Thérèse Raquin (Oxford World's Classics): Amazon.co.uk: Émile Zola, Andrew Rothwell: Books

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Anthology of Second World War French Poetry (University of Glasgow French and German publications)

by Ian Higgins

�9.00

Return to My Native Land (Bloodaxe Contemporary French Poets)

by Aime Cesaire

5.0 out of 5 stars (1) �6.23

The Kreutzer Sonata (Penguin Great Loves)

by Leo Tolstoy

�3.68

Hymne a l'Amour: Les chansons de toute une vie (Le livre de poche)

by Edith Piaf

�6.95

French Grammar in Context (Hodder Arnold Publication)

by Margaret Jubb

3.5 out of 5 stars (2) �13.12

› Explore similar items

Product Description

This new translation is based on the second edition of 1868, and includes the important `Preface', in which Zola defended himself against charges of immorality.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
AT the end of the Rue Guenegaud, coming up from the river, can be found the Passage du Pont-Neuf, a sort of dark, narrow corridor running between the Rue Mazarine and the Rue de Seine. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

tragedy(1)

See all 2 tags...

Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cautionary tale, 28 Oct 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Therese Raquin (Classics) (Paperback)

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.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A darkness that throws so much light, 4 Dec 2008

By	M. Harrison "Hamish" (London, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Therese Raquin (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

If Emile Zola was writing today he might have been a screen writer. The images, atmosphere, and characterisation in this novel play a desperate film noir in your head that will replay there perhaps for ever.

The modernity of this book is startling. It is almost impossible to believe it was first published in 1867. It is a gripping, seething tale of neglect, bitterness, and lust that turns to horror and despair as its key protagonists crave redemption and release.

Therese is the adopted daughter of a simple haberdasher and her feeble son. She has learnt young to expect nothing from life, and is not disappointed. She marries the son only because it pleases the mother, and, after all, what else is there? It is a life of such alienation and boredom that only a writer as great as Zola could portray it and yet hold the reader in anticipation of what is to follow. And what follows is altogether more eventful: passion described with a vividness that is shockingly erotic; violence that makes the reader wince; fear that haunts you between each reading.

By the time the tale twists into its downward spiral you may fear that Zola does not know where to take it next. It circles for a while in repetitious misery. But the author is only preparing himself for a final assault that leaves you closing the book as if it were a prematurely opened grave: with a mix of terror and fascination.

But most remarkably of all, Zola has somehow, in this story of desperately lost eighteenth century Parisian souls, found qualities and frailties that are so universal and so poignant that you care even as these creatures tear themselves and each other to pieces. He understands as well, maybe better, than any writer how human beings will build a whole world on even the flimsiest foundation and fill it with all their aspirations - and disenchantments. And so the needy become the passionate; the petty the desperate; the melancholy the murderer. And the murderer the sad and lonely child.

For all that Zola has laid the dysfunction of each of his characters so bare you can hardly bear to look, he somehow allows you still to see their souls. Incredibly the ending fills you with sorrow almost as much as with horror.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Enjoyable, 24 Sep 2006

By	Neko_Camus (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Therese Raquin (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

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.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 12 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Thursday night for dominoes
Zola was famously anti Clerical but at heart we have here a very moral 19th Century tale. The nervous, dull, listless Therese and earthy, idle, hot-blooded Laurent keep schtum for... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Officer Dibble

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Compelling and Mind Provoking
Therese Raquin is an amazing book. It depressed, provoked and shocked me to the extent that i literally could not put it down. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Louis/Imogen/Dad

2.0 out of 5 stars Disapointing
This is my first review so bare with me.

I found Zola's writing style very difficult to stomach. Read more

Published on 24 Feb 2007 by Richard M. Shand

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant in its simplicty
A brilliant book which has a simple plot, wonderful characters and the little written dialogue seems to jump off the page at you. Read more

Published on 21 Jan 2007 by Ms. E. S. J. Webb

4.0 out of 5 stars Gritty, stark and grim
This is a grim little tale of physical lust, crime and guilt set in the seedy world of 19th century Paris. Read more

Published on 21 Sep 2006 by Roman Clodia

2.0 out of 5 stars Therese Raquin.
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. Read more

Published on 25 Jan 2003 by Hannah Inglis

4.0 out of 5 stars A VERY GOOD BOOK.
This is an excellent book, easy to read, horrific, disturbing, and with a simple plot, reminicent of "Macbeth". Read more

Published on 2 Jun 2002

2.0 out of 5 stars Overly scientific and hasty
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... Read more

Published on 14 Jun 2001 by pmyujd@nottingham.ac.uk

5.0 out of 5 stars This is brute human nature in fictional form.
Whilst so often derided by the realists and the asthetes, Zola continues to shock the most hardened of literary purists. Read more

Published on 14 Sep 2000

› See all 12 customer reviews...

Listmania!

Books I would never have read if I hadn't gone to Uni: A list by Miss. Lissa "miss_lissa"
books i couldnt put down: A list by Cat "Mad about books"
Favourite literature in translation: A list by Cherry

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > Z > Zola, Emile
Books > Fiction > By Period > 19th Century
Books > Fiction > World > French
Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism
Books > Study Books > Undergraduate & Postgraduate > Arts & Humanities > Literature & Drama > Drama > Criticism

Look for similar items by subject

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.

	75% buy the item featured on this page: Th�r�se Raquin (Oxford World's Classics) 3.9 out of 5 stars (12)
	7% buy Th�r�se Raquin (Oxford World's Classics) 3.0 out of 5 stars (1) �4.19
	7% buy French Grammar and Usage 4.0 out of 5 stars (4) �19.55
	5% buy Return to My Native Land (Bloodaxe Contemporary French Poets) 5.0 out of 5 stars (1) �6.23

Th�r�se Raquin (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product details

Product Description

Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Customer Reviews

Customer Discussions

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Listmania!

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject

Feedback

Your Recent History