Brona’s Salon: Zola’s “Money”

This is my second participation in Brona’s Salon. It’s a new meme which aims to gather a group of like-minded bookish people 'under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation.'

(wikipedia)

So, here’s mine…

What are your currently reading?

Money by Émile Zola

How did you find out about this book?

I have become a hardcore fan of Zola right after reading Therese Raquin, back in 2011. Naturally I then searched for more of his books. And how delighted was I when being introduced to the Rougon-Maquart series with 20 books. 20, yay! Money is the 18^th book of the series.

Why are you reading it now?

My first reading from Rougon-Maquart is L’Assommoir. I picked Oxford World Classics (OWC) edition, and was very satisfied with the translation. Plus OWC uses lovely paintings for its cover, and I love it! So, I decided to read the series from OWC edition in random order. Money is one of the latest being published, and I am also reading it for The Classic Club challenge.

 First impressions? 

It will be slightly boring because of its financial theme. But, knowing Zola and his story-telling talent, I still had hope.

Which character do you relate to so far?

Madame Caroline. She is a trusted friend and also mistress of Saccard (born Aristide Rougon—from The Kill). Madam Caroline is a sensible and self-esteemed woman. She admires Saccard’s ambition to “conquer financial world”, but does not let passion overcome her conscience. She seems to know what must be done, and although disagrees with Saccard, she keeps protecting him from scandals. Though she is broken-hearted over Saccard’s affair, she still befriends him.

Are you happy to continue?

Of course! It has been a pleasant reading, although I’m not very familiar with the stock exchange terms and system.  

Where do you think the story will go? 

I am only 100s pages left to end, so it’s quite obvious about how Saccard’s condition would be. But I am really curious about how Madam Caroline would react.

So, have you read this book?

The Classic Book-a-Month Club 2017 #CBAM2017

The end-of-year-excitement for book blogger started when bloggers begin to post their reading challenges or reading groups of the next year. Funny it is that you were super-excited when planning the reading, but felt under-pressured while executing the plan. Well, at least, for me.

For 2017, actually I have planned to “read with the flow”, opening unlimited reading choices according to my mood. But…. this one is too tempting to be ignored:

The Classic Book-a-Month Club 2017 (#CBAM2017) hosted by Adam

I will only join in about 4 or 5 months of it:

February

The Three Theban Plays by Sophocles - DONE

I have read Oedipus the King about 5 years ago; and loved it. Maybe now is the perfect time to revisit it in English version (I read Indonesian translation back then).

March

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - DONE

This is one of my most favorite books. Would love to rereading it once again (my last reading was in 2014).

July

Paradise Lost by John Milton

I might or might not pick this. I’m just curious. And I have been itching to read plays and poems again, so…. just maybe…

September

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather - DONE

This would be my first Cather. But the theme is interesting, and it’s always exciting to read from an author for the first time.

November

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - DONE

 Just because the book has been in my TBR for too long; time to tackle it!

Other than that, I have been longing to reread The Great Gatsby and The Iliad! And maybe one or two Shakespeare.

What about you, what classics are you excited to read or reread next year?