Search Results for “Emile Zola”

One of Zola's most famous realistic novels, Therese Raquin is a clinically observed, sinister tale of adultry and murder among the lower classes in nineteenth-century Parisian society. Zola's shocking tale dispassionately dissects the motivations of his characters--mere "human beasts", who kill in order to satisfy their lust--and stands as a key manifesto of the French Naturalist movement, of which the author was ... 

Nicole says: “It was good thing I read this in French - I cannot think an English version would do justice to Z...”

 

ILLUSTRATED BY DANTAN. 

Catherine says: “Feels like Zola's attempt at Madame Bovary but with less drama. In this story, set in the outskir...”

 

In a dingy apartment on the Passage du Pont-Neuf in Paris, Thérèse Raquin is trapped in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille. The numbing tedium of her life is suddenly shattered when she embarks on a turbulent affair with her husband’s earthy friend, Laurent. But their passion for each other soon compels the lovers to commit a crime that will haunt them forever. Thérèse Raquin caused a scand... 

Maria Andrea says: “Loved the novel! The characters are portraited as victims of their own physiological and instintu...”

 

In these three short stories, Emile Zola presents characters in search of fulfillment—romantic, religious, and financial. Read together, they give us an extraordinary depiction of sexual mores. When the apparently angelic Thérèse commits murder, she offers sexual favors to a petty clerk if he will dispose of the body; the pregnant Flavie manipulates a neighbor’s interest in her dowry to arrange a shotg... 

Aimee says: “Zola is just so wonderfully weird. I love his twists and the emotions of his characters are so r...”