The Conquest of Plassans (Rougon-Macquart) - Softcover

Zola, Emile

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1595690484 ISBN 13: 9781595690487

Publisher: Mondial, 2005

Synopsis

The Conquest of Plassans (Rougon-Macquart): The Rougon family, in M. Zola's narrative, rises to fortune, and the town of Plassans (really Aix-en-Provence) bows down before its power. But time passes, the revolt of the clergy supervenes, by their influence the town chooses a Royalist Marquis as deputy, and it becomes necessary to conquer it once again. --- Abbé Faujas, by whom this conquest is achieved on behalf of the Empire, is a strongly conceived character, perhaps the most real of all the priests that are scattered through M. Zola's books. No other priestly creation of M. Zola's pen vie with the stern, chaste, authoritative, ambitious Faujas, the man who subdues Plassans, and who wrecks the home of the Mouret family, with whom he lives. The book largely deals with the matter of 'the priest in the house,' and towards the end of the volume Mouret, the husband who has been driven mad and shut up in a lunatic asylum, returns home and wreaks the most terrible vengeance upon those who have wronged him. --- The pages which deal with the madman's escape and his horrible revenge are certainly among the most powerful that M. Zola has ever written, and have been commended for their effectiveness by several of his leading critics. --- (Ernest Alfred Vizetelly)

About this title

Review

This translation of a pivotal text in Zolas larger history of the Second Empire continues an ongoing effort to bring to light the naturalist novelists less-known work to anglophone readers and scholarship. Helen Constantines translation is accompanied by an insightful critical introduction written by Patrick McGuinness, as well as rather pithy explanatory notes that help to situate the narratives drama within the context of the Second Empire and the complex web of political intrigue taking place outside the world of Plassans. (Meredith Lehman, University of Texas, Modern Language Review)

There's so much more going on here, and the novel is so worth reading, for its wonderful view of French provincial life, its extraordinary characters both low-life and high-life, its satire and its tragedy. So, well done to OUP for commissioning these new translations, this one excellently done by Helen Constantine. Highly recommended. (Harriet Devine, Shiny New Books)

About the Author

?mile Zola was a French writer who is recognized as an exemplar of literary naturalism and for his contributions to the development of theatrical naturalism. Zola s best-known literary works include the twenty-volume Les Rougon-Macquart, an epic work that examined the influences of violence, alcohol and prostitution on French society through the experiences of two families, the Rougons and the Macquarts. Other remarkable works by Zola include Contes ? Ninon, Les Myst?res de Marseille, and Th?r?se Raquin.

In addition to his literary contributions, Zola played a key role in the Dreyfus Affair of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. His newspaper article J Accuse accused the highest levels of the French military and government of obstruction of justice and anti-semitism, for which he was convicted of libel in 1898. After a brief period of exile in England, Zola returned to France where he died in 1902. ?mile Zola is buried in the Panth?on alongside other esteemed literary figures Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mondial
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1595690484
• ISBN 13: 9781595690487
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320