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karinlib's review
3.0
This is one of Simenon's "hard novels", and I think the premise was quite interesting. A convicted murderer writes a letter to the judge to "explain" why he did what he did.
enricop's review against another edition
4.0
Lettera al mio giudice. Una lunga lettera che sembra raccontare una storia vera. È una storia di amore e di morte, colma d’intensità, esaltazione e dolore. È la storia di un uomo, medico, padre di famiglia, che si ritrova ad uccidere. Sullo sfondo stazioni gocciolanti di pioggia, jazz club e piccoli alberghi di provincia.
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roe_'s review
Beautiful prose, perfectly languid first-person narrative voice, very well paced (although near the very end, I would've liked the pace to pick up a bit). Product of its time etc etc, but the sordid subject matter and fairly repulsive actions from the male characters prevented me from fully enjoying it.
rya_204's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
tennilles's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
laurabb's review
slow-paced
1.0
This was a DNF that I won't come back to. Too slow, I couldn't catch on to the pacing of the writing, and the violence and gore was so casual as to make it seem more violent and gory than it actually was. I appreciate what Simenon is doing here, but it's just not for me. DNF at 50%.
bjr2022's review
4.0
I read Act of Passion right after reading two of John Updike's "Rabbit" novels, which I described as "human soup." This book was more of that. Very tasty, chunky, multi-layered, and dark.
Simenon's protagonist Charles Alavoine joins the ranks of Updike's Rabbit Angstrom and Vladimir Nobakov's Pale Fire protagonist as men directed by their shadows--as written by male authors who insist on exposing our full human spectrum: from love to the opposite. (Ironically, Alavoine describes himself early on as a man without a shadow.)
A personal note, with a drop of self-promotion: It gives me hope that readers are intrigued by characters who wallow in so many flaws. I like such characters and am debuting a female one of my own in a couple of months (named Zelda McFigg). I hope people will accept and enjoy an equally scrambled and nuanced female character. I'm curious to see what happens.
Simenon's protagonist Charles Alavoine joins the ranks of Updike's Rabbit Angstrom and Vladimir Nobakov's Pale Fire protagonist as men directed by their shadows--as written by male authors who insist on exposing our full human spectrum: from love to the opposite. (Ironically, Alavoine describes himself early on as a man without a shadow.)
A personal note, with a drop of self-promotion: It gives me hope that readers are intrigued by characters who wallow in so many flaws. I like such characters and am debuting a female one of my own in a couple of months (named Zelda McFigg). I hope people will accept and enjoy an equally scrambled and nuanced female character. I'm curious to see what happens.