ains then? The bizarre form. And in this bizarre form,
whether it is called symbolism or impressionism, they go in deeper and
become more entangled, losing artistic equilibrium, common sense, and
serenity of the soul. Often they fall into the former corruption as
far as the essence is concerned, and almost always into dissonance
with one's self, because they have an honest sentiment that they must
give to the world something new, and they know not what.

Such are the present times! Among those searching in darkness,
wandering and weary ones, one remained quiet, sure of himself and his
doctrine, immovable and almost serious in his pessimism. It was Emile
Zola. A great talent, slow but powerful and a potent force, surprising
objectivism if the question is about a sentiment, because it is equal
to almost complete indifference, such an exceptional gift of seeing
the entire soul of humanity and things that it approaches this
naturalistic writer to mystics--all that gives him a very great and
unusual originality.

The physical figure does not always reproduce the spiritual
individuality. In Zola, this relation comes out very strikingly. A
square face, low forehead covered with wrinkles, rough features, high
shoulders and short neck, give to his person a rough appearance.
Looking at his face and those wrinkles around the eyes, you can guess
that he is a man who can stand much, that he is persevering and
stubborn, not only in his projects but in the realization of them; but
what is mere important, he is so in his thinking also. There is no
keenness in him. At the first glance of the eye one can see that he
is a doctrinarian shut up in himself, who does not embrace large
horizons--sees everything at a certain angle, narrow-mindedly yet
seeing distinctly.

His mind, like a dark lantern, throws a narrow light in only one
direction, and he goes in that direction with immovable surety.
In that way the history of a series of his books called "Les
Rougon-Macquart" becomes clear.

Zola was determined to write the history of a certain family at the
time of the Empire, on the ground of conditions produced by it, in
consideration of the law of heredity.

There was a question even about something more than this
consideration, because this heredity had to become the physiological
foundation of the work. There is a certain contradiction in the
premises. Speaking historically Rougon-Macquart had to be a picture
of French society during