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Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘'s Reviews > La Bête humaine

La Bête humaine by Émile Zola
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Fail. After spending 3 hours trying to decipher if the story was meant to be that misogynic or if it was only the sad expression of the 19th Century, I decided that I did not care whatsoever. My diminished reading time is way too precious to be spent hating every male character in there while being annoyed by the way women are portrayed.

DNF as soon as I felt like I was supposed to feel sorry for that abusive jerk. Not happening. Zola relies way too much on telling rather than showing to pull this off, no matter how revered his books are. Not to mention that his multiple POV is confusing and awkward.

I stand by what I thought : there are plenty of amazing books in classic French Literature, but Zola's aren't part of them as far as I'm concerned.
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Reading Progress

September 5, 2016 – Started Reading
September 5, 2016 – Shelved
September 18, 2016 – Finished Reading

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Comments Showing 1-24 of 24 (24 new)

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message 1: by Caroline (new) - rated it 5 stars
05 sept. 2016 22:40

Caroline I feel you


message 2: by Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (last edited 05 sept. 2016 23:19) (new) - added it
05 sept. 2016 22:43

Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ Lmao I hope I will finally get Zola this time :D For all the authors I had to read in College, he was one of the few I couldn't stand :/


message 3: by Michelle (new) - added it
05 sept. 2016 22:54

Michelle A buddy read would be so cool! When would you be thinking of doing it?


message 4: by [deleted user] (new)
05 sept. 2016 22:56

Anna, my TBR is long enough; how dare you make it longer! But really, some of these sound interesting; I need to look into these.


message 5: by Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (new) - added it
05 sept. 2016 23:13

Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ Michelle wrote: "A buddy read would be so cool! When would you be thinking of doing it?"

I'm starting La Bête Humaine right now, but I don't have any date for the others if you want :)


message 6: by Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (new) - added it
05 sept. 2016 23:14

Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ Mikaela wrote: "Anna, my TBR is long enough; how dare you make it longer! But really, some of these sound interesting; I need to look into these."

Bahahahaha you're gonna hate me XD I hated this author when I was younger (because boring) buuuuuut they're classics, and beloved by many so... who knows :P


message 7: by Caroline (new) - rated it 5 stars
05 sept. 2016 23:16

Caroline Don't forget Au Bonheur des Dames, The Ladies' Paradise in English, published in 1883. The novel is set in the world of the department store, an innovative development in mid-nineteenth century retail sales. Zola models his store after Le Bon Marché, which consolidated under one roof many of the goods hitherto sold in separate shops. The narrative details many of Le Bon Marché's innovations, including its mail-order business, its system of commissions, its in-house staff commissary, and its methods of receiving and retailing goods. A sequel to Pot-Bouille, the tenth novel in the Rougon-Macquart series.


message 8: by Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (new) - added it
05 sept. 2016 23:18

Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ Caroline wrote: "Don't forget Au Bonheur des Dames, The Ladies' Paradise in English, published in 1883. The novel is set in the world of the department store, an innovative development in mid-nineteenth century ret..."

Oooh I read this one! Actually it was the only one that I liked (after a while, I had a hard time with the beginning - but I'm referring to my 17s self, lol). I never read Pot-Bouille, though. Is it good?


message 9: by Nastassja (new)
06 sept. 2016 12:32

Nastassja I've only read so far Zola's The Ladies' Paradise and loved it to pieces!


message 10: by Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (new) - added it
06 sept. 2016 12:36

Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ Nastassja wrote: "I've only read so far Zola's The Ladies' Paradise and loved it to pieces!"

OMG YOU DID? You need to read one of those with me! Lmao


message 11: by Nastassja (new)
06 sept. 2016 13:11

Nastassja Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (of badger and SNAKE) wrote: "Nastassja wrote: "I've only read so far Zola's The Ladies' Paradise and loved it to pieces!"

OMG YOU DID? You need to read one of those with me! Lmao"

Yup, I love Zola's naturalism and, honestly, the book is like a 101 course for beginner entrepreneur: it was very informative :D Plus, I adore MCs and their development through out the book. Also, I've seen the movie adaptations of Thérèse Raquin and La Curée which were also awesome.

