Nana (Oxford World's Classics) | 
| Author: Emile Zola
Creator: Douglas Parmee
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $9.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 169508
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0192836706
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780192836700
ASIN: 0192836706
Publication Date: March 18, 1999
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Product Description
Nana opens in 1867, the year of the World Fair, when Paris, thronged by a cosmopolitan elite, was a perfect target for Zola's scathing denunciation of hypocrisy and fin-de-siecle moral corruption. In this new translation, the fate of Nana--the Helen of Troy of the second Empire, and daughter of the laundress in L'Assommoir--is now rendered in racy, stylish English.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Read L'Assommoir first January 5, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Zola's novels follow each other: L'Assommoir, Nana and (to a lesser extent) Germinal. I read all three, and found them to be excellent! Actually, I liked Germinal the best, L'Assommoir second, and Nana not so much. Nana was worth the trouble to read, however. Her story reminded me of Anna Nicole Smith ... different time, different place, different situation; same thing. (Even their names are similar; can make one from the other!)
 Oooooooh Nana.. The original Paris party girl! November 20, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
"Sex is like money; only too much is enough." John Updike
Emile Zola was a writer way ahead of his time, and I mean WAAAAY ahead. Talk about a salacious, racy novel! I can't imagine an American author before the mid-20th century penning such prurient prose like Zola's "Nana" which was published in 1880: "... she wished to share her last piece of pear, and held it out to Nana between her teeth, and their lips touched as they finished the fruit in a kiss." Long before Anais Nin, Holly Golightly, and yes even Paris Hilton there was Zola's "Nana" a young, gorgeous, voluptuous vixen who makes little Ms. Hilton look like a Carmelite Nun. She uses sex as her main weapon of choice to manipulate, exploit, and then eventually destroy her many suitors (and believe you me, there are many!):
"Her wish was to possess everything merely to destroy it. Never before had she felt so strongly the power of her sex."
When we are first introduced to Nana in the beginning of the story, she is employed as a comedic actress and is the talk of all of Paris for her stunning beauty and unassertive charm. However, acting is not where Nana makes all of her hard earned dough, on the contrary, she lives a queen-like existence only by openly operating as a high-class prostitute. There isn't a whole lot of plot to Nana's story, which isn't that big of a surprise when it comes to Emile Zola's style. Most of the chapters are essentially short tales describing all the different ways Nana's male conquests make complete idiots of themselves while under her spell. And trust me folks, when they do, she enjoys every second of it! Her disdain for the male sex just continues to build and build with seemingly every page turned, and despite her playful, engaging, superficial appearance to the Paris elite (which just can't seem to get enough of her); internally not only does she abhor men, she's out to destroy and also "pollute them" (as she so eloquently puts it).
There is no doubt about it, reading "Nana" was for me, quite a unique and enjoyable experience. I couldn't believe what I was reading at times, it was extremely lewd and suggestive, especially if you take into account when it was written. Zola definitely was a man with quite a lot of courage and distinctiveness, and this novel is one small example of why. He does have a tendency to be a bit long-winded and overly descriptive, but so do I, so I'm not complaining just making note of it for the rest of you out there. This is a tough book to put down once you get into it, mostly because of how humorous the story is, especially the character of Nana herself. You just can't wait to see what crazy, comical scene was awaiting her next. As much as I loathed her, I still couldn't lose interest in her story no matter how hard I tried. There is something about Nana you can't help but like and despite all of her many shortcomings and sins, you still can't help but to admire her independent and spirited nature. She was what she was, and she made no pretensions or excuses about it. She is a user who is used, a thief who is stolen from, an abuser who is abused, etc... etc...
And this is just a small peek into the life of one of the most fascinating femme's in fiction... You definitely need to pick this one up! 4.5 STARS
An important aside; one of my main (but very few) knocks about the novel is that the first chapter is tough to get through. It not only is a tad boring, but Zola introduces us to so many different characters right off the bat (ala Dostoevsky), that it's difficult to remember so many names and nicknames so quickly (if you don't have an amazing memory, then I suggest having a pad of paper and pen in hand to take notes).
 A review of the translation March 6, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The book is wonderful, of course. I found the "Britishism" in the translations to be a distraction: "bloody" this, "Old Chap, " Upon my word, old chap, etc."
That said, as I read more English translations from French, and Russian, (and other reviews of French to English novels) this seems to be a generic problem. I forget now which translation contained the "Blimey!" I don't know the solution, but it makes me wish again that I had learned French.
I would say, if you can find another translation of this fine novel, do so.
Hypnotizing October 30, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Zola is perhaps the best pure writer I've ever read. By this I mean the beauty and flow of his writing independent of all other considerations is unmatched. And this is in translation; he can only be better in the original French. Stunning.
Through the rise and fall of Nana's life Zola offers a beautifully drawn look at the upper and lower classes of Parisian society in the 1870s(?).
I've read 6 or so Zola novels, and this is my favorite so far.
Cortesana astuta June 22, 2006
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Nana es todas las mujeres en una sola persona. La complejidad del mundo femenino del siglo XIX es precisamente lo que retrata la historia de esta cortesana. Nana tuvo el mundo en sus manos a punta de utilizar lo que se denominan "estrategias femeninas". En este libro no quedan bien parados ni hombres ni mujeres. Porque al fin y al cabo, las motivaciones, sin importar el genero, son las mismas. Hombres y mujeres son prisioneros de su ambicion. Y si se mira sin apasionamientos, Nanas existen en CANTIDAD en el mundo de hoy.
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