Gustave Flaubert Books

Flaubert's novel was a disturbing read. He assembles a cast of characters who manage not to grow, change, learn, or really connect throughout. They are all utterly trapped within themselves and thus can never really give or receive love. Most shamble along in bovine somnambulance (Charles) or trite smugness (Rodolfe). The two dynamos, Emma and Homais are both the big readers and the major actors; always reading, always striving, machinating, doing. Yet for what? Everything they strive for is vanity, hypocrisy, and destructive. The gender tweak here is that Emma's coveteousness and adultery lead to suicide; Homais's scientific, anticlerical activities lead him to rewards and recognition in his field, though nearly costing several people their lives along the way. For Flaubert, conforming to conventional morality or rebelling against are both futile, sterile strategies. The result is a world of cold instrumentality, devoid of real intimacy. This cynical vision fuels his critique of the bourgeoisie who are by definition precluded from honoring true love and morality. Flaubert does render silent emotions and invisible desires with a most penetrating precision in prose. But it is to dissect and lay bear for derision. Do not look for hope or tenderness here.

Madame Bovary is, without a doubt, the best book I have ever read, and I love to read. This is a story about human nature and irony. Emma Bovary wants every man, but the man who adores her. She is selfish, oblivious, and cold. Her husband, Charles, is crazy for her, and she is disgusted by his unconditional love for her. This book is exciting and adventerous, but the element of reality is there too. The mixture of fantasy and reality is beautiful. If you enjoy reading, then this book is a must! I can not reccommend it too highly.

Descriptive yet concise, this is some of the best writing ever! Flaubert truly sees the world as it is and spares nobody (the church, politicians, merchants, etc.). Sometimes criticized for a lack of plot, I think this unfair because real life is not often a thrill-per-minute ride, full of twists and turns. Realistically, the story REQUIRES this plot. Although published in 1857, it is as true today as ever because human nature hasn't changed. The reader truly experiences the passion and excitement of life tempered by the harsh realities so perceptively described by the author. Could it be that this novel foreshadowed Flaubert's own life? A must-read.

One of my favourite novels of all time! Truly astounding!
I read this when i was 13/14 for the first time (portuguese translation): i cannot recall my reaction. But 10 years l8er, during a hot, frustra8ing month of August - like all the months where there is enough sunlight 2 fry ur brains outdoors - i re-read this in 2 days sitting @ the park and lying in bed. What a thrill!!
Like Anna Karenina, Bovary is a perfect heroine. The difference is: this is a better novel. From beginning 2 end there is no fluff: just pure stylistical and emotional delirium making u snap @ every turn. I believe fully Flaubert's cry that HE was Madame Bovary: @ least u understand how ultimately inlove he was w/ her. ... It warps ur senses. It makes u turn that page faster and faster. These people r still alive in our towns, our pretentious backwaters, our petite bourgeoisie. This dreamy nihilistic boredom is perfectly contemporary, this need 2 have in order 2 forget loneliness & drape the hours w/ something more than void & human stupidity & stifling small-mindedness. I believe it was Benjamin who said something like: "The consumers relation with the real world, with politics, history and culture is not one of interest, investment or engaged responsibility. Rather, it is one of curiosity. One must try EVERYTHING: in fact man in consumer society is tormented by the fear of "missing" something, any enjoyment whatsoever... it is no longer desire or even taste or specific inclination that is in play, it is a generalised curiosity motivated by a widespread anxiety. It is the anxiety of always feeling on the verge of - but only on the verge of - finally grasping the object of desire, the meaning of life, the rules of the game."
A literary miracle and a pure, luminous joy! :o)

This is one of those books that always seems to come up in literary conversations, and because I like to be in the know, I decided I would pick it up between college courses and give it a try. I Loved It!!!
I was a bit surprised by the introduction to this particular book because the woman who authored it, Robin Morgan, seemed more than a touch pissed off that Flaubert was a sexist ass. In my opinion, as a feminist, it does not matter one bit. This novel is tragic, yes, but beautifully and fluidly written. While Flaubert may have been some kind of jerk (according to Robin Morgan) in his personal and/or literary life, this masterpiece is certainly worthy of praise regardless.
Sure, the characters are unlikable...and that is putting it nicely...but I cannot, in any way, say that they are unbelievable. Emma Bovary, AND her husband Charles, are fatally flawed...but such is the world we live in. Nobody is perfect and this novel is a testament to the fact.
This is a quick read, and again, it is, in my opinion, expertly and beautifully written. I am just miffed that I waited so long to dive into it! Highly recommended.

