Reading Zola

At the end of 2019, I made a decision to read Les Rougon-Macquart series. Yes, all 20 of them!

Books were purchased from Book Depository. I bought the Oxford World Classics edition, because they have already published 19, and the last one "Doctor Pascal" is due for publication in September 2020. 

Here's an excerpt from the Introduction to "Money": It was in 1868, at the age of twenty-eight, that Emile Zola hit on the idea of a series of novels based on one family, Les Rougon-Macquart, Histoire naturelle et sociale d'une famille sous le Second Empire ('Natural and Social History of Family under the Second Empire), in which he would trace the influence of heredity on the various members of a family in their social and political setting. 

Wait... he embarked this writing journey at age 28?!! This is such a major stuff to be written by someone so young! As usual, I'm going in blindly - I have never read the synopsis of any of the books. This is it! It's either I like it, or I hate it. I was hoping hard that I would love this series, because .. come one, I bought all the 20 books!

Next is to decide which reading order to follow. Do I follow the publication order, or the reading order recommended by Zola himself? I'm playing it safe and decided to follow the author's direction. So here's the recommended reading order, taken from Wikipedia

A recommended reading order

1. La Fortune des Rougon (1871)
2. Son Excellence Eugène Rougon (1876)
3. La Curée (1871-2)
4. L'Argent (1891)
5. Le Rêve (1888)
6. La Conquête de Plassans (1874)
7. Pot-Bouille (1882)
8. Au Bonheur des Dames (1883)
9. La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret (1875)
10. Une page d'amour (1878)
11. Le Ventre de Paris (1873)
12. La joie de vivre (1884)
13. L'Assommoir (1877)
14. L'Œuvre (1886)
15. La Bête humaine (1890)
16. Germinal (1885)
17. Nana (1880)
18. La Terre (1887)
19. La Débâcle (1892)
20. Le Docteur Pascal (1893)

It is September 2020 now, and I have read the first four books in the series. I like his writing style, and appreciate the immense researches that he did for each book. His story delivery is very bold: there is no need to guess the nuance - everything is blatantly described with vivid emotions

***Spoiler alert***

22 Feb 2020 The Fortune of the Rougons

This novel lays the foundation of the family. Rooted from a crazy lady who had an affair with a destitute, Zola created a blooming family tree. The Rougon side of the family is ambitious and money-minded, while the Macquarts are poor and lacking of ambitions

13 Jun 2020 His Excellency Eugene Rougon (Politics)

Eugene Rougon is the most powerful of the Rougon. I started seeing a lot of bad sides of humanity here. Woman sleeping with men to gain power; men kissing ass to gain power and money; bribes are everywhere. Eugene Rougon himself did not have a smooth political life, but he emerged to be a strong player that his enemies need to think twice before attacking him

25 Jun 2020 The Kill (Property)

Saccard, Eugene's younger brother, let his first wife die with sickness and sold his name to marry a younger lady just to get into the circle of the riches. He played dirty in the property business. He just enjoyed the game, as at the end he had no money left for himself. The shocking part is the crazy relationship between his wife and his son from the first marriage. Zola really described the greed and lust for money and sex in full force, it's disgusting to a certain extent. 

15 Sep 2020 Money (Capital market)

Saccard again, but in banking scandal this time round. I am very impressed by Zola's knowledge about the capital market in that era. There was little or no regulatory control at that time, so everything that is wrong with financial industry was described there. You name it, Zola had it all covered. Front-running, insider-trading, accounting manipulation, lack of corporate governance.... Oh, and Zola even mentioned about buying an option, and that's super impressive! 

Every time I finished reading one of these (starting from Eugene Rougon onwards), I started questioning why we humans are so bad. We are greedy, and ready to sacrifice others for our own benefit. However, (again, taken from Introduction to "Money"), Zola wrote "I should like, in this novel, not to conclude in disgust with life (pessimism). Life, just as it is, but accepted, in spite of everything, for love itself, in strength." This was what he wanted to emerge from the whole Rougon-Macquart series

Wow! Zola is just like Vasily Grossman in Life and Fate! After all the brutality and the mess that he witnessed, he still had optimistic view about life... and for that, I have immense respect both men.