Ahaha, why not! We definitely can do that somehow))


message 12: by Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (new) - added it
06 sept. 2016 16:29

Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ Bahahaha RIGHT?! It was like, sells for noobies XD

And absolutely! I will probably take a year to complete this challenge so definitely not in a hurry :) I never buddy read a novel in different languages but after all, the story is the same ^^


message 13: by Nastassja (new)
06 sept. 2016 17:19

Nastassja Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (of badger and SNAKE) wrote: "Bahahaha RIGHT?! It was like, sells for noobies XD

And absolutely! I will probably take a year to complete this challenge so definitely not in a hurry :) I never buddy read a novel in different l..."

Yes, I am curious too and we will be able to discuss and compare original and translation. And btw, I've read the book in Russian and it was a really good translation! Now we just need to establish which book to read together :D


message 14: by Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (new) - added it
06 sept. 2016 17:23

Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ Nastassja wrote: "Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (of badger and SNAKE) wrote: "Bahahaha RIGHT?! It was like, sells for noobies XD

And absolutely! I will probably take a year to complete this challenge so definitely no..."

Yay!! I won't read much/be around much these next months, but I'll still read these books - reading in French will be easier for once XD Hmm honestly as you want. Germinal is supposed to be one of the best (I tried enjoying it at 16, but I barely remember anything) But anyone will do :)


message 15: by Nastassja (new)
06 sept. 2016 17:40

Nastassja Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (of badger and SNAKE) wrote: "Nastassja wrote: "Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (of badger and SNAKE) wrote: "Bahahaha RIGHT?! It was like, sells for noobies XD

And absolutely! I will probably take a year to complete this challeng..."

I'll read annotations to all the books in your list above and then decide which one I'd like, though I will probably read all of them someday (hopefully).

No problem, I am not in a haste and can start whenever it is convinient for you, Alienor. Just PM me when the time is up :D


message 16: by Nastassja (new)
06 sept. 2016 18:20

Nastassja So, I just checked the annotations and Germinal, Nana and Money attracted my attention the most. Which one you'd like to buddy-read, Alienor?))


message 17: by Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (new) - added it
06 sept. 2016 19:47

Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ Nastassja wrote: "So, I just checked the annotations and Germinal, Nana and Money attracted my attention the most. Which one you'd like to buddy-read, Alienor?))"

Hmmm maybe Germinal? I think it will be my next step after La Bête Humaine. I'll let you know :D


message 18: by Nastassja (last edited 06 sept. 2016 21:02) (new)
06 sept. 2016 21:01

Nastassja Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (of badger and SNAKE) wrote: "Nastassja wrote: "So, I just checked the annotations and Germinal, Nana and Money attracted my attention the most. Which one you'd like to buddy-read, Alienor?))"

Hmmm maybe Germinal? I think it w..."

Deal then! Now I am off to find a decent translation of the book :D


message 19: by Nastassja (new)
18 sept. 2016 10:18

Nastassja Oh well, I had high hopes for this book, but as I understand the author tries too hard to make us sympathize with a rather disgusting character (?) which makes it impossible to enjoy the book. Really sad, this book seemed really promising :/


message 20: by Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (new) - added it
18 sept. 2016 13:20

Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ Nastassja wrote: "Oh well, I had high hopes for this book, but as I understand the author tries too hard to make us sympathize with a rather disgusting character (?) which makes it impossible to enjoy the book. Real..."

Yeah, that's exactly what annoyed me. The male leads are horrible people, and boring :/


message 21: by Niki (new)
19 sept. 2016 14:48

Niki Honestly, that's how I felt about a different book, also kind-of a "classic", Tom Robbins' "Jitterbug Perfume" The sentence "My diminished reading time is way too precious to be spent hating every male character in there while being annoyed by the way women are portrayed." summarizes my entire experience with it.


message 22: by Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (new) - added it
23 sept. 2016 22:22

Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ Yeah, some classics are like that - I loved many of them, but that does not mean that I'm going to praise every fucking one of them, especially when they're boring and sexist :/


message 23: by Ronyell (new)
08 oct. 2016 17:58

Ronyell I feel the same way you do. I don't think I could ever sympathize with a literature character who is sexist.


message 24: by Céline (new) - rated it 4 stars
05 août 2019 00:02

Céline Amyriel Actually the women are the strongest characters in the book. We should not forget that women depended on men at that time to live. Men characters here are wicked and mad. Séverine was molested, Flore fights off but gets to be the mad one.... The book show the machinery, how everyone is corrupted up to the system which which is anything but impartial. It is a very dark book and yet still rings today.


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