The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

L'Argent (Les Rougon-Macquart, #18)
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Émile Zola Collection > Money (L'Argent) - Chapters IX and X

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message 1: by Zulfiya (new)

Zulfiya (ztrotter) | 1591 comments This week we are reading a little bit more than the last week, but it seems like Zola is finally about to show us how the Saccard's empire is going to crumple.

Again like in the previous chapters, Saccard is ubiquitous and talks to many people. Now he is not even concealing the fact how dangerous his speculation venture is for the shareholders and for him personally.

I am still reading chapter 10, but chapter nine was indicative of his fears and apprehension. At the same time, Saccard knows that higher prices for the shares are blown out of proportion, and possibly the financial sobering will be devastating both for him and his willy-nilly cohorts.

The news of his other son finally hits home, and happens when Saccard was trying to do the only semi-decent thing in the novel - to pay Jordan's bills. First off, the scene started as if Saccard was in total control, but eventually we learn that he controls nothing in this scene.

The same is true with the Universal - Saccard seems to exude the feeling of a man at the helm, but then closer to the end chapter 9, his fears of the financial cataclysm are physically tangible.

I will post more when I finish chapter 10.


Wendel (wendelman) | 229 comments Saccard’s empire is collapsing. We knew it would come to this, gamblers just have to raise their stakes. I wonder how he will react to the new situation. In the last chapters we have seen that Saccard is not completely devoid of better sentiments, but he is an addict. Cold turkey?

I was also considering how to compare The Killing and Money. Both novels study the working of greed and corruption under the Second Empire, but there is a 20 year time gap in the writing. Money stays much closer to the economic theme and is less graphic than the first book. Maybe something to comment on after reading the final chapters?


message 3: by Robin P, Moderator (new) - rated it 3 stars

Robin P | 2650 comments Mod
I don't know much about stock markets and I'm unclear as to how Gundermann can be losing money by opposing Saccard. He's not making money like the investors in the Universal are, but how is that a problem? Or is he somehow betting that it will go down, the way hedge funds in the US were selling bad loans and then betting they would fail and collecting when they did?

The description of the actual market was more detail than I wanted to know, but in a way it's kind of too bad that all the craziness of people shouting, roaming around, watching each other, throwing papers of different colors into a basket, has been replaced by computers trading in fractions of a second.


message 4: by Wendel (last edited Oct 10, 2014 08:28AM) (new) - rated it 3 stars

Wendel (wendelman) | 229 comments A baisse (bear) speculator sells stock he does not own, hoping that the extra supply he throws on the market will force the price down (short selling).

The strategy is possible when there is a considerable time gap between making the deal and the actual delivery of the stock (still involving a lot of paperwork in Zola's time), or when long-time investors like pension funds are prepared to let their stock for limited periods.

If the price goes down, the bear can clear his position with a profit. However, if the price goes up, he can only fulfill his obligations by buying the stock at this higher price, resulting in a net loss.


message 5: by Robin P, Moderator (new) - rated it 3 stars

Robin P | 2650 comments Mod
Thank you!


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The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910

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