Emile Zola.

Manawatu Herald, 26 September 1893, Page 2

Emile Zola.

A very great compliment has been paid to the great French writer M. Eraile Zola, on his first visit to England. Fifteen hundred journalists assembled at the Imperial Institute to bid him welcome. He is a self-made man and is now in his 53rd year. His father died when the child was only seven years old and left little for the family except 4 lawsuits, which eventually were lost. He was educated at the Lycee Saint-Louis in Paris, but left it when he was eighteen, and took a situation to help his mother. This was soon given up, however, and for three 'or four years he experienced all the hardships that a destitute young man has to undergo in a large city,* 1 having often to lay in bed all day to kaep himself warm. In 1861 he obtained a situation at Hachelte's the publishers, at 200 francs a month, and there, after a time 4ie*\ was placed in the advertising de- - partment. He there came in contact with writers and newspaper men and so developed a taste for literature. After his day's work at the office he used to read and write for hours at home by candlelight. During his college days, when he was only 17 years of age he had written the " Contes a Ninon," this he retouched and tried the publisher!

with, and after many rejections a Mr Hetzel took ifc and* issued it. The sale was not a success, though favourably reviewed. He has since published the following :— La Confession de Claude, Le Yam dune Morte, Les Myteres de Marseille, There'se Raquin, Manet, Madeleine Ferat, Les RoUgon*Macqiiarfc, La Fortune des Eougon, La Curoe, Le Ventre de Paris, La Conquefce de Plassans, La Fante de PAbbe Mouret, Son Excellence Eugene RoUgon, L'Assomoir, Une Page D'Amour, Le Bouton de Rose (a three act comedy) Nana, Potßouille, La Joio de Vivre, An Bontenr des Demes, Germinal and Debacle. ! In reply to an inquiry as to how he worked, he replied, " I never prepare a plot. I cannot do it. f have frequently meditated for hours, buried my head in my hands, closed my eyes, and got ill over it. But no use. I finally gave it up. What I do is to make three kinds of studies for each novel. The first I call a sketch, viz., I determine the dominant idea of the book, and the elements required to develope this idea. I also establish certain logical connections between one series of facts and another. The next dossier contains a study of the character of each actor in my work. For the principle ones I go even further. I enquire into the character oi both father and mother, their life, and the influence of their mutual relations on the temperament of the child. The way the latter was brought up, his schooldays, the surroundings and his associates up to the time I introduce him in my book. You see, therefore, I sail as close to nature as possible, and even take into account his personal appearance, health, and heredity. Sly third preoccupation is to study the surroundings into which I intend to place my actors, the locality and the spot whero certain parts may be acted. I enquire into the manners, habits, character, language, and even learn the jargon of the inhabitants of such localities. I frequently take pencil sketches and measurement of rooms, and know exactly how the furniture is placed. Finally, I know the appearance of such quarters by night and by day. After I have collected laboriously all this material, I sit down to my work regularly every morning, and do not write more than three pages of print a day." The publication of "Debacle" was very well received in England and from letters it appeared that the hostile feeling held there against him was then disappearing. It appears M. Zola receives a royalty of GO centimes a volumn, and this brings him in about 300, 000 francs a year. In 1888 M. Zola was appointed a Knight of the Lagion of Honour.