Ho displayed the same love of method in creating his novels. This is how he once described his system:
"YT first of all collect my information, just as an architect draws his plans and gets his materials together before he vegins to build. I divide it into three classes: firstly, "instructive," what I may call information supplied' by orsons belonging to the circles I intend to dew gripe; secondly, direct information which I procure for myself; and thirdly, written particulars, that is to say, passages in other works. As soon as I have accumulated these materials, often a matter of several months, I begin by writing a rough outline of the story. I ask myself what the characters' habits, dispositions, and surrounding are to be and I answer these questions. "This being done I write several "dossiers," in each of which 1 deal separately with the various subjects discussed in the book. Finally, when I have digested all this, I begin to write. Thave often found myself plunged in such masses of detail that I have been sorely tempted to pitch the whole lot into the fire. I find it best to begin with a very few notes, but as T go on I feel a growing, sense of responsibility and soon begin to be afraid of not being properly posted."
Mis Personality.
Zola's chief amusements were roaming about the country near Medan and dabbling in photography. His taste in dress was. peculiar, and I shall not readily forget the wonderful blue stockings with yellow zigzag stripes, like _lightnin; Hashes, that he wore when 1 interviewed him at Medan some years ago. Like many of his countrymen, he had an unofficial as well as an official household, but his wife, who was childless, accepted the situation. He used to pay frequent visits to his two children and their mother, who lived a few miles from Medan. In his relations with men he was somewhat abrupt but nevertheless good-hearted and well disposed to those who did not excite his antipathics. The history of the Dreyfus case is sufficient to show how determined a fighter he could be. On the eve of his funeral, as I write, the anti-Semitic Press_is insulting his memory and is taunting Dreyfus with cowardice Decause, at M. Zola's entreaty, he gave up the' idea of following her husband's remains to their last resting-place. There is every reason to believe that an unseemly demonstration would have taken place Kad Dreyfus been seen in the procession, 60 keen and rancorous is the hatred in spired by this unfortunate man. He is not even allowed to pay the last tribute of respect to the brave and disinterested man who did so much for him. ce
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.