Everything as promised; prompt delivery of pristine copy of the book

Julian Barnes in his excellent survey of this book in NY Review of Books states that Brown shows how Flaubert in the few intimate relations of his life preferred the memory of the experience in solitude where he could control it, to the actual experience itself. He cites an instance where Flaubert wrote to the woman closest to him Louise Colet explaining to her that if people truly loved each other they could do so without seeing each other for ten years. Colet appeared to be somewhat skeptical of the matter.
Barnes also says that Brown in telling the story of Flaubert's relation to his long- time friend Maxine du Camp shows how the lifelong friends nonetheless aimed differently in life, and had subtle criticisms of their best - friends' enterprises. So Flaubert upon hearing that du Camp had been accepted as member of the 'French Academy' hinted that it was an honor not at all worth receiving. So du Camp criticized Flaubert for being stuck all the years in the same attitude he had early on.
Barnes says that Brown's book is truly admirable though it contains no significant great revelation about a writer who has fascinated more than one devoted biographer.
Nonetheless he makes it clear that this is by and large a first- rate biography, and one well- worth reading.

In his book, "Flaubert: A Biography," Frederick Brown portrays his book by giving the readers a closer look at Paris during a period of radical change. He writes his book to illustrate a wonderful biography Madame Bovary as Gustave Flaubert. Interestingly and what makes this book fascinating is how Frederick Brown keeps his distance away from the audience to make us decide what the apparent contradictions in Flaubert's life really is. The 24 chapters not only offer a vivid, detailed, and accurate account of Flaubert's life, they also provide relevant historical background for Europe, France, and Rouen, Flaubert's birthplace. Flaubert (for those who don't know) was romantic and optimist yet his most famous work required a degree of discipline to keep his emotions out of it. He loathed the bourgeois, but perhaps was one of the greatest symbols of the social class in the middle nineteenth century when he hugged fame. Flaubert's loving relationship with his mistress Louise Colet really summed up the complexity of the subject of this fine work Mr. Brown provides in his biographical masterpiece in literature today. I really love this book a lot...since I am a fan of Gustave Flaubert. I highly recommend for those who are intellect and love to learn more about the life of Falubert and his career. Overall, 9/10!

I understand that another author's biography was more psychological and I understand that Frederick Brown wanted to examine Flaubert in a more social, historical context. I just wish Brown had come up with a slightly different title for his biography of my all-time favorite writer. Titling the biography *Flaubert* lent me to think the biography would be more psychological, rather than historical. Perhaps Brown should have considered something like *Flaubert and Normandy* or *Flaubert's Normandy.* The historical passages are well done, but I wonder if they could have been trimmed a bit. Though I have been trained in European history, I gritted my teeth while reading every word. I wonder if Brown thought to himself, "Now let me get through this so that we can get back to Flaubert's literary tribulations and relationships." Flaubert's literary struggles and relationships are the most fascinating part of this biography.

My gripes aside, this biography is densely (in the best sense of the word) and beautifully written. Flaubert's best and not so great moments are limned gorgeously. The most touching aspect of the man is how good he was to his niece Caroline and how she honored his memory. I wished I had been Willa Cather when she encountered Caroline to talk about "les ouevres de mon oncle."

'Madame Bovary,' Flaubert's signature work celebrates 150 years of basically continuous publication. Shocking at the time because of its portrayal of the infidelities of a married woman, its publication caused Flaubert to be tried for lewdness.

Flaubert, like many writers was a tortured soul. One page from his original manuscript of 'Madame Bovary,' shows pained writing, much crossing out and re-writing. For him writing was not something he enjoyed, but more along the lines of something that he had to do. The words did not flow easily and fast, instead he struggled over each sentence, each word. But at the end, a book still in print in perhaps a dozen editions in English alone a century and a half later.

This new biography gives a look at both the life of Flaubert and also of his times. Here is a picture of the literary world that was Paris in the middle 1800's. Flaubert observed first hand the Revolution of 1848 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1871. While not a history of these events, Mr. Brown presents a view of them from their impact on Flaubert.

