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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Zoladdiction Wrap Up


I must say that Zoladdiction is probably one of the most successful events I have hosted so far. Being a less famous classics author compared to Dickens, Austen or Shakespeare, I doubted at first that Émile Zola will create a magnet to attract readers when I had the idea to host this event. But surprisingly I found no less than 18 people has signed up to this event (not including those who might have not signed up but read and reviewed Zola anyway :D). Actually 18 people might not be what you’d call a crowd, but their excitement to start reading Zola (for first readers) amazed me, and their eagerness to read more of him really pleases me; and it only confirms that Zoladdiction has successfully brought the new addiction to read Zola!



As for me, these are what I’ve been doing during Zoladdiction:

Reading and reviewing….

Character analysing….
Claude Lantier of The Masterpiece
Pierre Sandoz of The Masterpiece
Jacques Lantier of La Bête Humaine

Capturing the beauty from books I read….
Sunset Views From Zola's The Masterpiece
La Lison in Snow From La Bête Humaine

Talking about Naturalism and Impressionism....

Adding to my collection…

The Earth



Nana (still on the way from TBD)



Blogging….
Tidying up a bit my Émile Zola Blog



And of course, a lot of….

Blog walking….
To participants’ posts and read their thoughts and stuffs on Zola, and often find interesting point of view of books I haven’t read. Now I know which books I’m going to grab next! If you want to follow my step, this linky will help you. :)


Overall, I’m really satisfied this month; as usual with Zola books, the story would be echoing long after I have finished the book. And I have picked the right book at the right time, I began with The Masterpiece—which is not as poignant as the others—and ended with La Bête Humaine which turned out to be very thought-provoking!

That’s it! I wish Zoladdiction wouldn’t end so quick, but life must go on, and there are still many more authors and classics I want to read. So, au revoir Monsieur Zola, and I wish you all have a good time with him! What do you think, should I host another Zoladdiction next year? Would you consider participating again? :)

A special thanks to o (Delaisse) for her support and ideas, and to you, all participants who have share your excitements, ideas, and thoughts about Zola during the month!... :)

12 comments:

  1. I was off to a great start reading La Fortune Rougon, La Bête Humaine and got halfway through La Débâcle before I became overwhelmed with work and haven't had a moment for Zola since mid-month. I'll try to get some comments posted once things settle down in a week or so. I'm looking forward to reading a few more as I feel like I have (or had) some momentum.
    Thanks so much for hosting this event. I really enjoyed it.

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    1. And thanks so much for participating, and the pieces you've shared with us! And I'm glad that Zoladdiction gave you some momentum to read Zola more.

      I hope you will review La Bete Humaine, I'd like to read other's thoughts about it, because I liked it very much.

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  2. Thanks for hosting, I really enjoyed the event! Make it annual! :)

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    1. You're welcome! Pssst...actually, that's my intention! ;)

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    2. How do you expect for us to wait a whole year?! Actually, that will be fun. There is so much Zola to read. I'm sure it can keep us entertained for years.

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    3. Well Jim, the one year expectation would only make us super excited to read Zola when the time come, and that whole month would be very enjoyable, don't you agree?

      Yep, thanks to Zola who wrote so much books, that we'd be entertained for years!

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  3. Thank you so much for this event! I read Germinal, and loved it (how could you not??) and now I have to pull myself together for a review, although writing about such a book is a serious struggle for me. Possibly there were too many too personal-emotional feels involved.

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    1. You're welcome, Riv. I'm looking forward to read your review, actually I prefer a review with some personal emotion in it, I like to know how a book (particularly the one I love) influences others too.

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  4. Thanks you indeed for this great event. I read "The Masterpiece" and still reading "La Bete Humaine", and I am a zoladdict now :).. for sure, I'll participate next year.

    Thanks also for your great analysis :)

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    1. Thanks to you too Maan, for your support, your comments, and for sharing thoughts on The Masterpiece (I'm still waiting impatiently until you've done with La Bete Humaine...).

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  5. Sadly, I got off track during the actual challenge, but I'm now reading Germinal and Zola and I will continue on together, challenge or non.

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    1. It's all right Bybee, the more important thing is you are now encouraged to read Zola after all. I'd be glad if you'd share your Germinal review here (you can leave the URL here in the comment, as the linky will be closed soon). I loved Germinal, and I like to see what others think about it.

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What do you think?