THERESE RAQUIN (Emile Zola) - August 2/09

Though it boasts a surprisingly contemporary writing style (which could admittedly be a result of the translation) and an unabashedly sinister storyline, Therese Raquin eventually wore me out and lost my interest thanks to its relentlessly repetitive final 100 pages or so. Once the murder is committed and Therese and Laurent start to go crazy, Zola essentially offers up page after page of the exact same thing. There's nothing new or fresh within this portion of the book, as Zola hammers home the point over and over again. It's maddening, really. ** out of ****