Story
Almost all of the main protagonists for each novel are introduced in the first book, La Fortune des Rougon. The last novel in the cycle, Le Docteur Pascal, contains a lengthy chapter that ties up loose ends from the other novels. In between, there is no "best sequence" in which to read the novels in the cycle, as they are not in chronological order and indeed are impossible to arrange into such an order. Although some of the novels in the cycle are direct sequels to one another, many of them follow on directly from the last chapters of La Fortune des Rougon, and there is a great deal of chronological overlap between the books; there are numerous recurring characters and several of them make "guest" appearances in novels centered on other members of the family.
Read more about this topic: Les Rougon-Macquart
Famous quotes containing the word story:
“When I die, my epitaph should read: She Paid the Bills. That’s the story of my private life.”
—Gloria Swanson (1897–1983)
“My story being done,
She gave me for my pains a world of sighs;
She swore, in faith ‘twas strange, ‘twas passing strange;
‘Twas pitiful, ‘twas wondrous pitiful.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“A gorgeous example of denial is the story about the little girl who was notified that a baby brother or sister was on the way. She listened in thoughtful silence, then raised her gaze from her mother’s belly to her eyes and said, “Yes, but who will be the new baby’s mommy?””
—Judith Viorst (20th century)