15 h 25 minAudiobook2 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 15 h 25 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
He can control a locomotive at speed. Can he control his urge to kill?
Jacques Lantier drives the railway line between Paris and Le Havre, finding comfort in the demanding care of his locomotive, Lison. Away from the engine, desire brings a violent impulse he fears. Then a glimpse of a crime beside the track draws him into a murder investigation.
Roubaud, a railway official, and his young wife, Séverine, are caught in that crime. Their marriage rests partly on the protection of Grandmorin, whose connection with Séverine holds a dark history. As Jacques grows closer to her, love and the search for safety become entangled with jealousy and danger.
What you’ll discover
- An engine under strain Feel the heat, speed, and effort of railway work through Zola’s exact physical details.
- A witness drawn closer Follow Jacques as his uncertain glimpse makes him important to the investigation and brings him closer to Séverine.
- Love with a dangerous edge Meet Séverine, seeking protection and love, and Flore, whose attachment to Jacques grows fiercely possessive.
- The comfort of Lison Discover why Jacques gives his locomotive the care and affection missing from his private life.
- Discipline against violent impulse Explore the contrast between people who master powerful machines and impulses they cannot govern.
Who will love it
For readers who love dark crime novels, dangerous relationships, and the physical world of railways, with secret affairs, jealousy, and violent impulses driving the story.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
Who’s who
- Jacques LantierA railway engineer who finds steadiness in his work but fears a violent impulse linked to desire.
- Séverine RoubaudRoubaud’s young wife becomes involved in murder and seeks protection and love from Jacques.
- RoubaudA railway official whose jealousy drives him to violence and whose gambling deepens his troubles.
- FloreA young woman near the railway whose love for Jacques becomes fiercely possessive.
- LisonJacques’s locomotive receives his care and affection, giving him a sense of control absent from his private life.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 15 h 25 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 2 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Read and hear Die Bestie im Menschen in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Die Bestie im Menschen
by Émile Zola · 1890
Jacques controls a powerful locomotive, but his urge to kill draws him into a married couple’s crime.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Monomaniac (La Bête Humaine) is a novel by Émile Zola about a railway engineer whose urge to kill becomes entangled with a married couple’s crime. Its trains, secret affairs, and murder investigation make a tense story about people who can run powerful machines but cannot master themselves.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Jacques Lantier works as a railway engineer on the line between Paris and Le Havre. He takes pride in his locomotive, Lison, and finds comfort in the skilled, demanding work of driving her. Away from the engine, he faces a frightening impulse: sexual desire can bring with it an urge to kill. He tries to keep his distance from women because he fears what closeness might awaken.
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What is The Monomaniac about?
The novel follows Jacques Lantier, a railway engineer troubled by an urge to kill, and his involvement with Séverine Roubaud after a railway murder. Their relationship joins sexual desire, jealousy, and the hope of escape to a crime that neither can easily leave behind.
What does La Bête Humaine mean?
La Bête Humaine means The Human Beast. The title points to the violent drives beneath apparently ordinary lives. Zola places those drives beside the railway’s precision and power, asking whether modern progress has made people any better at controlling themselves.
Is The Monomaniac part of Zola’s Rougon-Macquart series?
Yes. Published in 1890, it is the seventeenth novel in Zola’s twenty-book Rougon-Macquart series. Jacques Lantier belongs to the family whose lives connect the books. The murder story stands on its own, while his feared inheritance links it to the series’ concern with heredity.
The author
Émile Zola
1840–1902 · French novelist
Émile Zola (1840–1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, and poet. He was born in Paris, grew up in Aix-en-Provence, and later lived in Paris and Médan. He wrote Thérèse Raquin (1867), Nana (1880), and Germinal (1885). His twenty-novel series, Les Rougon-Macquart, appeared between 1871 and 1893.
More by Émile Zola
All 14 booksMore like this
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