In the Paris of the second half of the 18th century Nana debuts in a third class variety theatre.  She has a voice like a cracked kettle, and she doesn't know what to do with her hands and legs once she's on the stage, but nevertheless the play is a huge success.  Not in the least with all the men, on who she leaves an unforgettable impression.  All the men, young and old, rich and poor.  She is the talk of the town, and her star rises rapidly.

The wealthy male population of Paris stands in line for becoming her lover.  Not that they have to line up, she is perfectly capable of organising her day so that everyone gets some of her time.  Soon she tries to live solely of the men's contributions, and in return of her favors many are willing to be plucked.  One after another is forced to sell property after property, and one after another is on the roads towards bankrupcy, laughed at by his competitors who think they'll do better.  Nana's ultimate goal is to become a well respected member of society, yet while sucking her men's wealth she doesn't notice that all the money flows through many hands only to vanish.  Despite the more than generous income she generates her own bankrupcy lurks around the corner, and she flees this life.  The beginning of another episode or the beginning of the end?

When it originally came out near the end of the 18th century it caused some commotion to say the least.  Zola does not camouflage anything as he pictures both the extreme poverty where mothers are forced to sell their children for some food on the table and where the rich openly prey on everyone they can prey on.  One may wonder who is consuming who exactly in this story, the one providing pleasure for money, or the one buying the pleasure. 

It has the reputation of being an erotic novel, yet those who are after that in this book are in for a disappointment.  It might have been shocking at the time it came out, but that had more to do with the unpolished revealing of the 19th century upper class, not so much with any warm-blooded action.  What can you expect then?  A well written cynical portrait about people who have no respect for each other at all - let alone for themselves.  A portrait of people whose only value is that of wealth, and Nana, the courtisane from extremely poor origin, is their ultimate leader when it comes to searching for financial satisfaction, thereby ignoring all the other satisfying things around her.  Out of utter boredom she is willing to harvest the people she likes, and she simply ignores the ones she loves until it is too late.

It's a fascinating read. I cannot relate at all to anyone Zola depicts, I'm not in a similar environment today, and I certainly have no clue how it must have been in Paris around 1880. Still, the story grabbed me, I could perfectly understand everyone, I can't even say all those bored cynical �consumers� were even unsympathetic. There are more modern novels that are far more outdated than this one is.