Huh. You would think a book about prostitutes would somehow be more interesting. I can't believe how many pages Zola has taken to describe what sounds to be a crappy play. Is this just a risque Moby Dick??
I am one-third of the way through and thought I’d jot some comments thus far.
So far there seems to be a lot of nothing. So wait and see.
Chapter 1: Jupiter shut Cupid in a dark closet and bade him conjugate twenty time the verb “to love”. Cruel and unusual punishment???
Nana was next to naked….her Amazonian breasts, the rosy tips of which stood out straight and firm as lances. I can already see why Nana is popular.
And when Nana raised her arms, the glare of the footlights displayed to every gaze the golden hairs of her armpits. Yup, I can see why Nana is popular.
Well I do like Bordenave’s insistence on BROTHEL!
Chapter 3: Brain fever – oh no, again with the brain fever!
Chapter 4: A slight intoxication coloured Lucy Stewart’s cheek with a consumptive-looking flush immediately brought you to mind A!
Listen! You seem to like them very far advanced. You are not satisfied with their being ripe, you want them rotten! I’m not exactly sure what is meant here but it doesn’t sound good.
Chapter 5: Satin (I am intrigued by this name) thought to herself that fashionable people were not so virtuous after all. Ain’t that the truth!
Can you imagine being burst in upon by a prince?
Vocab: Claque: A group of people hired to applaud (or heckle) a performer or public speaker.
Apotheosis: the highest point in the development of something
Kirsch: brandy distilled from the fermented juice of cherries
I am now two-thirds complete and ready with some more comments.
For a while now, I have been trying to figure out how old Nana is. And in Chapter 10 (?) find out her son is nearly 3 years old and she was a 16-year-old mom, so if I do the math right, Nana is 19! Wow, she gets around!
Chapter 6 George/Zizi pulling up his shirt collar, he added “Ah! Yes, some insect stung me.” And his mother falls for that…..
At Nana’s mansion in the country, while “entertaining” men and George: “Zoe, who assisted at this adventure with some disdain, thought that madame was becoming cracked.”
Well! She would return to the right path, and go for the old fellow. Yes,Nana get on the right path – leave the child alone (George).
Chapter 7 Nana squanders her money and added a tiger skin in front of the fireplace, and a crystal lamp that hung from the ceiling. Of all things to purchase!
Chapter 8 Unbosomed – new vocab word meaning “disclose one’s thoughts or secrets” Daguenet’s voice of musical purity and suppleness has him nicknamed “Velvet Mouth”.
Chapter 10 “They would have done far better to have come to some understanding with each other. It was no use slapping her; she could not cut herself in two in spite of her wish to please every one”. Satin – lovers of Nana and Madame Robert. I knew that the name Satin would be intriguing! Who know HOW intriguing!
Well I guess the action picks up at the end of the book. SO much is packed into 1 or 2 paragraphs and so LITTLE in 1 or 2 chapters.
I am continually amazed at how astonished and arrogant these men are when they find out Nana is with another man!
The last few chapters just made me laugh, they were a bit unbelievable! George and Phillipe! George - don't run with scissors! I mean don't stab yourself! The blood on the carpet! Nana's bed - only to be auctioned off! And lastly SMALLPOX! Not even an STD! And it is too bad that Nana didn't have time to unpack her things, I feel for her.
Having difficulty getting a copy of this book. OK with me if next book is chosen. I will catch up with my comments on Nana if and when I get it and read it.
Well, I've finally finished, though I must admit that I skimmed the last half of the book. Joy is right that it picks up in the last few chapters, unfortunately it drags for the first 12 chapters!
I have only a few passages marked and many of them correspond to those J posted:
Chapter 3: First, let me say, that with all that this was about prostitutes, it really didn't have any explicit sexual encounters. Not at all like Fanny Hill. It was much more subtle, such as "The big easy-chair had a tumbled look and a curve in the back which now rather amused him."
Chapter 4: "All three busied themselves round about her, the younster especailly, who was on his knees on the floor, his hands buried in her skirt." Doing what?
