Summary and synopsis of "Lugon Makkar Series," Volume 18, "Gold.
Emile Zola (1840-1902)Wikipedia.
Gold" is the 18th volume of the "Lugon-Macquart series" completed by Emile Zola over a period of 24 years, and was published in 1891.
I read "Kim" translated by Masato Nomura, published by Fujiwara Shoten.
Again, let's look at the synopsis in the obi description.
A 19th-century financial novel that is the very same as Japan's bubble economy of the 1980s and its collapse!
The sudden and massive collapse of stock prices, which had soared to the limit, and businessmen committing suicide with bad debts - these are just a few of the anomalies of human beings and society in an advanced capitalist society!
◆Humanity and its times without debauchery
Thakkar, the protagonist of "Prey's Share," had a grand plan in his mind to dominate the Paris Stock Exchange. He would set up a universal bank to invest in railroad networks and mining developments in the Middle East.
He then skillfully uses newspapers to attract investor interest and drive up the stock price. When Thakkar tries to take over the stock exchange, Gundelman, a Jew with huge capital, stands in his way. After an epic battle over the bank's shares, Saccar is defeated, and the dreams of small investors come to a disastrous end.
Reminiscent of Japan's bubble economy of the 1980s, this novel is a masterful portrayal of a man and his times, possessed by megalomaniacal desires and ultimately unable to resist his own debauchery.
Fujiwara Shoten Publishing Co.
Some line breaks have been made.
The protagonist of this work, Sakkar.The Birth of the House of Lugon., ,"A Share of the Prey."He also plays a major role in the "Lugon Makkar Series," and is depicted as a very important figure in the "Lugon Makkar Series.
In the family tree it is located on the left side of the Lugon family.
Thakkar had been portrayed as cunning and greedy since his first appearance in "The Birth of the House of Lugon," but his keen sense of smell, obsession, and talent for gold would blossom in his next work, "Prey's Share."
In "Prey's Share," Saccar made a huge amount of money mainly through land speculation, but in this film, we see him throw himself into a new battle by establishing a huge bank. Saccard's rival Jews are modeled on that Rothschild family. During the Second Empire of France, financial wars actually broke out between the new banks and the Rothschilds. Zola painstakingly researched these facts and incorporated them into this work.
And as mentioned in the synopsis, many scenes are reminiscent of the frenzy of the bubble era in Japan. So the same kind of frenzy was already happening in Paris more than 100 years before the bubble economy.
Huge capital sucks up everything and then collapses.
People caught in this situation dream of making huge profits without having to work and invest, but they lose everything.
Even an earnest couple who have worked diligently for decades cannot resist the temptation, and even the sight of them coming to think that working with sweat and tears is foolish is frightening.
The novel painstakingly describes the process by which soaring stock prices, dividends, and interest income drive people crazy.
Thoughts - From a Dostoevskyian Perspective
Saccar does indeed have a fierce desire for gold.
But he is not interested in saving money.
He is not a defender; he is fascinated by the power of gold itself.
To fight, to be the strongest man in the fierce battleground of speculation, to eat others in order not to be eaten, was the great and only reason, next to the desire for glory and pleasure, for his infatuation with business. He did not accumulate wealth because of the other pleasure of pitting big numbers against numbers, of unleashing fortunes to turn out armies, and of deciding who would win and who would lose by clashing opposing sums of money, and that was what kept him hooked.
Fujiwara Shoten Publishing, translated by Masato Nomura, "Gold" p. 69-70
With money you can buy all kinds of things.
Of course, there are some things that money can't buy, but the great thing about money is that it can buy you a lot of things."Where we can quantify things that are inherently unquantifiable."I think it is in the
With money, everything can be measured on a monetary scale. That includes not only things, but also services such as labor.
For example, instead of spending two hours cleaning by yourself, you can pay someone to do it for you.
Here, two hours of your own cleaning is converted into money, and you have bought it.
This means that the money has the power to pay for the two hours of cleaning you paid for.
So how much power would you have if you had a billion yen?
What about 10 billion yen, 100 billion yen, 1 trillion yen?
Thus the sacchar fights for unlimited power.
The translator's commentary also states
These ideas about gold were also Zola's own. In a newspaper interview discussing his next film, "Gold," he stated. I am going to lift gold. I'm going to extol the power that gold has to create generously, its overflowing power. I don't agree with those who abuse gold. My starting principle is that if gold is used well, it will benefit humanity as a whole" ("Jill Plus," April 8, 1890).
Fujiwara Shoten Publishing, translated by Masato Nomura, Gold, p. 562
In the film, Zola also tells this story through a woman named Caroline, Saccar's business partner.
It was then that Madame Caroline suddenly realized that money is the fertilizer that will help tomorrow's man grow. Saccard's words brought back to life every bit of his theory about speculation. It reminded her of the idea that just as a child cannot be born without sexual desire, without speculation there would be no lively, fruitful, and prosperous big business. [omitted].
Gold spreads poison and destroys, but it is also the inducer of all manner of social vegetation, the humus needed for the great work of reconciling people and bringing peace to the earth. She had cursed gold earlier, and now she was praising it in awe. Only gold can chip away the mountains, fill in the straits, make the earth habitable for human beings, and free them from work so that all they have to do is operate the machines. Just as all evil comes from money, so does good come from money. She was shaken so deeply that she could no longer understand what was going on.
Fujiwara Shoten Publishing, translated by Masato Nomura, Gold, p. 307-308
The period of the Second Empire, which Zola has depicted in his "Lugon-Macall Series," was a time of rapid economic development.
The consumer capitalism born at this time is directly connected to the modern society in which we live.
I think the tendency to believe that money is evil is a feeling that is still somewhat engrained in us.
But money is also the driving force of society itself, an undeniable fact, Zola asks us.
It is true that money makes people crazy and greed hurts people.
However,Money well spent., ,And it makes humanity happy., ,In fact, it is still being done.Zola says.
Now, how do we take this opinion of Zola?
Is it really possible to control the movement of money and human desires?
Dostoevsky states that humans are irrational and that if we can keep playing our best moves like machines, then such things are not human.
Even if you know it will be profitable,I don't want to."He says it is human to think that
What do you all think?
Yes, I agree with you that money is an absolute evil, but not an absolute good.
However, when it comes to controlling it well, I would have to say hmmm....
However, it is also true that our lives run smoothly and people-to-people relationships are created because money exists and the economy runs. I am reminded of the positive aspects of money as well.
This work, "Money," made me think very much about money.
Today, supermajors own most of the world's wealth, and inequality has never been greater.
I found this book to be very useful in considering such realities.
This is the "Zola "Gold" Synopsis and Impressions - The Rothschild vs. Paris Emerging Bank Financial War in 19th Century Paris! The above is the summary of "Zola "Gold"" and my impression of it.
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