Thérèse Raquin (1867 original; edició 2007)

Thérèse Raquin swims in a vast ocean of guilt and sorrow. Initially trapped in a loveless and boring marriage arranged and planned for Madame Raquin’s interest, Thérèse an orphan, without a taste of independence as a mind of her own, not so much their consideration for her own opinion, rebel in the most repugnant of ways. What starts off as small doses of freedom and pleasure becomes a gnawing hunger for an unrepentant and reckless solution. And as this slips easily in that small, tight interstice between murder and ardour its most appalling and perverse plot device is not with the offense committed but the inflicted psychological torture that heightens page after page. It traps in a cellar of nausea. Complicity becomes ugly resistance.

Zola’s acerbic and riveting prose where the plot is seamlessly ingrained is certain to shock and horrify to this day. However, as some twists and turns can be infeasible and absurd they mildly take away the pounding suspense and excruciating punishment of a passionate love turned hatred. It also includes some of the medical, often in psychology, beliefs at that time which are both interesting and ridiculous (hysteria as the only malady of women, anyone?) A novel easily not for the faint-hearted; short and scalding. ( )

843.8 ZOL

Memuakkan dan menjijikkan adalah dua kata yang pantas untuk menggambarkan Laurent dan Therese.
Walaupun aku sedikit mengerti perasaan Therese yang memiliki suami seperti Camille. Tetapi tetap saja perbuatannya yang berselingkuh dengan Laurent sampai akhirnya bekerja sama untuk membunuh Camille benar-benar biadab. Ah, lega rasanya waktu mereka didera perasaan bersalah karena pembunuhan yang mereka lakukan. ( )

This starts off as a great story, but from about half-way in, it gets repetitive and unnecessarily drawn-out. The final scene was as much a relief for me reading it as it was for the main characters ( )

4½ stars for the audiobook narrated by Kate Winslet; 4* for the book itself. Her voice & pronunciation were both delightful, and she managed to capture the horrors of Therese and Laurent without being ghoulish.

While none of the characters in this novel are very nice, Zola manages to make them human and thus understandable. Immensely readable, this tale of lust and murder focuses on the psychological toll of committing murder. I am glad that I read it (well, actually mostly listened to the audiobook edition) but doubt I would ever reread this. ( )