And all the prostitutes and their children! They seemed quite open about it.
Chapter 6: I really detest Muffat. He strikes me as being that man who rapes a woman and then it was her fault. "She drove me to it". Bull.
Other things that I noted mentally that didn't necessarily belong to any one chapter. 1. Nana seemed, from the description, to be much more full figured than is seen as desirable today. That made me happy. 2. The life of an actress/prostitute (were there many actresses that were not?) seems very hard. It is really that much of a step up from other work? Maybe wealthier, though many of them squandered so much of the gifts and money that it didn't really make much of a retirement for them. 3. As much as Nana talked badly about women, it was the women and not the men who took care of her (or at least visited her) in the end. Weren't the men quite the babies about going up to her room when they found out she was ill?
I'll be glad to move on. Do we have a next book yet?
Finally, finally, finally done. Not as bad as Shirley or Moby Dick but damn close. I thought that Nana would be full of adventure and action; what a disappointment. Overall it reminded me of Anna Karenina – heaps of talk about sex ruining the fortune and reputations of the old elite.
Some quotes: Chapter 2: “What a great joy! Nana clapped her hands. He wasn’t coming- what luck! … A whole night for sleep- it would be nice! The idea of such a treat at length proved irresistible.”
Chapter 3, re Vandeuvre: “..his mistresses every year, good or bad, relieved him of a farm and several acres of meadow or forest land..” I chucked that even the bad mistresses were well paid.
Chapter 7, foreshadowing, Muffat observes Nana: “Nana was covered all over with a reddish down which gave to her skin the appearance of velvet; whilst, in her flanks and mare-like thighs, in the thick rolls of flesh which veiled her sex with their troubled shadow, there was something of the beast… [he closes his eyes] .. the animal reappeared in the depths of the darkness..and it would remain there, before his eyes in his very flesh, for evermore.”
Chapter 8, Nana and Fontan: “But from that evening their life together became worse than ever. From one end of the week to the other the sound of slaps could be heard, just like the tick-tick of a pendulum which seemed to regulate their existence.” Their relationship rather mirrored the roles of their first play: Venus/Vulcan (Aphrodite /Hephaestus). Oh, Mr. Zola, you are so clever!!
Chapter 10, Nana’s room: “The room preserved a tone of old gold.. without anything indicating too much the abode of a gay woman, excepting perhaps the voluptuousness of the seats: two small porcelain figures, a woman in her chemise catching fleas, and another perfectly naked walking on her hands, with her legs in the air, alone sufficed to sully the apartment with a stain of eccentric stupidity.”
Personally I really liked Zoe, managing all that chaos, taking a little off the top and buying up her own brothel for retirement. Now that’s a life plan.
Can we take a minute to reflect on Daguenet copulating with Nana between his wedding ceremony and the meal?! I’m sure Estelle was thrilled.
M, you’re spot on about the women tending to Nana at the end. I wish she had been able to unpack, I would have liked to read about the pieces of “eccentric stupidity” she brought back from Russia.
I didn’t care for Muffat either, and actually of all the men the one that appealed to me most was Vandeuvre. He seemed the only one who openly accepted Nana’s position and his own status among her consorts; he might cheat at horse racing and fake his own death, but at least he never deluded himself.
J – not really sure I like my alcohol induced rosiness compared to a “comsumptive flush” =)
I have finally finished reading Nana. It took the library quite some time to get a copy of the book for me. There is a stamp in it stating it comes from the "Humanities Dept Northeast Regional Library".
After I finished reading the book I went back and re-read the Introduction. It made much more sense to me after I read the book than it did before. I almost think it should have been at the end of the book instead of the Introduction.
I found it a bit confusing whenever the author mentioned the color of Nana's hair... sometimes it is blonde, sometimes it is red.
The Introduction states that Zola could have based the character Muffatt on his own life. There apparently were similarities.
