Gustave Flaubert Books

The book is a master work of realistic fiction. The translation sometimes feels a bit awkward but I have not compared it with the standard print editions. Nevertheless, every couple of pages, there is a glaring misprint, typo or (sometimes) a clearly wrong English word. It raises the question of whether the lack of careful editing shows that this might be a "cheapo" edition just for us who prefer (but do not need) large print. Incidentally, my job involves mostly drafting and editing.

A simple story really: Charles Bovary, an insensitive, crude, socially awkward oaf, sleazes his way into the medical profession and becomes a doctor in small French provinces at the danger of the citizenry. Additionally, Charles marries a young, beautiful woman, Emma, who intoxicated on romance novels, expects her marriage to Charles to be as grand and splendid as the romances she has gorged on all her life. As one would expect, her marriage is hellish, isolating, and frustrating; Emma grows more and more irritable with her husband and looks to allay her frustrations by spending beyond her means and by engaging in affairs with fops, charlatans, and other mountebanks who seduce Emma with the illusions of romance she has read in her novels. Her growing debts and growing disillusionment with her lovers reaches a climax that I'll save for the reader.

The novel's plot is actually a vehicle for Flaubert's real agenda: to skewer the vulgarities and pettiness of the middle-class. He shows no mercy and is rather misanthropic in his portrayal of his characters. Nevertheless, his vision is a true and vigorous one. This is not a novel for people who want to sit back and enjoy a French period piece romance. To the contrary, this novel kills romance and in fact Flaubert was once dubbed "The Hang-Man of the Romantics."

Depending on your perspective, this book is hopelessly dated and has little relevance to today, is an important step forward in the French novel, or is a classic depiction of tragedy in the Greek tradition. You should decide which perspective is most meaningful to you in determining whether you should read the book or not.

The story of the younger Madame Bovary (her mother-in-law is the other) is presented in the context of people whose illusions exceed their reality. Eventually, reality catches up with them. In the case of Emma Bovary, these illusions are mostly tied up in the notion that romantic relationships will make life wonderful and that love conquers all. She meets a young doctor of limited potential and marries with little thought. Soon, she finds him unbearable. The only time she is happy is when the two attend a ball at a chateaux put on by some of the nobility (the beautiful people of that time). She has a crisis of spirit and becomes depressed. To help, he moves to another town where life may be better for her. She has a daughter, but takes no interest in her. Other men attract her, and she falls for each one who pays attention to her in a romantic style. Clearly, she is in love with romance. Adultery is not rewarded, and she has a breakdown when one lover leaves her. Recovering, she takes on a younger lover she can dominate. This, too, works badly and she becomes reckless in her pursuit of pleasure. In the process, she takes to being reckless in other ways and brings financial ruin to herself and her family. The book ends in tragedy.

Here is the case for this being dated and irrelevant for today. A modern woman would usually not be trapped in such a way. She would separate from or divorce the husband she grew to detest, and make a new life. She would be able to earn a decent living, and would not be discouraged from raising a child alone. So the story would probably not happen now. In addition, the psychological aspects of her dilemma would be portrayed in terms of an inner struggle reflecting our knowledge today of psychology, rather than as a visual struggle followed mostly by a camera lens in this novel. The third difference is that the shallow stultifying people exalted by the society would be of little interest today. You find few novels about boring people in small towns in rural areas.

The case for the book as important in French literature is varied. The writing is very fine, and will continue to attract those who love the French language forever. This is a rare novel for its day in that it focused on a heroine who was neither noble by class nor noble in spirit. The book clearly makes more of an exploration into psychology than all but a few earlier French novels. The story itself was a shocking one in its day, for its focus on immoral behavior and the author's failure to overtly condemn that behavior. Emma pays the price, as Hollywood would require, but there is no sermonizing against her. So this book is a breakthrough in the modern novel in its shift in focus and tone to a personal pedestrian level.

