About this title: Flaubert's portrait of an adulteress who seeks freedom from a prosaic, disappointing life and ultimately is destroyed by her selfishness was considered scandalous when it was published. Flaubert chose his subject to illustrate his belief that any aspect of life, however trivial or vulgar, could be a subject for literature, and could be raised to ...
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Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1964
ISBN-13:9780451519146ISBN:0451519140
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. name written across top edge. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
"This is one case in which the chief character does not change at the end of the novel. Though I cannot argue about Flaubert's prose, since I have not read Bovary in French, I will say that this is one of the few novels I've read which I would not read a second time. Emma seems completely selfish and ungrateful, even when people try to hep her. I only give it three stars because of its honorable place in the canon of great literature. To each his own, I guess."
That's what the critics say. Some reviewers are more honest. They say it's admirably boring. The critics snub at them and say they don't understand the true literary value of the novel.
I for one found the first 140 pages supremely boring, with page after page of static descriptions and summaries of what happened. As a modern reader, I would've liked more scenes, but more than that, I wanted more drama. The novel may accurately and vividly depict what the provincial life was like back in the early 19th century France; it may make scathing social commentaries of the day; it may be rich in symbolism and themes that can be studied and discussed in English classes and further vivisected in academic papers; but despite all these seeming virtues, I just have to say that the first 140 pages was quite excruciating and the rest was just short of "good."
It got better after the first 140 pages, no doubt, but I must admit that I wasn't drawn into it. Punctuated by long expositions that didn't progress the story one bit or illuminate the characters in any way, the novel's tempo was much slow and the constant interruptions just plain annoying.
My philosophy is that literature ought to be entertaining as well as edifying and beautiful. Unfortunately, I found Flaubert's translated prose dull and clanky. And more importantly, it was, for the better part of the novel, hypnotically sleep-inducing. It may be edifying or informative or didactic or thematically and symbolically subtle. But without the beauty of the prose or an engaging story, I didn't think it deserves the high accolades it receives universally from anyone who studied literature.
I love reading literature, but when I'm evaluating any work of it, I try to leave what others have said before and be frank with myself. As far as Madame Bovary is concerned, the prose disappoints and the story sucks. That's my honest-to-God opinion of this much revered, (to me at least) overrated work.
Classics doesn't mean you must like it. If it doesn't make you fall in love with it, chuck it away and move on.
Overall, the first 140 pages sucked tremendously and the rest had its moments but was OK on average = it was OK"
"Flaubert's writing in Madame Bovary, as has been mentioned before, is slightly dry, but in my opinion it is the ideas that the novel conveys that make it so powerful. While many of us feel from time to time that our lives lack a certain excitement, Emma Bovary's thoughts are dominated by her overwhelming boredom with her husband and marriage throughout her life. I found her to be a slightly pitiable character in the beginning, but quickly her bratty nature lost much sympathy that I had for her. Nevertheless, Emma Bovary is an interesting character to study, especially due to her skewed system of values in which something is only as good as the emotional, passionate response it can evoke in her. Flaubert does paint some vivid images, most notably Emma's vision of God as she recieves Communion, but seems more concerned with painting the drabness of her life. Overall, I enjoyed Madame Bovary, but I had gotten the picture halfway through."
"A masterful examination of what happens when a young woman reared on idiotic and impossible romantic notions of marriage marries a country doctor with simple tastes and small ambitions. She envisions married life as a state that will be full of passion, mystery and exoticism, and is unsurprisingly let down when the reality doesn't measure up to her absurd expectations. She has neither the intelligence nor the practicality to see marriage for what it is-an practical agreement between two individuals to take care of each other and share the rest of their experences with one another. The book can also be seen as an examination of middle-class conservatism and slavishness to public opinion, along with the inevitable mediocrity that ensues. This is easily one of the ten greatest novels ever written, and one of the first questions I ask someone who says they like books is whether or not they like Flaubert. If they answer in the negative, I'm pretty sure that I'm face to face with an idiot. If you haven't yet read this, do yourself a favor and start it today."
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