I found Nana's midnight "supper" party very amusing. Zola did a very good job of describing it so that I could easily picture it in my mind... and laugh at the picture. Serving a meal that size with that abundance and variety of different foods at that time of night to a room full of people who are having trouble keeping awake sounded totally wrong to me. The guests picked at their food, most of it was wasted. It made me wonder if that was a normal happening in the Paris of that era. The young men pouring their champagne into the piano as they left was typical of a drunken frat party. Not much changes does it.
According to the introduction, the physical description of the racetrack scene was very accurate. It was a lengthy chapter, but I enjoy reading historical novels so this was a chance to learn something about the past.
This book is a reminder that very little changes with time... the super rich and/or famous of this world are often very bored, very wasteful with money and their time, often not capable of having a lasting loving relationship, with self gratification in whatever form suits them as their goal in life. There was not one single character in this story that I could say I envied. They married for money, not love, and they wasted their time and money shamelessly.
Not all rich people are like that but unfortunately too many of them are.
I cringed at the description of the stable on fire with the horses screaming in terror and pain like human beings.
The psychological side of this book I found interesting and informative. The different reactions of the characters was described well. Nana's affair with Fontan was a study in physical abuse. The scene in which Georges stabs himself with the scissors was a study in the reaction to what can occur when someone is pushed beyond what they can absorb emotionally. Nana's human side and her immaturity were very evident. She was not the grown up woman here but the young girl faced with a very tragic unbelievable happening.
This book was deep for me. I am glad that I read it.
I finally finished the book. I can't figure out whether I liked Nana or hated her. I find it amazing how Emile Zola presented her, did he love women or hate them? He made the men all of them really look stupid on all accounts, and then blamed Nana for poisoning a whole people? I am glad I finished the book. (The reason I was interesed in reading this book at the beginning...was because before I moved to this house, my address was Emile Zola Dr.
16 comments:
Huh. You would think a book about prostitutes would somehow be more interesting. I can't believe how many pages Zola has taken to describe what sounds to be a crappy play. Is this just a risque Moby Dick??
I am one-third of the way through and thought I’d jot some comments thus far.
So far there seems to be a lot of nothing. So wait and see.
Chapter 1:
Jupiter shut Cupid in a dark closet and bade him conjugate twenty time the verb “to love”. Cruel and unusual punishment???
Nana was next to naked….her Amazonian breasts, the rosy tips of which stood out straight and firm as lances. I can already see why Nana is popular.
And when Nana raised her arms, the glare of the footlights displayed to every gaze the golden hairs of her armpits. Yup, I can see why Nana is popular.
Well I do like Bordenave’s insistence on BROTHEL!
Chapter 3:
Brain fever – oh no, again with the brain fever!
Chapter 4:
A slight intoxication coloured Lucy Stewart’s cheek with a consumptive-looking flush immediately brought you to mind A!
Listen! You seem to like them very far advanced. You are not satisfied with their being ripe, you want them rotten! I’m not exactly sure what is meant here but it doesn’t sound good.
Chapter 5:
Satin (I am intrigued by this name) thought to herself that fashionable people were not so virtuous after all. Ain’t that the truth!
Can you imagine being burst in upon by a prince?
Vocab:
Claque: A group of people hired to applaud (or heckle) a performer or public speaker.
Apotheosis: the highest point in the development of something
Kirsch: brandy distilled from the fermented juice of cherries
I am now two-thirds complete and ready with some more comments.
For a while now, I have been trying to figure out how old Nana is. And in Chapter 10 (?) find out her son is nearly 3 years old and she was a 16-year-old mom, so if I do the math right, Nana is 19! Wow, she gets around!
Chapter 6
George/Zizi pulling up his shirt collar, he added “Ah! Yes, some insect stung me.” And his mother falls for that…..
At Nana’s mansion in the country, while “entertaining” men and George: “Zoe, who assisted at this adventure with some disdain, thought that madame was becoming cracked.”
Well! She would return to the right path, and go for the old fellow. Yes,Nana get on the right path – leave the child alone (George).
