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Flaubert wrote to his mistress, Louise Colet: "An author in his book must be like God in the universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere." In his books, Flaubert sought to observe that principle; but in his many impassioned letters he allowed his feelings to overflow, revealing himself in all of his human complexity. Sensuous, witty, exalted, ironic, grave, analytical, the letters illustrate the artist's life--and they trumpet his artistic opinions--in an outpouring of uninhibited eloquence.

An acknowledged master of translation, Francis Steegmuller has given us by far the most generous and varied selection of Flaubert's letters in English. He presents these with an engrossing narrative that places them in the context of the writer's life and times. We follow Flaubert through his unhappy years at law school, through his tumultuous affair with Louise Colet; we share his days and nights amid the temples and brothels of Egypt, then on to Palestine, Turkey, Greece, and Rome. And the letters chronicle one of the central events in literary history--the conception and composition of what has been called the first modern novel, Madame Bovary. Steegmuller's selection concludes with Flaubert's standing trial for immoral writing, Madame Bovary's immediate popular success, and Baudelaire's celebration of its psychological and literary power.

Throughout this exposition in Flaubert's own words of his views on life, literature, and the passions, readers of his novels will be powerfully reminded of the fertility of his genius, and delighted by his poetic enthusiasm. "Let us sing to Apollo as in ancient days," he wrote to Louise Colet, "and breathe deeply of the fresh cold air of Parnassus; let us strum our guitars and clash our cymbals and whirl like dervishes in the eternal hubbub of forms and ideas!"

Flaubert's letters are documents of life and art; lovers of literature and of the literary adventure can rejoice in this edition.

Product Description
An intense, passionate, and profoundly moving work, Flaubert's November explores the notions of desire and longing to most remarkable effect. Foreword by Nadine Gordimer.

Wrestling with the agony of loneliness, a young man withdraws deeper into himself, believing he has now reached the autumn of his life. His increasing hopelessness gives way to a yearning for romance—surely the love of a woman can deliver him the purpose he so craves? Convinced of the truth of this, he visits Marie, a kindhearted prostitute—yet Marie, too, is starved of love and longs for acceptance. Together, they form a tragic portrait of personal anguish, heralding the extraordinary outpouring of romantic longing found in Flaubert's later novels. Most famous for Madame Bovary and Sentimental Education: The Story of a Young Man, Gustave Flaubert (1821-80) is one of the undisputed masters of 19th-century fiction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Art at its purest form
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 theauthor but also to ourselves, for here, for the first time, do things wehave felt for so long, go under names. ... Read more

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This is a dual-language book with the French text on the left side, and the English text on the right side of each spread. The texts are precisely synchronized. A great book for learning both languages while reading a French classic masterpiece. Translated by Eleanor Marx, Karl Marx's daughter. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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For this novel of French bourgeois life in all its inglorious banality, Flaubert invented a paradoxically original and wholly modern style. His heroine, Emma Bovary, a bored provincial housewife, abandons her husband to pursue the libertine Rodolphe in a desperate love affair. A succès de scandale in its day, Madame Bovary remains a powerful and arousing novel.

Translated with an Introduction by Geoffrey Wall
New Preface by Michèle Roberts ... Read more

Customer Reviews (42)

literature
This book was very inexpensive but looks like new. I am glad I bought it thru this seller.

The Best Novels are not told by the Heroes
Madame Bovary tells the sad tale of Emma Roualt, a small town girl with dreams the size of Versailles. She constantly dreams of the prince who will sweep her off her feet and take her to a world of parties, art, and sophistication. When Charles Bovary, the doctor from the next town over, treats her father, she believes that she has found her prince. They marry, and she is satisfied with her new social position, attending various parties and dinners of the rich. Before long, Emma grows bored of her life, and forces Charles to relocate the family. It is in their new home of Yonville where she meets Leon, who marks the beginning of Emma's affairs and downward spiral. Before they can profess their love Leon leaves, but it does not take Emma long to fall under the trance of the dashing Rodolphe. They begin an affair, and Emma is swept up in the romance of it all, becoming increasingly more attached to the relationship than Rodolphe. When Rodolphe becomes bored and moves on, she is heartbroken, and becomes physically sick for a long period of time; that is, until she and Leon meet again at the opera.

Flaubert is able to expertly tell Emma's tragic downfall through the actions and lives of others; the story is told solely through the eyes of Charles until his marriage to Emma, thus the reader comprehends just how perfect she is to him and how much he loves her. Intermittently throughout the novel, the perspective of Emma changes to the perspective of Leon or Rodolphe, enabling the reader to fully understand their affair, for example how Rodolphe reasons seducing and then leaving Emma. If only Emma's view was given, the pity felt for her would not be as strong.

