New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-08-28

is ADAMS ale it is only at intervals that he can
afford pipeful of tobacco his great hs aW bV
hook crook. the princely sum OF three sous II
ing's work At times he is in despair; he is forced
to commit his lines to memory during the long
have enabled him conhde them to paper
Mr.. Vizetelly declares that it would be mis-
take to regard the Laurence OF La Confession
de Claude portrait Of the young woman
with whom Zola consorted at this time. but ne
admits that some passages in the book are GER
tainly autobiographical' and says of the house
in which the budding novelist lived during that
woful period that the life led there was so
riotous and disorderly that more than once the
police came down on the place and removed some
of the female tenants to the prison OF ST. La
care" The young mans sufferings became
fairly unbearable ut then. as he after
ward told Guy de Maupassant. that he lived for
days together little bread which. In Pro-
, vencaI fashion. he dipped in oil: that ne set
himself to catch sparrows from his window.
roasting them curtain rod; ana tnat ne
played the Arab remaining indoors for week
at a time. draped in coverlet. because he had
no garments to wear" He was glad to take n
post in the publishing house of Hachette. where.
after all his literary aspirations. his duties for
the first few weeks. at any rate. consisted sim
ply in the packing of books for delivery
We have said enough however. to indicate the
agOnies through which Zol1 passed ut the be
ginning of his career. We would have said even
less If it were not that his biography is IN moth
ing more interesting than in the picture 1t gives
of an heroic worker. Mr.. NizeteIy seas in his
| friend OF course. the man of letters with
| moral purpose. hut. Curiously there Is Mite
literary atmosphere in this book. As ZolI fought
| his way into the world OF journalism and hct'"h
he made many friendships among professional
n MAQet.
Daudet the Goncourt brothers. and more au-
thors and artists in fact. then or afterward cell
ebrated. than we need here enumerate- But
somehow Mr.. Vizctey fails to make us feel
| that the spirit of Zola the spirit OF man
OF letters In the higher sense. 1t seems rather
! that OF practical journeyman bent on making
| n living.
| The point comes out ut early stage OF he
| biography apropos OF the stormy reception OF
! 'IIenriette Marechal' At the FToucaise. That
! seemingly disastrous evening really served the
! Goncourts well. inasmuch 1t advertised all
their works and the episode produced n deep
impression Emile Zola. confirmed him In the
view. which he had already begun 10 entertain.
that fame in the modern literary world depend
"a largely on n rcsounding coup dc-piS'oict-"
| From first to last he conveys the impression OF
an author painfully solicitous for the public
success Of his work a man Of essentially pedes-
trian ideals. Mr.. Nizetelly. laboriousiy recting
the history Of Zola's books. takes them all very
seriously. and is plainly convinced not only that
they belong to literature but that they were
written high grounds. He draws a contrast
between Zolas attitude toward vice and that.
for example of Arsene Houssaye. For him."
he says. lit all roses and rapture whereas
under ZoIa's pen il appeared absolutely vile"
MIR NzetelIy is probably unconscious of The
fact that i'm this remark he places his finger on
the secret of Zoas failure TO satisfy critics not
necessarily white Hvered'' but merely fastdi-
roses and rapture" but they wanted him.
while making it absolutely Vile to put il IN
It's proper place. to study II In the right per-
spective 10 wreak upon II the powers Of art
and Imagination that II would never in his
| works. any more than in the works of the mas
tiers. offend a nauseous thing exploited for its
own sake Unfortunately. not having the genius
/ OF the masters. Zola fell far short of their
| standard and left the malodorous motives OF
his novels hopelessly In the foreground.
The upshot of it all is that we read his bog
raphy with regret We pity him in the long
years OF his apprenticeship. packed as they were
| with cruel privatIons and inCessant work We
admire him in his maturity. battling for Justice
to Captain Dreyfus sturdily he had for
merIy battled for himself Throughout his ca
| reer we I'm him type of tremendous indus
| try. He had generous soul; he could be a