I bought this novel on the basis of a recommendation from a friend whilst trawling through David's bookshop, and I'm so glad I did. Despite their literary credit, often novels that are regarded as classics can be a little slow moving- a bit like trying to get through very thick mud in order to reach the exciting parts. La Bête Humaine is quite the opposite- and for this reason it is easily the best novel I have read recently.
Set mostly on the railway lines around Paris, La Bête Humaine originally two separate novels- with one focusing on railway life and the other dealing with the hereditary nature of murder, but Zola makes it so that the two seem to go hand in hand, forming an extremely compelling and dark narrative. The most interesting part of the novel was its focus on human nature and the part it plays in the act of murder, with one of the central characters, Jacques, comparing murder to the survival of the fittest instinct among beasts- perhaps as a mitigation for his actions, though not a very reasonable one. Whilst reading I found myself able to compare themes and characters to those of Shakespeare's Macbeth, because, essentially, both texts focus on the same thing- what it takes to murder, and the extent to which human nature can be pushed.
I think my enjoyment of the novel, particularly the ending which is predominately set on the railway line, was further aided by reading in the garden with the sounds of trains passing on the nearby railway- I found myself able to get totally lost within the text. I'm actually quite tempted to re-read La Bête Humaine despite only having finished it last night, and I hope that I get a chance to study it at some point because it is totally full of interesting material and themes! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a bit of murder and pessimism...because this is a truly amazing novel. Next up: Virgina Woolf's To the Lighthouse.
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