Therese Raquin by Emile Zola

 

I have been wanting to read a novel written by French novelist, Emile Zola, off and on for decades now. This year, I finally made it happen when I decided to listen to the unabridged audio version of Therese Raquin by Emile Zola. Therese Raquin is nicely narrated by Traci Svensgaard.

Therese Raquin by Emile Zola is an interesting novel, but slow in parts. Because of this, it took me longer to read this short novel than anticipated. Therese Raquin takes readers to the darker, seedier side of humanity and it isn't pretty. As the publisher's summary below highlights, "Zola’s novel is not only an uninhibited portrayal of adultery, madness, and ghostly revenge but also a devastating exploration of the darkest aspects of human existence." 

Therese Raquin explores the psychological (and physical) terror that takes place after a heinous crime is committed by two of the main characters. These two main characters think life will be different after the crime they commit occurs. Little do they know that their lives are negatively altered in ways they could never imagine. For me, Therese Raquin exemplifies the atrocities one endures in the aftermath of the crime they've committed.

I found the pacing for Therese Raquin to be uneven. Some parts of this novel were slow, which left me wondering where the storyline was headed. Other times, the flow and pacing were great, which had me fully engaged in the plot details. All in all, I was happy to have read this French classic.

Below is the publisher's summary for Therese Raquin by Emile Zola, which I discovered on Chirp's website:

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 scandal when it appeared in 1867 and brought its twenty-seven-year-old author a notoriety that followed him throughout his life. Zola’s novel is not only an uninhibited portrayal of adultery, madness, and ghostly revenge but also a devastating exploration of the darkest aspects of human existence.

I am giving Therese Raquin by Emile Zola a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Exit by Belinda Bauer

 

Belinda Bauer is a new to me author. I listened to the unabridged audio version of Exit by Belinda Bauer and narrated by Rupert Degas. 

I really liked Exit quite a bit. It's a thriller/crime fiction novel and it captures your attention from the very start and holds it throughout the entire novel to the very end. Exit isn't a perfect novel, but exciting enough that I now have another novel by the same author lined up to read in the future... Hopefully, before the end of the year.

Felix Pink, the 75 year old main character, is a retired account and widower who lives a rather mundane life now as an Exiteer (a volunteer who sits with terminally ill patients as they die by suicide)... That is until his latest Exiteer job goes entirely wrong and he's left trying to figure out how it all went horribly wrong.

I definitely enjoyed the storyline for Exit. There are subplots along with a few twists and turns that all come together nicely by the end of the novel. I also enjoyed the various characters within this novel. Exit is truly a rewarding crime fiction/thriller novel.

Listening time for Exit by Belinda Bauer is 9 hours, 34 minutes. I enjoyed Rupert Degas's narration of Exit. I look forward to seeing which other novels/books Rupert Degas has narrated as I'd be interested in hearing him as a narrator again in the future.

Below is the plot summary for Exit by Belinda Bauer from Chirp:

Felix Pink is retired. Widowed for more than a decade and a painfully literal thinker, he has led a life of routine and is, not unhappily, waiting to die a hopefully boring death. He occupies himself volunteering as an Exiteer-someone who sits with terminally ill people as they die by suicide, assisting with logistics and lending moral support, then removing the evidence so that family and friends are not implicated in the death. When Felix lets himself into Number 3 Black Lane, he’s there to perform an act of kindness and charity: to keep a dying man company as he takes his final breath. But just fifteen minutes later, Felix is on the run from the police-after making the biggest mistake of his life. Now his routine world is turned upside down as he tries to discover whether what went wrong was a simple mistake-or deliberate, a murder. With a novel that is part murder mystery, part coming-of-old-age story-however short that future may be—Belinda Bauer continues to redefine the boundaries of crime fiction. With the compassion and dark humor of Jonas Jonasson and the twisted thriller plotting of Rear Window, Exit is a novel listeners will not soon forget.

I am giving Exit by Belinda Bauer a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!