Therese (Twentieth-Century Classics)

Rating:
Summary: One of the great tragic novels
Review: Mauriac, who won the 1952 Nobel Prize for literature, later said of Therese that what she needed was a priest-confessor who truly represented Christ. Since he (at the time of writing the novel) knew of no such person, he could only write of a woman who's passion cried out in futility for fulfillment. The novel takes place in three (maybe four?) vignettes, with Therese first being accused of poisoning her husband, then moving to Paris and becoming a lover of many men, and finally her one truest act of love toward a young man who is drawn to both her and to God. The novel may offend Christians (since there's no cute or easy ending), offend protestants (since Mauriac sees Christanity and Catholicism as synonyms), and offend non-believers (Mauriac, for all his literary brilliance, is a Jesus freak at heart). I recommend Therese (and Mauriac's other works, incl. the non-listed on Amazon "River of Fire,") most highly.

Rating:
Summary: A BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN BOOK
Review: THIS IS THE STORY OF A WOMAN WHO ATTEMPTS TO POISON HER HUSBAND AND IS ACQUITTED OF THE CRIME, AS THE ATTEMPT FAILS. HER HUSBAND'S TESTIMONY AIDS IN HER ACQUITTAL. THE BOOK DEALS WITH THERESE'S PUNISHMENT BY HER HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER AND HER SUFFERING THROUGHOUT THE REST OF HER LIFE AS SHE ATTEMPTS TO LIVE WITH THE VIVID MEMORY OF HER CRIME.