The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
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L'Argent
Émile Zola Collection
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Money (L'Argent) - Chapters VII and VIII
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I also had a flashback to The Three Musketeers where D'Artagnan gets the maid to sneak him in through her room to the mistress's bedroom. (I had first read and loved that book as a kid, imagine my surprise when I later found there were some "adult" chapters that hadn't been included in my version!)
Robin wrote: "I'm still on Ch VII which suddenly turns into a bedroom farce with men launching insults at each other while one is putting on his pants and the lady in the middle tries to cover herself with an insufficient piece of clothing, and the maid smirks behind the door. Halfway through the altercation, they change from the formal "vous" for "you" to the informal, therefore insulting "tu"."
It looks like Zola is much more modern in French than in translation. This shift of a narrative voice was quite unusual for the time period.
Dagny wrote: "Then comes a change of pace as various poor characters come to Saccard for advice whether to sell their shares or invest in more shares. Naturally Saccard tells them all to invest in more shares."The panoply of everything and everyone in this novel in general. Saccard in this novel is a Paris-trotter. So is Zola, even more so because he is following all the characters. Saccard is definitely a protagonist, but an unwilling one. Sometimes other people take leading roles even for a page or two.
Mod
It's not exactly that the voice changes, it is in 3rd person, but the 2 antagonists drop the polite language and insult each other like street brawlers. Part of that is no longer using the polite "you". Just like Russian, German and Spanish, French has 2 forms of you. In the 19th century, it was a big deal switching these. Usually it means the person is now an intimate (so very significant between man and woman) but it can also be a way to insult someone. It's a real problem for a translator into English as we don't have that distinction. Sometimes they have to put a footnote to explain what is going on.
I was not talking about tu et vous:-) I was talking about the fragmented narrative and how this fragmentation is less obvious because we do not witness the change of the pronoun. It is easier to see the change when you see how pronouns change, but when it is still quite monotonous, then it might be a little bit of a problem to see this difference.
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1. It is quite obvious to me that this speculation venture will eventually collapse and destroy some people, but the only ones I feel sorry about is Madam Caroline and her brother. Do you think this fate is not or is for them?
2. How do Maxime's revelations about his father's past change Madame Caroline? Is it going to be the decisive factor? (Again, there is nothing definitive in this question as we have not read too far to state something categorically)
3. Is Saccard willingly misleading people about the prospects of his financial venture or is he as clueless as they are and hopeful that all will go well and everyone will eventually be happy and rewarded?
4. The jewels and gems of dreamland rained into the coffers of the palace in the Rue de Londres, whilst Carmel supplied smoking incense and a vague, delicate background of Biblical legends, hallowing the mighty appetite for gain. Did it not mean Eden reconquered, the Holy Land delivered, religion triumphing in the very cradle of humanity?
Is Zola comparing money and prosperity to The Garden of Eden? Is is serious? Cynical? Exposing religious or Saccard's hypocrisy?
5. Could one let oneself be devoured and not devour others? It was life. To do otherwise would require virtues of too sublime a character, or else the solitude of a cloister, far from all temptation.
Is it indeed life?
Post away, my dear friends. We are very close to the date of the official closing, and we are transitioning between the two houses. It is a little bit of a hassle, but I am persevering with my reading projects. I might be slow responding or commenting, but I am still with you and enjoy reading all your comments.