La bête humaine (French Edition)

Cle Intl December 8, Language: I'd like to read this book on Kindle Don't have a Kindle? Is this feature helpful? Thank you for your feedback. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Showing of 16 reviews. Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Let's get over the slight failings, if failings they be, in this lush, noirish novel. The plot, such as it is, is rickety and the coincidences absolutely Dickensian. The characters, moreover, do not comport with Zola's so-called "Realism," for which he is taken much to task.

But thank the devil they don't! Jacques, especially, is driven by atavistic forces beyond his control, reminiscent of Conrad's characters in his better novels.

This book, as many others have pointed out, owes its dark heart not so much to Darwin as to Poe. In point of fact, I have never read a novel that is so stamped with Poe's influence, from the money and pelf taken from the murdered President hidden under the Roubauds' floorboard until it eats into their hearts - "The Tell-Tale Heart" - to the dark atmospherics that permeate the work. And who of us has not stood looking down with our hands glued to a guardrail and not felt this inner tug?

This is how Jacques feels when sexually aroused. Is this all so alien and "unreal," or do we simply not like to admit these things to ourselves? The question is, ahem, rhetorical. This novel, despite its dark content, is so swimmingly delightful to read that one almost forgets the plot and the murders. And, much of this delight, mirabile dictu, is due to the steam locomotive: Yes, the courts are corrupt, the characters are more than a touch Gothic and murders most foul abound. The odd thing is that not one of these things seems to matter at all in the great scheme of things. Since I was working at top speed, I'd re-read a few pages of Zola every night, to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything.

Nugent , film critic for The New York Times , gave the film a positive review even though he felt uncomfortable watching the film, writing:. It is hardly a pretty picture, dealing as it does with a man whose tainted blood subjects him to fits of homicidal mania, with a woman of warped childhood who shares her husband's guilty secret of murder It is simply a story; a macabre, grim and oddly-fascinating story. Sitting here, a safe distance from it, we are not at all sure we entirely approve of it or of its telling.

Its editing could have been smoother—which is another way of saying that Renoir jerks his camera, jumps a bit too quickly from scene to scene, doesn't always make clear why his people are behaving as they do. But sitting here is not quite the same as sitting in the theatre watching it.

Editorial Reviews

There we were conscious only of constant interest and absorption tinged with horror and an uncomfortable sense of dread. And deep down, of course, ungrudged admiration for Renoir's ability to seduce us into such a mood, for the performances which preserved it. Greener Books Ltd Published: Brit Books Ltd Condition: Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Le Livre de Poche, Used - Very Good. Ships from Reno, NV. Great condition for a used book! Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy!

World of Books Ltd Condition: Etat Correct car articles de journaux concernant le livre. Emile Zola Classiques Universels.

• Combates Navales del 21 de Mayo de 1879 (Spanish Edition).
• La Bete Humaine.
• La Bete Humaine by Zola, Emile.
• Customers who viewed this item also viewed;

Used - Like New. This edition is out of print. Powell's Bookstores Chicago Condition: Spine creases, wear to binding and pages from reading. May contain limited notes, underlining or highlighting that does affect the text. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.