Nana

By: Émile Zola

Narrated by: Leighton Pugh

Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Nana Coupeau is a beautiful woman, able to attract men of enormous wealth with the crook of her finger. Part-time prostitute, part-time actress, she makes her debut in a mediocre operetta The Blonde Venus at the bustling Paris World’s Fair of 1867. She can’t sing, act, or dance, yet she is stunning. Nana soon rockets through elite Parisian society, and, blinded by desire, men crawl to her feet, yielding to her every demand. Affections are manipulated, hearts are broken; fortunes are gutted and inheritances squandered. The poverty and violence of Nana’s upbringing have led her to a cold and profligate life - a metaphoric indictment of the excesses of France’s Second Empire, and a striking example of Zola’s naturalism.

Translated by Alfred Ernest Vizetelly (updated)

Download the accompanying reference guide.

Public Domain (P)2018 Naxos AudioBooks

It helps to know or love French cultural history

An excellent book by an excellent author - overwrought as some of his work can be. Nana herself is so over tte top but thus novel is unveiling the Demi-monde that corrupted French society in the 19th century. I appreciated this detailed insight even if this would never hit a publisher in the current world

Above average but not Zola's best

Some critics acclaim Nana as Zola's best novel. In many ways it is remarkable, but I consider Germinal to be his best work. I would also rank La Bete Humaine, La Terre, L'assomoir, and Therese Raquin ahead of Nana by a good distance. Nana is important if you are a completionist, but if you never read Nana, only the other novels, you will still have a tremendous respect and love for the great Emil Zola.

Possibly not Zola's finest work

A good trimming would have helped this book and I could have done without some of the moralizing. Nana is a good book, the performance too but there are points where the listener can get bored.

Beautiful and devastating

With this production of “Nana,” Naxos provides another excellent entry in its series of 19th century classics. I hope there are more Zola novels to come, especially with Leighton Pugh as narrator.

“Nana” is a tragic story, beautifully written. Zola has the curious ability to write about things he finds detestable - like drunkenness and prostitution - with great compassion and a brilliant eye for the telling detail. The characters are individuals, not just by virtue of external mannerisms and speech, but through a deep perception of their motives and failings.

Nana, although she takes great joy in life, has little awareness or concern for the effect she has on others. She is a prostitute with an almost hypnotic beauty. She tries to parlay this into a career as an actress, but though her physical form enchants Parisian audiences, her acting and singing are somewhat lacking (to put it mildly). Though she spends most of the novel in the keeping of Count Muffat, she strings a number of other men along, leaving behind her a trail of suicidal and financially ruined former lovers.

Zola is never explicit about sex, but it leaves unmistakable traces in every chapter. For example, Nana needs 400 francs to pay a debt; she leaves for two hours; she returns with 400 francs in an envelope. There’s no question how she earned it. A visit to a dive turns out to be an introduction to same-sex relationships - again without ever saying so in quite so many words. The relentless focus on Nana’s beauty leads to the devastating final paragraphs of the novel.

“Nana” can be a tough listen for someone (like me) who doesn’t have the hang of French pronunciation. Many chapters are crowded set-pieces with dozens of people, and I often found it hard to distinguish the names. My solution was to download the text of the novel - there are plenty available, both free and paid - and look up the names while listening to the first few chapters until I became familiar with them.

Zola is a compelling novelist, although it must be said there’s little humor in his dire view of Parisian society. I loved it and hope to listen to it again soon.

Wonderful narrator!!!

The narrator really brought the story to life, excellent!!! Listened to over several months. Another Zola masterpiece.

Storyline

What exactly was the point to this story?? It had none of the drama, or storyline that made The Gin Palace so captivating.. Seems like Zola just cranked out a pointless tale, coming off the success of TGP, and threw this pointless mishmash of characters for the money.. Kind if like the way John Pattersons books became in the ‘90s.. Not worth the listen and the narrator was extremely annoying
Don’t bother w/ this waste of time!