Readers who followed my Zola journey will know that there were some titles in the Rougon-Macquart cycle that were hard to find, and #BeingPolite there were others that needed a modern translation.
The standard, for me, was set by Brian Nelson’s translations for Oxford World’ Classics: not only were the translations very good, there were also excellent introductions which enhanced my reading of the series.
Well, I was delighted yesterday to find two new editions in my postbox: La Débâcle, translated by Elinor Dorday – a title which was out of print and very hard to find – has been reissued by Oxford World’s Classics, and *drumroll* they have also issued a new translation of The Sin of Abbé Mouret. It’s by Valerie Pearson Minogue, who also translated the recent edition of Money in 2014.
As usual in this series, the cover art comes from French artists. The image on the cover of La Débâcle is a detail from Artillery Skirmish in the Forest during the Siege of Paris by Édouard Detaille, and Cézanne is featured on The Sin of Abbé Mouret with a detail from Forest Interior, 1898-9.
Both titles are available now and you should be able to find them on any online site or in good bookshops.
As I’ve said before, I know that you can find free versions of Zola’s novels online, but if you can afford it, buy these OWC titles, they really will enhance the reading experience for you.
The Books of Émile Zola 
Reblogged this on ANZ LitLovers LitBlog.
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I have an old black Penguin Classics paperback of The Debacle (as it was called in that edition), but I’ve not got round to reading it yet. I did read quite a lot of Zola some years back, then kind of ran out of steam. But am slowly working a few more old classics into the schedule – just looking at a couple of similar black-backed classics from Spanish authors from way back…Nice covers on these OWCs. As they usually are.
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We nderful news. This is the series I am slowly collecting
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This is very good news; it’s good to see they’re still working on the translations. ‘Abbé Mouret’ was one of my faves and is top of my list for a re-read. I especially love the middle section.
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Yes, I was #understatement particularly disappointed by the translation that I read so re-reading this is high up my list of priorities.
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I liked the Elek translation but it’s one I think would benefit from a new translation.
‘Joie de vivre’ is the one that could really do with a new version; though again the Elek version was fine.
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One of the Eleks was terrible, The Beast in Man, I think. But the others were ok, and I do like their scabrous cover art.
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There’s more to come. ‘A Love Story’, translated by Brian Nelson, is coming out at the beginning of October. Give that man a medal!
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Yay! That is fantastic news, I can’t wait to see what he writes in the intro to that one!
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Great news although I’m not sure if I’ll ever read the entire cycle again. I might revisit my favs. I was happy w/ my translation of The Debacle, so I doubt I’ll replace it
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Me too, I don’t think I’d re-read the whole lot either. I have a tentative ambition to read one in French, but *chuckle* I’ll be choosing that on the basis of its length. (It certainly won’t be L’Assommoir, with its vulgar C19th colloquialisms, apparently incomprehensible even to contemporary expert readers of French).
The other ones I want to re-read are the ones that I read in Vizetelly editions, and the ones that I felt were – shall we say? not well served by their translators.
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Damn they look so shiny, and very reasonably priced too.
https://global.oup.com/academic/content/series/o/oxford-worlds-classics-owc/?cc=nz&lang=en&type=listing&prevNumResPerPage=20&prevSortField=1&sortField=4&resultsPerPage=20&start=0
I may buy some for Christmas gifts.
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Hey guys, just an info. There is a new movie about Zola and Cezanne, im not sure if you heard about it. Called Cezanne et moi. I still havent seen it yet, trying to get the DVD. The movie was released in 2016.
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Thanks, Edie, I think I’ll be trying to get the DVD too!
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