Rainbirds

First of all, can we just acknowledge how beautiful the cover is? The title says "Rainbirds" but you get goldfish on the cover. I love it!

I sense a lot of Murakami's style in this debut novel; the quietness, weird people, weird dreams, the moon, jazz (!), and pasta (!). Oh my God, it's like she really pushed herself to be Murakami's minion! I was waiting for a talking cat to make an appearance to complete the Murakami's pattern, but thank God it didn't happen.

I also feel that some of the scenes are simply incoherent, the flow is just wonky there.

I gave 2 stars for this. In a nutshell, don't bother spending time with this book. Read a Murakami instead and you'll get a better experience.

I feel bad because the author is Indonesian-born Singaporean and I'm supposed to cheer for her. I hope that she finds her own style in her second book. Please just leave Murakami in his own world - there are many other concepts to explore.

At Mrs Lippincote's

Elizabeth Taylor is Jennifer's favorite author and she recommended her to me. I've never read any of her works, so I decided to check it out and start with her first novel. At Mrs Lippincote's is a story set in 1945. We follow the Davenant family - Roddy, his wife Julia, son Oliver, and cousin Eleanor settling in this rented house.

It took me a while to get used to her style. I felt that it reads more like scenes than a novel. However, I loved Taylor's sharp and witty delivery, and all the references to literature works. She brought the characters to life that they are so relatable even to the current era.

My favorite character is the 7-year old Oliver. He is a bookworm as described here:
Oliver Davenant did not merely read books. He snuffed them up, took breaths of them into his lungs, filled his eyes with the sight of the print and his head with the sound of words. Some emanation from the book itself poured into his bones, as if he were absorbing steady sunshine. The pages had personality.

Catch-22

It took me 2 months to finish this book. Heller was an amazing writer; he came up with the story and then broke them into tiny jigsaw puzzles, messed them up, and linked the pieces together into this amazing book!

I am glad that I stayed on. The first part was a struggle as he introduced so many characters with no background, and then I realized that the background came later... and slowly I could see the big picture. The humor helps, too!

The Eighth Day

A lady kidnapped her lover's baby, joined a cult, and was always on the run until one day she had nowhere to run anymore. The victim naturally grew up as a troubled young lady searching for her identity.

I like how the author presented us with the both sides of the story; all the aches, longings, and struggles to understand why their lives ended up this way.

Mitsuyo Kakuta is popular among the ladies in Japan, but not well-known outside the country. I really appreciate how she tackled women and family issues in 80s Japan in this book.

This One Summer

It's a typical teenager story.

You have one reliable good friend, problems at home, a guy whom you have a possible crush on; mix all the issues together, and it's a walk down the memory lane 😅It's a light read for a hot summer day!

Not a big fan of the artworks, though.

I love the depiction of summer in Awago beach 💖This book triggered the itch to book a trip to Bali right away!

What Happened

I came to the office at 6.30AM on Election Day to guard my trading positions in case the polling went crazy. I was so confident that HRC would win, as confident as I was in Jun’16 that Brexit wouldn’t happen! 😅I lost my faith in humanity after the Brexit mess so I was really hoping that America had the common sense not to swing and elect Trump, which I think could be a disaster in the long-term. 

I remember thinking “Gosh I don’t know how it feels to be HRC now!” 😞 She is such a strong woman! I don't know how to pick myself up if I were in her position. So I think she needed a closure and writing about it helped her to move on. If you were following the news during the election, there is nothing new in this book. 


Whenever I'm feeling down and unsure about the future, I just say to myself "If Hillary could do it, so can you!" She may not be perfect but she is one amazing bionic woman; she has the mentality of a steel!

