Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

 

Today's Featured Book: 

Thérèse Raquin

by Émile Zola

Genre: Fiction

Published: 1867

Page Count: 211 pages

Summary: 

Set in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a dingy haberdasher's shop in the passage du Pont-Neuf in Paris, this powerful novel tells how the heroine and her lover, Laurent, kill her husband, Camille, but are subsequently haunted by visions of the dead man and prevented from enjoying the fruits of their crime.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

At the end of the Rue Guenegaud, coming from the quays, you find the Arcade of the Pont Neuf, a sort of narrow, dark corridor running from the Rue Mazarine to the Rue de Seine. This arcade, at the most, is thirty paces long by two in breadth. It is paved with worn, loose, yellowish tiles which are never free from acrid damp. The square panes of glass forming the roof, are black with filth. 

On fine days in the summer, when the streets are burning with heavy sun, whitish light falls from the dirty glazing overhead to drag miserably through the arcade. On nasty days in winter, on foggy mornings, the glass throws nothing but darkness on the sticky tiles—unclean and abominable gloom.

Zola, Émile. Theresa Raquin (p. 1). Kindle Edition. 

The ugliness of the setting warns us in advance of the ugliness of the story iteself.

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

Camille lay asleep close at hand. This poor creature, with his body twisted out of shape, displaying his lean proportions, was gently snoring. Under the hat, half concealing his face, could be seen his mouth contorted into a silly grimace in his slumber. A few short reddish hairs on a bony chin sullied his livid skin, and his head being thrown backward, his thin wrinkled neck appeared, with Adam's apple standing out prominently in brick red in the centre, and rising at each snore. Camille, spread out on the ground in this fashion, looked contemptible and vile. 

Laurent who looked at him, abruptly raised his heel. He was going to crush his face at one blow.

Zola, Émile. Theresa Raquin (p. 56). Kindle Edition. 

This is my fifth book by Zola, and all five---Thérèse Raquin, Germinal, L'Assommoir, The Belly of Paris, and Nana---are bleak and present a view of human nature as dark and selfish. Four of the five---Thérèse Raquin, Germinal, L'Assommoir, and Nana---are on the list of on the list of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Thérèse Raquin may be the bleakest of the five books I've read so far.

There are some spoilers in the summary in the paragraph below:

Thérèse Raquin is taken in to raise by her aunt, and she grows up with her weak and sickly cousin Camille. The aunt encourages the cousins to marry when they are of age, and they do so. But Thérèse is bored with her life until she meets Camille's friend, Laurent. Laurent and Thérèse have a torrid affair, and they both begin to long for Camille to die so they can live together "in peace." Laurent kills Camille, but they never experience their longed-for peace.

From the descriptions of the setting to the descriptions of the characters to the plot itself---everything in this story is grim and brutal. Zola is always completely truthful, though, so it's a truth that is hard to look at, but also somehow necessary, if it can be tolerated.

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

July 18th - 24th - What is your opinion on modern artists' interpretations of deceased authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen? Do you think these interpretations represent the authors correctly, or do they disrespect the authors? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

I think we know a lot more about dead authors now than we did long ago. More information can't do anything but tell us more about the authors, though it might not always be flattering.