engagement with the public debates of his day, while The Cult of Incompetence reflects his criticism of social and institutional problems. These works range widely in subject and combine scholarly criticism with guidance for general readers. Public information is limited, and details of his life and a full assessment of his work remain to be further verified.