Brilliant start to the Rougon-Macquart series! Plus now I have lots of handy tips for how to exploit the aftermath of a political crisis for my own personal gain, so that's pretty sweet. ( )

Les Rougon-Macquart cycle of twenty novels by Émile Zola is a portrayal of the Second Empire and a study in heredity through the lens of a single family. In this, the first book in the cycle, Zola lays out the origins of the family and its branches, with the main action taking place during the coup d'état in which Napoléon III overthrows the Second Republic.

The Revolution of 1848 found all the Rougons on the lookout, frustrated by their bad luck, and ready to use any means necessary to advance their cause. The were a family of bandits lying in wait, read to plunder and steal.

Pierre Rougon is the legitimate son of Adélaïde Fouque and the progenitor of one side of the family. A greedy schemer, Pierre and his equally avaricious wife plot to win wealth and a better position in life, by taking advantage of the confusion in the provinces after the coup. Pierre's illegitimate half-brother, Antoine Macquart, is a lazy do-nothing who sides with the doomed Republicans because he believes they will take from the rich and allow the poor like him to live a life of un-worked-for luxury. Silvère Macquart, son of Antoine's sister, is a young idealistic boy of seventeen, in love with an even younger local girl, Miette. Silvère and Miette are innocents, caught up in their dreams of a Republican Utopia and a life together.

The first part of the book contains the origin story of the Rougon-Macquart family, with all the key players sketched, and I found this part of the book quite interesting, more so than the story of Silvère and Miette, which takes up the middle portion. Most of the action takes place in the last third of the book, when Pierre and Félicité are scheming during the coup. Because so much of this book is the setup for what is to follow, it's hard to comment on the themes of heredity and social history. What is striking is Zola's detailed descriptions of nature, doing for a field what Balzac did with a teapot. This focus on nature is both descriptive and a foil for the social commentary that Zola wishes to convey.

The sleeping countryside awoke with a start, quivering like a beaten drum; it resounded in its very depths, repeating with each echo the stirring notes of the national anthem. Then the singing seemed to come from everywhere. From the horizon, from the distant rocks, the ploughed land, the fields, the copses, the smallest bits of brushwood, human voices seemed to be rising up. The great amphitheatre, stretching up from the river to Plassans, the gigantic torrent over which the bluish moonlight flowed, seemed filled with a huge, invisible crowd cheering on the insurgents; and in the depths of the Viorne, along the water streaked with mysterious metallic reflections, every dark spot seemed to conceal people taking up the refrain with increasing passion. The air and earth seemed alive; it was as if the whole countryside was crying out for vengeance and liberty. As the little army descended the slope, the roar rolled on in sonorous waves broken only by sudden outbursts which shook the very stones in their path.

Note that I read the Brian Wilson translation, the first new translation in over 100 years. It read smoothly and is reputed to be a much truer translation that the bowdlerized version by H. Vizetelly. The introduction in the Oxford World's Classic edition was extremely helpful in laying out the history of the time period, Zola's influences and themes, and a family tree. ( )

I am embarking on reading the whole Rougon-Macquart cycle written by Emile Zola. I have absolutely loved several of the books that occur later in the cycle, and I decided to join in on a group read to read them in order.

[The Fortunes of the Rougons] is the first book in the cycle, and it sets up the family origins that will be explored throughout the subsequent novels. Adelaide is the matriarch and she has children with two different husbands. These children and their children will form the basis of exploration. It was really interesting to read about this, already having a little glimpse into future characters through my Zola reading. Also in this book, Zola sets up the politics of the Second Empire and has his characters either supporting Louis-Phillipe's regime or as Republicans hoping for a more democratic France. I had to do a refresher on French politics of the time period and I'm still not sure I have it really sorted out, but I think it will continue to clarify as I read more.

Also in this story is the love story of the very young Silvere and Miette. Their story was the most engaging part of the book for me, but it was odd to have years of their relationship encapsulated within the short days of the revolution in their hometown of Plassans. At first I was confused about what was happening with the timeline.

This book is not Zola's best, but it's important as set up for what will happen later on. And, still present is his striking imagery. I loved the description of the enormous cloaks the women would wear as the walked with their lovers, enveloping both. And no one does a death scene like Zola. :-)

If you want a taste of Zola, don't start here, but if you already love his writing, you'll enjoy this. ( )

This is the first novel in Zola's 20 novel series about the Rougons and the Macquarts following the downfall of the Second French Empire (circa 1850-1870's) The Rougons were a pretty miserable lot until the Coup d'Etat by Louis-Napoleon. Napoleon's success was also the success of the Rougons, thieving scoundrels that most were. I can't say this book was terribly interesting, it was a bit mediocre. However, I have read that this book is the historical foundation(s) for the coming novels. There was a plethora of characters, but a family tree was provided. I may have enjoyed this book more had I known more about the history of this period. I think I will read up on it before I go on to read book two. 392 pages ( )

In 1789, the French rebelled against their hereditary monarchs and created a Republic. In time, the Republic thickened into Empire, before returning to monarchy. And then, in 1848, the monarchy fell for a second time, to a Second Republic. But in 1851, in what amounted to a coup, Napoleon III restored his family line into a Second Empire.

Got all that? By 1851, the French were divided between republicans, monarchists, monarchists 2.0 (those who didn't believe in the original line of kings and queens, but in their relatives who had taken over the throne years earlier), and lovers of empire. As well as, no doubt, some socialists and the like. For twenty years, the French survived an Empire, before it too finally came crumbling down.

It is across these twenty years that Emile Zola sets his twenty book cycle, of which The Fortune of the Rougons is the first. Through three interconnected families - one proletariat, crushed by the boots of the self-interested; one bourgeois and crippled by madness; and one nouveau riche Emperor-butt-kissing clan - the author explores life under the Second Empire in a dizzying array of forms. Each book has its own tone, cast of characters, genre, and plot, but all are connected through a family web.

Fortune is stuck with a lot of exposition, so you'll probably want to a) have some patience, and b) move on to a second book afterward so as to use all of this knowledge. At the same time, it is littered with hilarious and moving character portraits, ambience, and genuinely beautiful writing. Taking place in the days immediately following the coup, and set in the Provencal town of Plassans, Zola weaves a narrative of, well, fortunes. Those whose fortunes rise and those that fall as some conspiracies buckle, and others blossom. All mixed in to a tawdry family history that goes back to the 1780s, when France was in its final, blistering years of monarchy.

From here, you can venture to any one of the other Rougon-Macquart novels (except the last, Doctor Pascal). The next book published was The Kill which I'd probably recommend next. Zola himself had a preferred reading order that goes on to His Excellency Eugene Rougon - that is, however, one of the drier books in the series, so perhaps only go to that one if you're feeling particularly enchanted by Fortune. ( )