Convenience Store Woman

What is normal? We are formed almost completely of the people around us, and the society is quick to punish anything outside the boundaries. 

Keiko Furukara has never fit in, and she is most comfortable as a convenience store woman. Are you in your most comfortable skin despite society judging you?

The True Deceiver

I finished this book last night, and I am left here ruminating in my bookcoma. It’s a story about two women - a Big Bad Wolf and a Flowery Rabbit - one is deceitful, another is gullible. When the two characters meet, they force change onto themselves, and they become the persons that they despise.

Jansson’s delivery is compact and masterful; such complex character study in just 180 pages of controlled prose. I call this nothing but perfection!

Here's a passage that I like the most:

"I remember the dog at home, when I was a girl; the one that killed chickens. They tied a dead hen around his neck and he carried it around with him all day until he just lay there unmoving with his eyes shut in a morass of shame. It was cruel. There's nothing so hideously easy as giving someone a bad conscience..."

WOW! 😍😍😍

Force of Nature

Aaron Falk #2

From Kiewarra, we are now at Giralang Range where a team-bonding activity went wrong. A group of 5 women went for hiking and they got lost. When tensions are high, people start snapping at each other and old wounds reappears... and that's when things get even worse.

I like the story line of Harper's second book, but she uses the same tricks as The Dry - same twists, same baits - and I got bored with the style.

I hope she finds a new and exciting way to deliver her stories. How to survive a series if you only have one trick in the bag?

The Dry

Jane Harper's debut novel, and my first Australian crime fiction. I loved reading this book; it's so atmospheric you can actually feel the heat of Australian summer.

The story is set in Kiewarra, a rural area about 5 hours from Melbourne. The small community has so much old grudges among themselves, and one day Luke Hadler's family was found dead with only the youngest daughter as the sole survivor. Everyone assumed that Luke killed his wife and son before he killed himself. Easy to assume, but what's the story behind?

So came Aaron Falk, the hero of the story and also Luke's childhood friend. I like how Harper scattered hints as the story is progressing. The twists came close to the end, and not just one but two crimes were solved. Hurrah!

I checked Goodreads and found out that there's Aaron Falk #2. Yay! This could be my next crime fiction series. I used to be a big fan of Kay Scarpetta until Cornwell changed to 3rd party POV and she lost it. Sue Grafton passed away last year, so there's no more Kinsey Millhone and that makes me really sad.

The Hunting Gun

Shawn Mooney sent me this book all the way from Tokyo as part of Litsy Valentine's Day book exchange.

Today I picked this book from my sky-high TBR, and I am in love with this author 💖

Exquisite is the one word I'd use to describe this book. Such beautiful prose; so much is revealed in just few pages. The translation work is amazing it's poetic. Imagine reading it in Japanese!

I am going to get this book in Japanese. I have already purchased "Bull Fight" and "Life of a Counterfeiter" from the Book Depository. Inoue stated in his foreword that "The Hunting Gun" and "Bull Fight" are the works that he had strong attachment to. When the author stated it that way, you must oblige.

The Promise of Stardust

Elle was declared brain-dead, and she has an 'Advanced Directives' stating that she prefers to die than surviving with life supports. The complication is that she's 8 week pregnant. So husband Matt is now fighting for her (and the baby's) survival.

The book tells us the story about their relationship, their family, and their dealings with birth and death.

This is not a book that I would choose myself. I've been avoiding stories about death and sickness after reading "My Sister's Keeper" years ago.

Signs Preceeding the End of the World

I'm conflicted about this book. Border crossings between Mexico and the USA always carry dramatic stories, and this is one of them. It's probably the translation; I don't feel the 'emotion' coming out from the story. If I could read Spanish, I'd love to read the original work - I'm sure it's 10x much better than this.

The Secret History

This is my second Donna Tartt after The Goldfinch, but it's actually her first book. Tartt is a master of descriptions. Everything is very fluid and she is very good in describing not only the surroundings, but also the human emotions. I find that her style is much more matured in The Goldfinch; but it's still a joy to read The Secret History.