This is likely to remain the definitive biography of Flaubert for many years.

"Darwin? Descending from the monkey." You can find many laconical statements like this in the 950 entries of the "Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (commonplaces)". The "Dictionaire de Idées Reçues" has been published as an appendix of Flaubert's final novel "Bouvard et Pécuchet", 1881, one year after the death of Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880).

To the same (Darwinism-) topic the ironical German author Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799) noticed: "After the human being comes the monkey (in the system of zoology) - after a broad ravine. But if one should want to organize the animals with regards not on their intellect's but on their bliss and cosiness -- then some people would reach a position under the miller donkeys and hounds."

Lichtenberg's sentences needed more words than Flaubert's. Lichtenberg wrote a little bit didactically and cordially: "The health prefers to see the body dancing more than writing". Flaubert noticed with sarkasm on dancing: "One does not dance today any more; one marches, winds himself etc. "

To the topic "NOVEL" Flaubert made the comment: "Novels ruin the masses. However there are novels for example which are written with the top of a scalpel: Madam Bovary." Here Flaubert becomes trivial, his point of view becomes dull, because he tries to support his own major work. - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) wrote in his comparable "Devil's Dictionary", 1906: "The former art of the novel is everywhere dead already -- unless in Russia where this art is still new. Peace to his ashes -- it still sells well."

Flaubert's (1821-1880) sarcasm in this respect occupies between Lichtenberg (1742-1799) and Bierce (1842-1914) a kind of middle consciousness.

This dictionary makes a parody on the tone of some pompous omniscience other works of his time.

Flaubert probably died of syphilis which he had contracted at his Orient journeys. His satirical statement (with a hidden sort of double irony - back-fighting against the author): "Syphilis? Everyone is more or less affected by..." -- not a quite correct medicine sociologically definition - but one with a high self comfort effect, straightly consoling.

Flaubert makes his jokes on the usual medical dictionaries - and on the fear to die.

Flaubert liked to mock against himself permanently: "ARTISTS. All charlatans. Boast of their disinterestedness (old-fashioned). Express astonishment that they dress like everybody else (old-fashioned). They earn insane amounts, but fritter it all away. Often asked to dine out. A woman artist cannot be anything but a whore."

If you read Flaubert quietly and stopping sometimes to think it over, you have the chance to learn how to make relative your own opinions...

"ARTISTS. All charlatans. Boast of their disinterestedness (old-fashioned). Express astonishment that they dress like everybody else (old-fashioned). They earn insane amounts, but fritter it all away. Often asked to dine out. A woman artist cannot be anything but a whore."

Flaubert's satirical reference work, the Dictionnaire des Idées Reçues, reveals in a marvellously condensed form the writer's attitude toward the French bourgeois society in which he was brought up. It is a sort of guidebook to19th-century crassness, triteness, pomposity, and irrationalism decked out to look like reason. Clearly Flaubert regarded his own social class with a mixture of detestation, boredom, and intense fascination. He found both comic and tragic possibilities in this cultural stratum, which he mined relentlessly for the realistic details of his novels Madame Bovary, L'éducation sentimentale, and Bouvard et Pécuchet.

In the early 1850s (while at work on Madame Bovary) Flaubert referred in several letters to his "sottisier," a compendium of trite opinions, of the ideas that "ferment in the brains of the brainless." Flaubert never published his dictionary, although in a letter to his mistress, Louise Colet, he hinted that he intended to do so eventually. Topical dictionaries and digests of knowledge were popular in France, especially among the upwardly mobile, who may have fancied that posession of snippets of miscellaneous information conferred a patina of erudition, and made one's dinner-party conversation more sparkling. Flaubert must have enjoyed parodying the entire concept of the "authoritative" reference work; his private compendium was arranged in alphabetical order, with ludicrous cross-references, secondary definitions (which generally contradict the first one), and a tone of pompous omniscience.

The Dictionary's stock of platitudes served Flaubert as a sourcebook for the opinions of many characters in the novels Madame Bovary, L'éducation sentimentale, and Bouvard et Pécuchet. This work, as well as being enjoyable and witty reading for its own sake, is an indispensable artist's eye view of mid-nineteenth century bourgeois mores, and also provides some insight into the paradox the author struggled with in his novels: how to create pure art out of pure vulgarity.

