CHAPTER XIII

NATURALISM--THE GONCOURTS, ZOLA, AND MAUPASSANT 459

The beginnings--"Les deux Goncourts"--Their work--The novels--_Germinie Lacerteux_ and _Cherie_ taken as specimens--The impression produced by them--The rottenness of their theory--And the unattractiveness of their style--Emile Zola to be treated differently--Some points in his personality: literary and other--The Pillars of Naturalism--"Document" and "detail" before Naturalism--General stages traced--Some individual pioneers; especially Hugo--Survey of books: the short stories--"Les Rougon-Macquart"--"Les Trois Villes"--"Les Quatre Evangiles"--General considerations--Especially in regard to character--[Maupassant]--_Bel-Ami_--_Une Vie_--_Fort comme la Mort_--_Pierre et Jean_--_Notre Coeur_--_Les Dimanches_, etc.--_Yvette_--Short stories: the various collections--Classes: stories of 1870-71--Norman stories--Algerian and Sporting--Purely comic--Tragic--Tales of Life's Irony--Oddments--General considerations--Huysmans--Belot and others.