The Fortune of the Rougons: A Realistic Novel (Annotated)

Illustrated with Eight Page Engravings

By: Émile Zola

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

This is a new edition of “The Fortune of the Rougons,” originally published in 1886 by Vizetelly & Co., of London, translated without abridgment. Part of the project Immortal Literature Series of classic literature, this is a new edition of the classic work published in 1886—not a facsimile reprint. Obvious typographical errors have been carefully corrected and the entire text has been reset and redesigned by Pen House Editions to enhance readability, while respecting the original edition. The eBook edition was designed in an elegant style and set to take full advantage of the readers' features. "The Fortune of the Rougons" is the initial volume of the Rougon-Macquart series. Though it was by no means M. Zola's first essay in fiction, it was undoubtedly his first great bid for genuine literary fame, and the foundation of what must necessarily be regarded as his life-work. The story, set in the fictitious Provençal town of Plassans, tells the story of Silvère and Miette, two idealistic young supporters of the republican resistance to Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte's December 1851 coup d'état that created the French Second Empire. The idea of writing the "natural and social history of a family under the Second Empire," extending to a score of volumes, was doubtless suggested to M. Zola by Balzac's immortal "Comedie Humaine." He was twenty-eight years of age when this idea first occurred to him; he was fifty-three when he at last sent the manuscript of his concluding volume, "Dr. Pascal," to the press. He had spent five-and-twenty years in working out his scheme, persevering with it doggedly and stubbornly, whatever rebuffs he might encounter, whatever jeers and whatever insults might be directed against him by the ignorant, the prejudiced, and the hypocritical. Truth was on the march and nothing could stay it; even as, at the present hour, its march, if slow, none the less continues athwart another and a different crisis of the illustrious novelist's career. E. A. V. MERTON, SURREY: August, 1898. About the Author: Émile François Zola (1840-1902) was a journalist, a novelist, a playwright, and a political activist. He was one of the most influential French novelists of the 19th century and the founder of the literary and theatrical school of naturalism. Zola was a major figure in the political liberalization of France. Émile Zola’s works include novels, dramas, poetry, and criticism, among which is his famous Les Rougon-Macquart (1871-1893), a cycle of twenty novels which depict various aspects of life and society, such as La Fortune des Rougon, the first novel of the series, originally published in French in 1871, from which this book was translated; L'Assommoir (1877), the seventh novel of the series, about the suffering of the Parisian working-class; Nana (1880), the ninth installment, which deals with prostitution; Piping Hot!, the translation of Pot-Bouille (1882), the tenth novel of the cycle and Zola's most sarcastic satire, which describes daily life in a newly constructed block of flats in late nineteenth-century Paris; The Ladies Paradise (1883), the eleventh novel (original title: Au Bonheur des Dames), which focuses on Octave Mouret, who, in Pot-Bouille, meets Caroline Hédouin, the owner of a small silk shop; and Germinal (1885), the thirteenth novel in the series, which depicts the mining industry and is considered by some as his masterpiece. Zola's open letter to French president Félix Faure, under the headline J'Accuse…!, published on the front page of the newspaper L'Aurore on January 13, 1898, charging various French officials with a “terrible miscarriage of justice,” reopened the case of the Jewish army officer, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who had been sentenced to Devil's Island. For that, Zola was himself sentenced to a year in prison but fled to England, returning one year later after Dreyfus' name had been cleared. Dreyfus was eventually reinstated as an officer and publicly decorated with the Legion of

Virtual voice drains the book of all atmosphere

A Zola novel is, of course, well worth reading, and it is regrettable that a virtual voice recording seems to be the only English version available. For the first few minutes I was actually quite impressed with how well the virtual voice changed its intonation to fit naturally to each sentence. A few obvious mispronunciations (such as the towns Lyons and Nice pronounced like regular English words) were easily excusable, and in general the diction is really clear, so it is easy to follow what is the written word. However, after not too long, it becomes obvious that the virtual voice has no real sense of the context. As a result, arguments and passionate speech are read in the same manner as any other conversation, and there is no adjustment of tone or pace to match the atmosphere. The effect is to drain the novel of virtually all its drama. I did persevere through the entire recording, but it was hard to stay engaged at times.