WeBuzz
Reader discussion: Thérèse
Public reader discussion about Thérèse in the WeRead Catalog by François Mauriac.
[Discussion] Unbecoming a Lady: The Forgotten Sluts and Shrews Who Shaped America by Therese Oneill || Chapter 5 - end
By Superuser
Okay, welcome back—this is our last discussion. This week’s women were pretty intense: Elizabeth Packard, whose husband got her committed just because she wouldn’t go along with being Presbyterian; Mother Jones, who was a union activist; Ida B. Wells, who really laid out what was happening with lynching; Martha Hughes Cannon, the first woman state senator; Mary Edwards Walker, a doctor who wore pants even though it was controversial; and Victoria Woodhull, who pushed free love.
Audiobooks
By FernKettle
It feels like everyone here is super into audiobooks. I mostly hang out in 4chan/lit stuff, so I’m biased—I kinda think audiobooks ruin the whole experience and feel like a “cheat” since you’re getting out of reading it yourself (and also not really giving the full experience to other people). But I keep seeing you all recommending and using audiobooks, so I’m genuinely curious: why do you all like them?
Why I think The Price of Salt is Highsmith's masterpiece.
By brightbutton
I’ve been slowly going through Highsmith starting with the Ripliad, and I just finished *The Price of Salt*… and I’m honestly shocked that both were written by the same person. They feel like they’re chasing the same kind of core idea, but they do it in totally different ways in my head. This one is definitely in my top 10, and I kinda feel like it might be Highsmith’s best.
**The characters** really hit me. Therese starts out kind of helpless, like she’s just going along with everything, and her narration about Carol gets pretty intense/obsessive (it reminded me a lot of Ripley’s fixation, at least at first). But then Therese also has this real drive to change herself, and it feels wild that she manages that at nineteen—like she actually goes for independence and basically turns Carol down during that dinner at the Ritz. It’s satisfying watching her grow.
Carol is fascinating too, but in a different way. One minute she’s warm, the next she’s cold, and since we only get Therese’s perspective, Carol never quite feels fully explainable. You end up hanging on every word Therese hears, and I found Carol encouraging her to find a boyfriend even after they’re practically already saying it was something huge kind of unsettling and interesting. At times it feels like Carol isn’t that attached at all, even leaving her like it’s nothing. But then you remember what she did—giving up her child for someone she barely knows—and it makes you rethink her whole mindset and what she’s really doing.
**Then there are the little details** that are super well placed. Carol being late constantly makes you wonder if she’s doing it on purpose just to keep that mystery hanging around. And that six hundred dollar purse thing? Therese is broke, gives it to Carol, and Carol never even carries it. Oof. The setting descriptions are great too—I kept wanting to be there, wandering around the little American places Therese and Carol end up in. Also there are moments that are almost funny in a weird way, like Therese randomly wanting a tunnel collapse on her and Carol because she thinks it’d be romantic. I also heard Nabokov was influenced by this book, and I can kinda see it… though I read one Nabokov and what the heck was up with that milk?!
Anyway, it also reminded me of *The Blue Castle* and *Pale Fire* for the vibe/atmosphere. And I don’t think you need to be gay to get what’s going on here—I'm straight and I still felt the chemistry. Just don’t expect it to be overly sappy, because it’s more dark and psychological.
Sorry for the rambling—what do you all think?
Dear America books
By QuietFrog301
Not sure how many people know this series, but it’s kind of like little diary entries set in different historical times. There’s always a girl writing them, and they bounce around a bunch of periods—Salem witch trials, the Revolutionary War, the Gold Rush, World War I, all that. When I was younger I’d pick up a few and now I can’t stop, honestly. It’s weirdly nostalgic for me, and I feel like I’m learning little bits about the beauty and history of the country. Even if it’s not “proper” history or anything, I still find them super fun and hard to put down. Has anyone else read these?
Therese Raquin
By BookishReads
Am I the only one who keeps wondering if this was supposed to be a comedy? I’m not totally sure I’m getting what Zola was trying to do, because the whole thing is supposed to be this serious naturalistic novel, but there are moments where the writing is genuinely funny in a way I didn’t expect. Anyone else feel that disconnect too?
Just finished "Therese," the book that was the inspiration for the "aw yiss, breadcrumbs" comic
By SilverClock9
Why doesn’t more people talk about this book? The ending felt a little underwhelming, but it also seems like it was setting things up for sequels… and my school library doesn’t even have them.
I really liked the story though. Therese is stuck in a marriage with a man she can’t stand, she tries to poison him, and it doesn’t work. Instead of sending her to jail, his family kind of hushes it all up and keeps her locked away. I also thought the author does a good job making Therese seem sympathetic, even when she first comes off like the bad guy—once you’re seeing it from her side, you can’t help wondering if anyone would’ve done things differently in her place.
I’m not totally sure what the whole ducks and breadcrumbs thing is supposed to connect to, maybe it shows up more in later books. Either way, it’s a really good read and it feels like it should get more attention now.
If you’re curious, here’s the comic it came from:
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=326
Anyone else got into Anne Perry books without any knowledge of who she was, look her up after and then instantly want to stop reading her books after finding out what she did?
By bookishSail1997
At my local library, if you go to the thriller section and hit the part where the authors are filed under “P,” it’s basically all taken up by two names. James Patterson is one of them, and I’ve read a few things before—some are great, some were kind of meh for me. The other is Anne Perry. I’d always seen her books there and honestly just assumed she must be wildly popular, but I never really grabbed them when browsing because they’re mostly Victorian-era stuff. I don’t know that history super well, so I worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up.
Then I noticed she had a few that were set around the lead-up to World War II, which is a time period I actually like. I’d already finished some historical fiction from Rory Clements in that same general window, and I enjoyed it—his main character was a guy, though. Anne Perry’s were centered on a female lead, so I figured I’d try her.
And I ended up really liking it. The details about the time felt super researched, and even though I already knew some context going in, it still worked. The characters and plot were also gripping in a very thriller kind of way, and the writing was just vivid. I literally kept going—book two was right there on the shelf, then book three too. I even checked the inside cover to make sure I was reading in the right order.
I didn’t know if there was a book four at the time, since it wasn’t sitting there, so I looked her up. Her Wikipedia thing kind of hit me over the head with “Anne Perry was a British writer and murderer.” I read it and just felt sick. As a teenager, she and her best friend killed the friend’s mother in a park—bludgeoning her face with a brick, and it sounds like they planned it. The more I read, the more it seemed like there were major delusions and basically zero remorse. Then she changed her name and kept publishing under the new identity, already getting bestseller status, and only got exposed decades later when a movie was being made.
Now I feel weird about continuing her series. She’s clearly a talented writer, but knowing what she did—and that she became famous writing fiction involving murder—just leaves a really bad taste for me as a reader.