Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Disapointing February 25, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is my first review so bare with me.
I found Zola's writing style very difficult to stomach. He certainly created two characters whose actions were very believable and their consequent reactions realistic. The problem I found was at no point did I care about the characters. While creating this unbearable atmosphere between the characters I too found myself avoiding returning home to the book. I would make excuses to avoid reading it just as Therese and Laurent would avoid coming home.
The ending was extremely disappointing. It just felt as if he ran out of ideas and made for a swift ending. Several of the chapters seemed completely surplus to requirement and added nothing to the story.
As I said, he did create two believable characters whose actions were wholly believable. Zola succeeded in creating an claustrophobic atmosphere. This said I unfortunately do not feel this was enough.
Basically, I'd never read it again and would advise against people reading it. I'll admit I am not a literary genius and so it is possible some of the quality of the writing as eluded me, however, I have to admit I regret following this through to it's conclusion.
R
 Brilliant in its simplicty January 21, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A brilliant book which has a simple plot, wonderful characters and the little written dialogue seems to jump off the page at you.
What has made me love this book so much is the way that Zola has writen it so that the reader wants Therese and Laurent to strive and to be in love again because they are right for each other. The reader also does not grieve for the loss of Camille.
I wish to add that if you are a coward with a vivid imagination (like myself) you may find some descriptions of the lovers scaring themselves with images of the dead Camille a little scary.
Highly Enjoyable September 24, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
At first glance, the plot seems to be fairly routine, and perhaps a little boring. I thought this to be in the same vein as Chopin's "Awakening" or perhaps even "Moll Flanders". The title and blurb for this book are misleading, seeming to sell this novel as a romance, especially with the description of Laurent as 'earthy' and the 'animal passion' he shares with Therese, and did not immediately appeal to me. This is near-criminal, as it fails to stress the books chilling and pscyhological aspects that make it such an interesting read.
For this is far more than a simple passion/crime novel, but rather an intense, claustrophobic and highly enjoyable insight into the fracturing of two guilt-ridden, egotistical and self-pitying characters, so fully realised and superbly depicted, and shades of both Balzac and Dostoyevsky abound.
This novel might be described as a horror, a moral fable or a tragic romance. Above all of this though, it is a pscyhological thriller, highly symbolic, yet exciting and morbidly appealing in its entirety.
 Gritty, stark and grim September 21, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a grim little tale of physical lust, crime and guilt set in the seedy world of 19th century Paris. The anti-hero falls in lust with Therese, the wife of his pathetic friend Laurent, and together they conspire to murder him so they can marry (as much for her money as their mutual passion). But the crime comes back to haunt them, quite literally with joint hallucinations of the murdered, drowned man.
Zola takes the new science (at that point) of psychology and applies it here, showing man to be no more than an animal driven by physiological appetites. It's not an edifying view of humanity, and in fact there is little humanity in the book at all, but it's somehow not a depressing read for all that. perhaps Zola's own ghoulish energy lifts it, or the sublime writing? If your French is good enough, then read it in the original, but if not this is an excellent translation.
Therese Raquin. January 25, 2003
6 out of 15 found this review helpful
This novel explores human nature and inspires the reader to consider why we do what we do, and if anything can be a selfless act. Set in France, the scene is portrayed with great detail, bringing it alive in its true reality. The characters are portrayed well and we can see the way the events change and mould them throughout the plot. We also see how as people we feel guilt and pleasure among many other things throughout the plot, as the characters get what they want by whatever means possible. It illustrates the times that they lived in and how things have changed, but alos how a novel such as this can be as relevant now, as it was at the time it was written.
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