Nana

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Nana
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Emile Zola
Translated by George Holden
Introduction by George Holden
Translated by George Holden
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:480
Dimensions(mm): Height 198,Width 129
Category/GenreClassic fiction (pre c 1945)
ISBN/Barcode 9780140442632
ClassificationsDewey:843.8 843.8
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publication Date 26 July 1973
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

One of the greatest of the Rougon-Macquart series, Zola's prostitute represents the destructiveness of a corrupt and decaying society Born to drunken parents in the slums of Paris, Nana lives in squalor until she is discovered at the The tre des Varietes. She soon rises from the streets to set the city alight as the most famous high-class prostitute of her day. Rich men, Comtes and Marquises fall at her feet, great ladies try to emulate her appearance, lovers even kill themselves for her. Nana's hedonistic appetite for luxury and decadent pleasures knows no bounds - until, eventually, it consumes her. Nana provoked outrage on its publication in 1880, with its heroine damned as 'the most crude and bestial sort of whore', yes the language of the novel makes Nana almost a mythical figure- a destructive force preying on a corrupt society.

Author Biography

Emile Zola (1840-1902) was the leading figure in the French school of naturalistic fiction. His principal work, Les Rougon-Macquart, is a panorama of mid-19th century French life, in a cycle of 20 novels which Zola wrote over a period of 22 years. George Holden is a known translator.