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| Therese Raquin (Oxford World's Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Emile Zola
Creator: Andrew Rothwell
Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy Used: £3.80
You Save: £3.19 (46%)
New (3) from £6.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 271055
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0192836765
Dewey Decimal Number: 840
EAN: 9780192836762
ASIN: 0192836765
Publication Date: September 10, 1998
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
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 16 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.
A VERY GOOD BOOK. June 2, 2002
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book, easy to read, horrific, disturbing, and with a simple plot, reminicent of "Macbeth". The writing style is beautiful, and insight into the mind that Zola has is remarkable.
However, this book being one of his earlier works, I don't think Zola had quite mastered his art. Compared with any of the titles under the "Rougon-Macquart" series "Therese Raquin" is simple and small. You cannot taste Paris like you can in "L'assomoire", and it does not leave you weeping like at the end of "Debacle". It is not one of those tremendous works that you will remember for the rest of your life.
Having said this "Therese Raquin" is still very well worth a read, afterall, it did come from the pen of one of France's greatest ever writers.
 A cautionary tale October 27, 2001
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I read this book about a month ago, and I still think about it a lot - despite having since read other books. That alone tells me what a great read it was. Having read other customer reviews prior to buying the book, I expected a ghastly tale of murder, incest and any other human act that, in 1867-1868 might have led to an author being hung! However, what I found in this book was a cautionary tale of how love does not conquer all, and Zola's brilliant interpretation of the distinction between lust and love. Zola paints a highly imaginable picture of the characters' lives, and yes, he does dissect these characters according to then current beliefs about human nature. But what we must remember is that these are his interpretations of what psychological processes could abound after an act of murder carried out in the throes of love, or lust, whichever the reader believes it to be. In modern times we have psychologists to theorise, experiment with and suggest hypotheses pertaining to human behaviour - a discipline that has arisen only over the last century. Books such as this one by Zola enable a valuable insight into what thoughts of human behaviour existed during the 19th century, thoughts that were possibly shared by many, but only one dared voice. Read it for what it is, a tragic love story, and try not to focus on Zola's psychological dissection, and you will enjoy a story rarely told so greatly.
Overly scientific and hasty June 14, 2001
4 out of 18 found this review helpful
The scientific style of this novel grated me some what. Although it is indupitably true that much of human behaviour and emotion can be described by reference to the science of psychology, Zola takes this truism beyond it's limits. He asks us to believe (and constantly reminds us so) that the actions of our anti-hereos were caused by nothing more than the inevitable psychological reactions within them. He thus seriously delapidates our concept of free-will making their original act as meaningless as the resulting torment that follows from breaking a 'natural' law. Zola also bombards us with one ultimate adjective after another, like 'and at this point his fear was at it's greatest'. As if his novel were written in one continous sitting, rather than than a carefully planned master-piece. The result was that by the end of the book i mo longer cared about the characters emotional state or their inevitable end but merely wanted to finish so i could start my next read.
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