Emile Zola

Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 23K words
Chapters: 3

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.Emile Zola by William Dean HowellsAuthor: Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Nov 1, 1996

Editor's review

This is a critical biography of Zola by William Dean Howells, one of the earlier works to introduce Zola systematically to English-speaking readers. Howells, a leading American critic of literary realism, traces Zola's life and creative development from the perspective of a contemporary, discusses the origins of naturalist doctrine and its expression in the novels, and addresses the controversies Zola's works provoked at the time. For readers studying the reception history of Zola, the spread of naturalism, and Anglo-American literary attitudes toward French literature, this book offers rare first-hand critical material. It is neither an introductory guide to Zola's works nor a modern scholarly monograph; its argumentation and value judgments bear clear marks of their era and should be read alongside later scholarship. Suitable as supplementary reading for students of foreign literature or for readers interested in the history of nineteenth-century literary criticism.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of foreign literature seeking early English-language criticism on Zola
Readers studying the spread of naturalism and cross-national literary reception
Enthusiasts interested in the style of nineteenth-century literary criticism
Researchers needing English-language critical biography material for papers

Not a good fit for

Beginners looking for plot summaries or reading guides to Zola's novels
Specialist researchers expecting a systematic modern scholarly framework
General readers with limited English who need a Chinese translation

Reading tips

Read one or two of Zola's major novels first, then compare the book's criticism to understand the controversies of the time
Note Howells's value judgments while reading and cross-check them against later scholarship
Supplement with nineteenth-century French social history for background
The English original is short; take chapter-by-chapter notes to organize the arguments

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 work by Zola himself?

No. It is a critical biography of Zola by William Dean Howells, discussing Zola's life, writing, and naturalist doctrine. It is a critical and scholarly text, not a novel or memoir by Zola.

Can I read this book without having read Zola's works?

You can, but your understanding will be limited. Much of the discussion concerns specific works and contemporary controversies; having read major novels such as Germinal or Nana first will help you grasp Howells's assessments. Readers entirely unfamiliar with Zola may find the arguments abstract.

Are the book's views still valid today?

Its assessments reflect the late nineteenth-century English-language literary establishment, and its attitude toward naturalism differs from that of today's scholarship. It is best read as reception history—to understand how Zola was viewed at the time—rather than as definitive judgment; consult it alongside modern and contemporary Zola scholarship.

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About the author

Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920 Author

William Dean Howells (1837–1920) was an American author and literary editor, with 107 works held in the collection. His writing spans novels, travel books, memoirs, and literary essays, and his representative works include My Mark Twain, Indian Summer, A Boy's Town, A Modern Instance, and A Hazard of New Fortunes. Howells drew on close observation of everyday life, writing in a plain style with gentle irony and attending to moral questions and human situations amid social change; his travel book Venetian Life and his memoir Literary Friends and Acquaintance record his journeys and personal recollections of American literary figures. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here; readers may turn to the works above to learn about his subjects and style.