Chapter 7
Nana squanders her money and added a tiger skin in front of the fireplace, and a crystal lamp that hung from the ceiling. Of all things to purchase!
Chapter 8
Unbosomed – new vocab word meaning “disclose one’s thoughts or secrets”
Daguenet’s voice of musical purity and suppleness has him nicknamed “Velvet Mouth”.
Chapter 10
“They would have done far better to have come to some understanding with each other. It was no use slapping her; she could not cut herself in two in spite of her wish to please every one”. Satin – lovers of Nana and Madame Robert. I knew that the name Satin would be intriguing! Who know HOW intriguing!
Well I guess the action picks up at the end of the book. SO much is packed into 1 or 2 paragraphs and so LITTLE in 1 or 2 chapters.
I am continually amazed at how astonished and arrogant these men are when they find out Nana is with another man!
The last few chapters just made me laugh, they were a bit unbelievable! George and Phillipe! George - don't run with scissors! I mean don't stab yourself! The blood on the carpet! Nana's bed - only to be auctioned off! And lastly SMALLPOX! Not even an STD! And it is too bad that Nana didn't have time to unpack her things, I feel for her.
Having difficulty getting a copy of this book. OK with me if next book is chosen. I will catch up with my comments on Nana if and when I get it and read it.
Well, I've finally finished, though I must admit that I skimmed the last half of the book. Joy is right that it picks up in the last few chapters, unfortunately it drags for the first 12 chapters!
I have only a few passages marked and many of them correspond to those J posted:
Chapter 3: First, let me say, that with all that this was about prostitutes, it really didn't have any explicit sexual encounters. Not at all like Fanny Hill. It was much more subtle, such as "The big easy-chair had a tumbled look and a curve in the back which now rather amused him."
Chapter 4: "All three busied themselves round about her, the younster especailly, who was on his knees on the floor, his hands buried in her skirt." Doing what?
And all the prostitutes and their children! They seemed quite open about it.
Chapter 6: I really detest Muffat. He strikes me as being that man who rapes a woman and then it was her fault. "She drove me to it". Bull.
Other things that I noted mentally that didn't necessarily belong to any one chapter. 1. Nana seemed, from the description, to be much more full figured than is seen as desirable today. That made me happy. 2. The life of an actress/prostitute (were there many actresses that were not?) seems very hard. It is really that much of a step up from other work? Maybe wealthier, though many of them squandered so much of the gifts and money that it didn't really make much of a retirement for them. 3. As much as Nana talked badly about women, it was the women and not the men who took care of her (or at least visited her) in the end. Weren't the men quite the babies about going up to her room when they found out she was ill?
I'll be glad to move on. Do we have a next book yet?
Finally, finally, finally done.
Not as bad as Shirley or Moby Dick but damn close. I thought that Nana would be full of adventure and action; what a disappointment. Overall it reminded me of Anna Karenina – heaps of talk about sex ruining the fortune and reputations of the old elite.
Some quotes:
Chapter 2:
“What a great joy! Nana clapped her hands. He wasn’t coming- what luck! … A whole night for sleep- it would be nice! The idea of such a treat at length proved irresistible.”
Chapter 3, re Vandeuvre:
“..his mistresses every year, good or bad, relieved him of a farm and several acres of meadow or forest land..” I chucked that even the bad mistresses were well paid.
Chapter 7, foreshadowing, Muffat observes Nana:
“Nana was covered all over with a reddish down which gave to her skin the appearance of velvet; whilst, in her flanks and mare-like thighs, in the thick rolls of flesh which veiled her sex with their troubled shadow, there was something of the beast… [he closes his eyes] .. the animal reappeared in the depths of the darkness..and it would remain there, before his eyes in his very flesh, for evermore.”
Chapter 8, Nana and Fontan:
“But from that evening their life together became worse than ever. From one end of the week to the other the sound of slaps could be heard, just like the tick-tick of a pendulum which seemed to regulate their existence.” Their relationship rather mirrored the roles of their first play: Venus/Vulcan (Aphrodite /Hephaestus). Oh, Mr. Zola, you are so clever!!
