Customer Reviews

Zola: A Life

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I came to this book after having read Zola's twenty Rougon-Macquart novels. I wanted to read the most comprehensive, authoritative biography of the great writer, and I think this book qualifies. The level of detail is tremendous. Brown not only provides us with the story of Zola's life, but also the lives of his many contemporaries (including Cezanne, Flaubert, Turgenev, Goncourt, Manet). In addition Brown puts these lives in valuable perspective by thoroughly examining the events of French history, which, during Zola's life consisted of a very complicated series of wars, revolutions, and political upheavals. (Before reading this biography, it helps the reader to have a basic preliminary knowledge of French history in order to navigate the serpentine rise and fall of governments.)
Brown also examines Zola's writings from a critical perspective, and draws a complex web of literary influence to and from the author. For every novel that Zola published, Brown provides a detailed synopsis of the story (spoilers included), a critical analysis of the work, and valuable information on the critical and public reception of the book. Brown seems to grow tired of this, however, as books described in the beginning of Zola's life are more thoroughly examined than his later works. I myself got a little tired of Brown's constant Freudian analysis. "Zola did this because of his father. He did this because of his mother." It's as if Brown lacks confidence in the intelligence of his readers, and feels the need to relentlessly push his thesis on us.
This book is not an easy read. It is a scholarly work, written for an audience of literature professors, not for the casual reader. The beginning of the book is particularly challenging. When discussing Zola's education and literary influences, brown rattles off references to a lot of titles that most readers outside academia probably have not read. In every other sentence he'll throw in metaphors pertaining to obscure classical literature. Once over this intial hump, the reading goes more smoothly and one becomes accustomed to Brown's particular wordcraft. (He uses the word "tergiversations" about once in every chapter.)
Another problem with the book is that there is a period of Zola's life that just isn't very interesting. Brown's depiction of Zola's early hardscrabble career as a journalist, critic, and part-time novelist is particularly fascinating, but once Zola strikes it rich the excitement dies down quite a bit. While seclusion in a country house made it possible for Zola to create some of his greatest masterpieces, it doesn't make for the most exciting narrative. This is rectified late in Zola's life, however, by the Dreyfus affair. Brown's relation of the events surrounding the scandal are rewardingly exhaustive, covering at least 150 pages.
Despite my complaints, I'd have to say that I'm glad I read this book. I wanted to read "Everything You Wanted to Know about Emile Zola", and that's what I got. Something else I got from this book is a long wish list of books for future reading, by Zola and other authors discussed in the book.

This very full and long biography does an exemplary job of placing Zola's life, career and views within the context of his times. The reader comes to understand his life as he lived it, surrounded by friends, opponents, obstacles,
and challenges, both personal and societal. Reading this biography helps the reader to share a lived experience of one of France's most interesting periods of history. In addition, Brown gives a complete account of the historical
and biographical sources of Zola's fiction, though the literary traditions upon which he drew, and by which he was shaped, receive less notice. But this is a minor complaint. His discussions of Zola's friendships, especially with
Paul Cezanne, are very even-handed and persuasively argued. This is not a biography that lionizes its subject, freeing him of human faults and limitations; it does not patronize Zola either, but fully presents the significance of
his achievements. The discussions of Zola's upbringing in Provence, his struggles to make his way in Paris, his rise to success and fame, and Brown's analysis of the Dreyfus Affair, are highlights in a book that never disappoints.
Brown writes clearly, with energy and a keen eye for anecdotes and details that bring the story to life. Nonetheless, it takes energy to make one's way through a biography of this size, but the rewards are considerable, and the subject interestingly complex. Zola is one of the figures - both admired and scorned - who dominated his period in France, and this biography makes clear how and why.