The Secret History is about a bunch of college students who killed one of them. (This is not a spoiler because that's what she revealed in the first sentence of the book) So yeah, the climax is at the start; and then the story builds up on why they did it, and what happened after. I admit that I got bored on the second half of the book but the ending was oh-so-marvelous! 

I enjoy reading Tartt's work because she never fails to give you treats for sticking with her till the end. The way she describes one of the characters, for example: a lowbrow, pop-psychology version of Sylvia Plath... hahahaha.... that's a nice one!

And also, there is this part where everybody was so solemn during a funeral service, and something that is totally irrelevant popped in one chunky paragraph (pic below). Reading about a funeral service is such a chore, and when I found this para I laughed so hard I had to stop and read it more than twice. Gosh, how I love her writing!

So now I'm waiting for her second book The Little Friend to arrive in my mailbox. I can't wait for another fun ride. 

Donna Tartt is not for everyone. There are polarised reviews on her works, and I'm a fan. I have book hangover now; I think I need a few days to recover from The Secret History before moving on to my next book. 

Interpreter of Maladies

Jhumpa Lahiri is an amazing writer! I don't know why I didn't read her works earlier. I heard about Interpreter of Maladies since ages ago (it was published in 1999!) but I have been procrastinating on it.

I got the book in my mailbox last week and I'm done reading it. Beautiful, gorgeous writings! I was totally carried away.... the stories are so moving I couldn't put down the book.

If you have only one book to buy, I recommend this one. You will be pleased!

PS: I just purchased all books by Ms. Lahiri; I can't get enough of her writings.

M Train

I picked this book because it involves a writer who travels, loves books, and frequents cafe to ponder and write.

Patti Smith is no ordinary person. She is weird and yet enchanting. Who on earth travels the world to visit the graves of her favourite writers/singers/poets? I definitely won't do it. Weird as she is, her thoughts get me thinking. That's why it took me more than two weeks to finish this book. I read a paragraph, found it interesting, and I spent the next few minutes thinking about it.

The Children Act

This book is such a bore! This is my first McEwan and I was expecting something spectacular from him. After all, he wrote Atonement and I heard nothing but praises about his works. 

I have Atonement and Amsterdam in my shelves now, waiting to be read. I was keen but I am now skeptical. I don't want to spend my precious time reading boring literature. I classify him together with authors who "try too hard to impress with words selection but failed miserably". 

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

I yawned just after reading 2 pages of this book. Flanagan's prose was flat and it was obvious that he was trying too hard to impress readers with his vocabulary collection. Oh, this book also joined Murakami's latest book as Bad Sex in Fiction Award Nominee 2014. They are both equally bad in describing sex - they should be banned from writing any sex scenes! My heart ached because I thought that I had chosen a brilliant book. After all, it is the winner of The Man Booker Prize.

The only consolation that I have is that the horror war stories Flanagan exposed in details as he dedicated this book to his father (Prisoner 335) who survived the war. I am embarrassed that I was not aware about the Siam - Burma Death Railway built during the WWII. I cannot imagine the all the sufferings that the POWs had to go through. Hunger, cholera, dysentery, ulcers, vivisection... oh gosh, especially the vivisection. Who in the right mind could operate a vivisection?! I am truly disgusted that human beings can be so cruel to each other just because they want to uphold a certain belief.

War stories always make me ponder about life and humanity. I hate it when people are fighting, no matter how small the issue is. Can we all just share this world in peace?

All the Bright Places

This is my first YA fiction after Eleanor & Park. In fact, it has the same format as Eleanor & Park although this book is at the opposite spectrum of the mood.

Finch is suicidal and Violet is coping with the death of her sister. The whole book is about depression and life. I wonder why young adults these days have to deal with serious stuff like these. When I was a teenager, I thought of nothing other than schoolworks.