Nana

Émile ZolaProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.4

Word count: 873K words
Chapters: 88

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Nana by Émile ZolaAuthor: Zola, Émile, 1840-1902,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

Nana is one of the most widely read works in Zola's Les Rougon-Macquart series. Through the rise and fall of a stage actress, it lays bare the tangled web of desire where late nineteenth-century Parisian high society and the entertainment world intersect. Zola records the interaction between characters and their environment with naturalistic, minute observation; his scenes are solidly constructed and his group portraits are unsparing, so the reading offers both dramatic tension and a coolly clinical social anatomy. This electronic edition is the original French text, a public-domain resource suitable as a primary text for French literary reading practice or for research on Zola. When reading, do not rush after plot; notice how material detail, bodily description, and social scenes drive the narrative, and you will better appreciate the method of the naturalistic novel. For Chinese readers, reading alongside a translation conveys the rhythm of the original while lowering the language barrier. On the whole, this is a social novel that demands patience but rewards it richly.

Who it's for

A good fit for

French majors or self-learners with some French reading ability
Readers interested in nineteenth-century French literature and the naturalist movement
Literature enthusiasts studying Zola's works or Parisian social history
Advanced learners hoping to train long-form reading stamina with the original text

Not a good fit for

Chinese readers who cannot read French and do not intend to use a parallel translation
Readers expecting light entertainment who lack patience for slow-paced social description
Readers uncomfortable with explicit descriptions of the body and desire

Reading tips

Read a Chinese translation first to grasp the overall plot, then return to the French original for key scenes to reduce frustration.
Prepare a character chart and note the main figures and social circles as you read to avoid confusing the large cast.
After each chapter, summarize the scene and conflict in three to five sentences to check your grasp of the original.
Slow down at dense passages of material and clothing description; they are the entry point to the atmosphere of the era.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this edition in Chinese or French?

According to the metadata, this electronic edition is in French; it is a public-domain text released by Project Gutenberg. Chinese readers with limited French should read it alongside a reliable Chinese translation rather than treating it as a Chinese edition.

Can I read this directly without having read other works by Zola?

Yes. Although Nana belongs to the Les Rougon-Macquart series, its story is relatively self-contained, and its main characters and plot can be understood on their own. To grasp the characters' origins more fully, you may read relevant earlier works in the series first, then return to this book.

My French is only average. Is this book very difficult?

The book is long and densely descriptive, and nineteenth-century French usage differs from contemporary usage, so beginners will find reading it straight through demanding. A Chinese-French parallel approach with close reading in sections is recommended, starting with the chapters where the plot is most concentrated.

What should I keep in mind when reading the electronic edition?

Public-domain electronic texts may have plain formatting and lack notes, so prepare your own character chart and background materials. For study purposes, stick to one edition and take notes to avoid confusion in citation from mixing texts from different sources.

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About the author

Émile Zola Author · French · 1840–1902

Émile Zola (1840–1902) was a French novelist, critic and political activist, one of the most prominent French writers of the late nineteenth century and the founder of the theory of naturalism. Through his twenty-volume series Les Rougon-Macquart he constructed a vast social panorama, with representative works including Germinal, L'Assommoir, Au Bonheur des Dames and La Bête humaine. These works often take workers, peasants and ordinary city people as their protagonists, presenting poverty, labour and desire with meticulous observation and an almost documentary style, calm yet powerful. During the Dreyfus Affair Zola published the famous open letter J'Accuse, intervening in public affairs as an intellectual in the cause of justice. The library holds 93 of his works, including several translations.