Chapter 10, Nana’s room:
“The room preserved a tone of old gold.. without anything indicating too much the abode of a gay woman, excepting perhaps the voluptuousness of the seats: two small porcelain figures, a woman in her chemise catching fleas, and another perfectly naked walking on her hands, with her legs in the air, alone sufficed to sully the apartment with a stain of eccentric stupidity.”
Personally I really liked Zoe, managing all that chaos, taking a little off the top and buying up her own brothel for retirement. Now that’s a life plan.
Can we take a minute to reflect on Daguenet copulating with Nana between his wedding ceremony and the meal?! I’m sure Estelle was thrilled.
M, you’re spot on about the women tending to Nana at the end. I wish she had been able to unpack, I would have liked to read about the pieces of “eccentric stupidity” she brought back from Russia.
I didn’t care for Muffat either, and actually of all the men the one that appealed to me most was Vandeuvre. He seemed the only one who openly accepted Nana’s position and his own status among her consorts; he might cheat at horse racing and fake his own death, but at least he never deluded himself.
J – not really sure I like my alcohol induced rosiness compared to a “comsumptive flush” =)
I have finally finished reading Nana. It took the library quite some time to get a copy of the book for me. There is a stamp in it stating it comes from the "Humanities Dept Northeast Regional Library".
After I finished reading the book I went back and re-read the Introduction. It made much more sense to me after I read the book than it did before. I almost think it should have been at the end of the book instead of the Introduction.
I found it a bit confusing whenever the author mentioned the color of Nana's hair... sometimes it is blonde, sometimes it is red.
The Introduction states that Zola could have based the character Muffatt on his own life. There apparently were similarities.
I found Nana's midnight "supper" party very amusing. Zola did a very good job of describing it so that I could easily picture it in my mind... and laugh at the picture. Serving a meal that size with that abundance and variety of different foods at that time of night to a room full of people who are having trouble keeping awake sounded totally wrong to me. The guests picked at their food, most of it was wasted. It made me wonder if that was a normal happening in the Paris of that era. The young men pouring their champagne into the piano as they left was typical of a drunken frat party. Not much changes does it.
According to the introduction, the physical description of the racetrack scene was very accurate. It was a lengthy chapter, but I enjoy reading historical novels so this was a chance to learn something about the past.
This book is a reminder that very little changes with time... the super rich and/or famous of this world are often very bored, very wasteful with money and their time, often not capable of having a lasting loving relationship, with self gratification in whatever form suits them as their goal in life. There was not one single character in this story that I could say I envied. They married for money, not love, and they wasted their time and money shamelessly.
Not all rich people are like that but unfortunately too many of them are.
I cringed at the description of the stable on fire with the horses screaming in terror and pain like human beings.
The psychological side of this book I found interesting and informative. The different reactions of the characters was described well. Nana's affair with Fontan was a study in physical abuse. The scene in which Georges stabs himself with the scissors was a study in the reaction to what can occur when someone is pushed beyond what they can absorb emotionally. Nana's human side and her immaturity were very evident. She was not the grown up woman here but the young girl faced with a very tragic unbelievable happening.
This book was deep for me. I am glad that I read it.
On to the next pick.
I was glad to hear that the book picks up. I have had a rough time getting through the first 5 chapters. Will comment on this later.
B- great comments! You are right that not much has changed.
I finally finished the book. I can't figure out whether I liked Nana or hated her. I find it amazing how Emile Zola presented her, did he love women or hate them? He made the men all of them really look stupid on all accounts, and then blamed Nana for poisoning a whole people? I am glad I finished the book. (The reason I was interesed in reading this book at the beginning...was because before I moved to this house, my address was Emile Zola Dr.
I have suggestion on a book: The Canvas-A Secret from the Holocaust By Eveline Horelle Dailey
Canvas - fine by me.
Canvas is ok with me Kayla
Canvas is ok with me for the next book pick, Kayla.
The canvas is fine with me.
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