Flaubert's unfinished Dictionaire de Idées Reçues was written as a supplemental appendix to his final novel, Bouchard & Pécuchet. However, the dictionary need not be read in tandem with the novel. It holds its own quite well as a satirical work of social criticism.

Containing some 950 entries, the dictionary slowly skewers the cliché, the "conventional wisdom" and the mental entropy which allows individuals to adopt popular beliefs and misconceptions without thinking. Flaubert loathed ignorance, prejudice and irrationality and he blamed much of his society's problems upon the triumph of "accepted ideas" over individual thought. His antipathy to clichés is unmistakable in his dictionary.

Although the entries are not as wickedly funny as those contained in Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary, Flaubert's definitions give the reader plenty of reason to stop and think. The satire of this dictionary is far subtler and sadder than that found in Devil's Dictionary. Take, for instance, this entry: "PAIN, GRIEF. Always has favorable by-products. When genuine, its expression is always subdued" or one on the next page "PROPERTY. One of the foundations of society. More sacred than religion".

Jacques Barzun's masterful translation is nothing short of amazing. It is by no means easy to translate a joke, cliché or play on words. Barzun has successfully done so here. See, for example, "DIANA. Goddess of the chaste (chased)". Barzun deserves equal billing with Flaubert for the English version of this work. Thanks to Barzun, Flaubert's sarcasm wasn't lost in translation. Barzun's footnotes and lengthy introduction are essential to understanding Flaubert's many veiled references to 19th Century French culture and should not be overlooked.

Overall, reading this work was a surprisingly engaging and reflective experience. I picked it up expecting to laugh. Although many of the definitions did bring a smile to my face, I realized just how pervasive "accepted ideas" are in every society and felt a twinge of guilt for my own mindless resort to "accepted ideas".

This review is dedicated to the memory of Bob Zeidler, whose kindness, insight, love of music and way with words continues to inspire.

Like any master of parody, Flaubert doesn't go completely overboard with this satire of the "...For Dummies" books of his day. If we know a bit about Flaubert, we know that his "definitions" in the book are tongue in cheek, but it's actually possible that a member of the French upper middle class in Flaubert's time would have picked this up and thought it a good handy reference book. Priceless, just priceless.

This is great humor, and the accepted ideas it mocks are actually remarkably similar to the accepted ideas of our own time. Flaubert has a way of stating these "facts" that holds them up to the light of his brilliant ridicule. Because a dictionary can contain pretty much anything, Flaubert uses this as a platform to discuss views on art, politics, philosophy, food, animals, and just about everything else. Don't expect, however, to read this and just take its opposite in order to understand Flaubert's mind -- sometimes there is double irony here, and the author is himself ambivalent about the proper "definitions" of the words he lists.

Overall, this is a genuinely funny read, and a useful insight into the petty bourgeois society (similar to our own) Flaubert loved to mock.

This unfinished work by Gustave Flaubert was meant to be a manifesto against what he called the "French stupidity". The book was so ambitious that Flaubert had to immerse himself in different disciplines, all totally new and unknown for him such as agriculture and chemistry. Unfortunately he died before completing this magnificent book.

Bouvard and Pécuchet are a pair of copiers that meet each other by chance and soon become friends. One day, they receive an unexpected inheritance which allows them to finally pursue their dream: to write a huge book about every subject in the world; chemistry, biology, agriculture, politics, gymnastics and so on. They also want to discover the mysteries of love, magic, religion and education. Obviously this ambitious project ends as a disaster and Bouvard and Pecuchet decide to go back to the copying business and forget all about their unrealizable great project.

With clarity and verve and energy, Dead Time updates Benjamin for the twenty-first century, illuminating how Baudelaire and Flaubert speak to the technology-laden twenty-first century.

The book unfolds with equal aplomb in the subjects' time and our own: time out of hand -- caused by war, personal trauma, and the persistent anxiety over fears of terrorism -- can be regained through an understanding of Flowers of Evil and Madame Bovary. You may not believe that nineteenth-century texts can hold the key, but they just may. Marder's book, written before 9/11 but with the event seemingly in mind at each turn, begins the work.