From a third perspective, this book is a modern update of the classic Green tragedy in which all-too human characters struggle against a remorseless fate and are destroyed in the process. But we see their humanity and are moved by it. Emma's character is a hopeless romantic is established early. To be a hopeless romantic in a world where no one else she meets is condemns her to disappointment. She also seems to have some form of mental illness that makes it hard for her to deal with setbacks. But her optimism that somehow things will work out makes her appealing to us, and makes us wish for her success. When she does not succeed, we grieve with her family. Flaubert makes many references to fate in the novel, so it seems likely that this reading was intended.

My own view is that the modern reader who is not a scholar of French literature can only enjoy this book from the third perspective. If you do, there are many subtle ironies relative to the times and places in the novel that you will appreciate, as well. The ultimate ascendence of the careful, unimaginative pharmacist provides many of these. The ultimate fate of Madame Bovary's daughter, Berthe, is another. Be sure to look for these ironies among the details of these prosaic lives. The book positively teems with them.

If you are interested in perspectives two or three, I suggest you read and savor this fine classic. If you want something that keeps pace with modern times, manners, mores and knowledge, avoid this book!

If you do decide to read Madame Bovary, after you are done be sure to consider in what elements of your life you are filled with illusions that do not correspond to reality. We all have vague hopes that "when" we have "it" (whatever "it" is), life will be perfect. These illusions are often doomed to be shattered. Let your joy come from the seeking of worthy goals, instead! What worthy goals speak deeply into your heart and mind? In this way, you can overcome the misconceptions that stall your personal progress.

This 19th Century French novel is considered to be one of the greatest examples of Realism in literature, as well as one of the most influental novels ever written. The novel focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life. Emma may not be a very likeable character, but the book is very good. I'm not sure if this is the best translation of the book, though.

For anyone who has ever read "Madame Bovary" (arrogant literature professors included), this book is a must buy. Simply put, "The End of Romance" is the master analyzing "The Master". Writing with a remarkably clear and economical prosaic style, Mr. Gans shows exactly why most consider Flaubert's masterpiece to be the greatest novel of the French language. Not only does he give a short biography of the author, and analyse the novel's plot and main characters, but most importantly, he presents a thorogh discussion on the originality of the work (see chapter on the "comices agricoles")!

This is not a novel, this is not poetry, this is nothing but art. In a very short text, Flaubert has managed to flow out feelings described with an unforeseen accurateness that makes us relate closer not only to the author but also to ourselves, for here, for the first time, do things we have felt for so long, go under names.

This is a remarkable story. Simply put, it tells the seige of Carthage by an army of mercenarys upset about not receiving their pay. But, it is much more than that. For those who are interested in ancient history, this should be read. You get a feeling for the time and the thinking. Although this story is fiction, it seems real. After reading it, I still find myself thinking about it on occasion. I suppose you could call it haunting. It is well worth reading to immerse yourself in the ancient world as well as for the story itself.

For those interested in learning more about the Phoenicians and Carthage and its destruction, "The Phoenicians" written by Gerbard Herm is an excellent book that gives a very good overview of the entire history of the Phoenican civilization and its impact on the world.

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880), famous French novelist, known for his endless search for le mot juste (the precise word); author of Madame Bovary (1857). In 1858, in order to gather material for Salammbo, Flaubert paid a visit to Carthage.
The novel Salammbo, published in 1862, interweaves historical and fictional characters. The action takes place before and during the Mercenary Revolt, an uprising of mercenaries in the employ of Carthage in the 3rd century BC.
An unfinished opera by Modest Mussorgsky, a silent film by Pierre Marodon and a play by Charles Ludlam are among the many adaptations of Flaubert's novel.

Really three novellas. An exercise in varieties of genre to rival Chaucer. One story is a medieval saints life. One is story Salome told with a mixture or realism and luxurious orientalism; it is the source of Wilde's play and Straus' opera. The third, a Simple Heart, is a grimly realistic and low-key account of the life of a poor and not very bright but somehow noble country woman who suffers at the hands of a series of employers.

print is too small for my wife and myself, we both got used to it but it's probably better to buy a different printing

The startling impact of this novel published 150 years ago can only be imagined. It's doubtful that a female central character had ever exhibited such self-centeredness, held such disdain for her life and those in it, spent so much time romanticizing and fantasizing about future life with lovers, or sunk to such depths of despair when realities hit home. The themes of the book are hardly irrelevant today: the quick onset of marital unhappiness, the excitement, yet limitations, of infidelity, and the financial consequences of extravagance.

Despite the relevance of those issues, the characterizations are not particularly realistic by modern standards: the characters are overdrawn - excessive. Emma is almost childlike in her profound unhappiness and obsessiveness; her husband Charles is beyond oblivious in failing to perceive Emma's thinking and behavior; and the comical arrogance of various professionals, such as the doctors and the pharmacist, is only exceeded by their ignorance and incompetence.

The book is set in small towns in the French countryside. It's difficult for the modern reader to fully grasp that environment, though the author offers fairly detailed and sophisticated descriptions. In fact, one might want to keep a dictionary handy.

The subject matter of the book is commonplace in the modern novel. But the book is interesting just from the standpoint that a nineteenth century author could produce a book that is so psychologically perceptive concerning marital life. It is considered to be a classic for a reason; it remains worth reading.

I love and I hate this novel. I mean, I don't know what to set my mind to. And it's not that it's stylistically frustrating or confusing. It is the characters, and those men and women only, that force you to wrench the hairs from your head. And I'm sure that's what Flaubert wanted me to do. Charles Bovary esp. is a frustrating character...and I just want to scream at the man and shake him into strength of will. He's a ridiculous person, deprived of any self-development. He's certainly not stupid, but he is certainly naive and ignorant. Madame Bovary herself is even more hair and heart wrenching. A woman oppressed by her society and time, unable to grow and love in peace, is one of the most annoying women in literary history. I'm convinced she must have been mad, at least. She holds no semblance of sanity, practicality or reason. So one loathes her for her ridiculousness but sympathize/empathize with her sexual oppression. And one can only think, "now cmon you could've done it better than that".

I agree with the editorial review above that says you could shake this book and nothing would fall out. I am amazed at how much emotion Flaubert can convey in the midst of apparently neutral descriptions of fact. The story is powerfully told, and nothing is wasted.

The book is rather like a longer alternate version of Hedda Gabler. The author's unblinking eye shows you the virtues and flaws of all characters, letting the reader draw his or her own conclusions.

I came to Madame Bovary through a perhaps fairly commonplace contemporary window - Julian Barnes's masterful 1984 novel 'Flaubert's Parrot'. Barnes, for those who are unfamiliar with him, is a Francophile English novelist who grabbed me when I was younger and I now read omnivorously. Flaubert's Parrot is a fascinating playful novel meditating on life, art, and especially Flaubert and his life and work, and especially Madame Bovary.

Of course, I was slightly wary of Madame Bovary's massive classic status. It easily holds its own in the pantheon of top five novels ever or something. But to read some of the reviews you might think Emma Bovary was a moderately attractive provincial slapper who got what she deserved.

People who think this clearly have no understanding human psychology. For on a first reading (most novels one reading suffices, but for Madame Bovary it was clear that it demands many subsequent re-readings) it was clear that Flaubert's succes du scandale is perhaps the greatest realist novel ever.

His style is supremely elegant, yet not dated in the way many of his 19th Century contemporaries have become. His subject is the world and its everymen - provincial people, limited in education, with vulgar and at hypocritical mores. His themes are timeless - the disjunction between people's idealised projection of themselves and the reality of their lives, the power dynamics of human relationships, the machinations of the heart, the difficulties of communication between people who live closely knit lives. His characters shine through not as mere holograms but as shining paragons of convincing personalities - the plodding mediocre husband, the frustrated wife, the feckless libertine and (my favourite) the tedious community worthy. These are not cliches but exemplars of so much human existence brought to life by the brilliance of Flaubert's style (he only wrote 25 words a day - slow progress, but well worth it).