While the perspectives of others focus the reader on the reality of Emma's situation, Flaubert's descriptions of places such as Yonville through Emma's eyes help bring an understanding to the reasons for her actions, almost defending her. Some may glance at the surface of the novel and think Emma to be simply an unsatisfied, social-ladder-climbing woman, but Flaubert is able to give her a sadness that turns her into a protagonist. The audience can sympathize with Emma, seeing how all of the events in her life have led to the actions she takes. Her actions are made to appear reasonable, simply the outcomes of a girl whose dreams are constantly dashed.

Despite the tragic nature and ending of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary, the reader can truly become encapsulated in Emma's world and in Emma, herself. This book was a great read and I whole-heartedly recommend it, whether it is for pleasure or for an AP English reading assignment.

Review Based on the Original French Text
Known in France for being one of the first to care about style this much, Flaubert wrote a tale of woe in rural Northern France.

Right off the bat, I will say that this novel was undoubtedly more striking in 1857 than it is today. Indeed, while style was perhaps disregarded in favour of content (although that would not apply to all authors of the time), it no longer is today, and so the main novelty, if a novelty at all, is not all that impressive. It is well-written, in French, and it has many gems.

Flaubert is reported to have said, or written (I forget), that the book is "about nothing". And yes, the subject is nothing spectacular: a cheating woman. That isn't where Flaubert wanted the focus to be, I suspect. Perhaps a novelty at the time, every main character in the novel is despicable, one way or another. Some might like this approach, which I find too cynical to be engaging, and others will abhor not being able to root for anyone. Indeed, Charles Bovary, the husband, is a characterless fool, however much of a (mediocre) doctor he might be, and Emma (the Madame Bovary) is a prissy idiot. You'll hate everyone in this novel. That's where Flaubert scores some points, I imagine. Unlike a typical novel, you come to hate everything and everyone, which I assume wasn't usual in 1857, but then again, that's just my guess.

The novel can be considered as a "dreams and their consequences" sort of book, although that too is dastardly cynical, but very French, so it fits. Emma pines for the sort of love she reads in novels, but reality is different, and she will learn that the harsh way. She first cheats on her husband with a rude dude whom she thinks is her Prince charming, only to be made cynical from that experience, and then, her second extramarital lover turns out to be the real thing, but she's now too cynical and disillusioned to enjoy it. Sweet irony.

You will not find anything spectacular in this novel, and that's how it was intended. It's all in the details. I have to admit that it can be somewhat boring, even though Flaubert's prose is nice enough to read (in French, and I know I'm supposed to be far more impressed by his prose, I just am not).

I'm afraid *Madame Bovary* is not as relevant today as it once was, and while it might have made literature move on, in its time, it no longer does so, and without that originality, there is little left to enjoy.

Perhaps I'm too harsh, but in my heart of hearts, I can't quite say this is an indispensable novel. Sorry!

godawful bore
Dear lord this book was awful. One of the very few novels that I have been unable to finish, or indeed even get to half-way. It was just TOO BORING! Before throwing it in the charity bin I skimmed through the rest to see if something, anything, happened that I would be interested in. Nope. As for the much-praised language, maybe it was because I was reading the English translation but nothing about it struck me as being at all out of the ordinary. I've read and enormously enjoyed other novels from the 19th century (including the not dissimilar Anna Karenina) so I have to conclude that Flaubert is not for me. I see from other reviews that this is a high school text in some countries; had I had to read this dull, blowsy tripe for school I would have been tempted to drop out.

Better than advertised
thought I would be getting a fair deal. Turned out to be a great deal. Thanks ... Read more

Product Description
Madame Bovary - A Tale of Provincial Life is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Gustave Flaubert is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Gustave Flaubert then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Rare combination
Ms. Patton's book is a rare combination of travel guide, literary criticism and biography penned in an engaging and witty style. It even has a section on Normandy cheeses. Yum. Read it before you read Flaubert, or while you read Madame Bovary, as I did. Read it before visiting Normandy. Or just read it because it's so enjoyable. The type of book that brings a place to life more than your average travel guide.

an excellent quick read on flaubert and normandy
My brother gifted me this book after he found it an excellent armchair companion. (He's been there before, reads Flaubert, the whole deal.) I found the book a great combination of biography (of more than one notable personage), travelogue, history, culture (present and past). Very good layout and photos, handy maps to check where you'd be when she writes of a town. Her writing style is light and flowing, so I finished it in a few hours, and am comfortable with the idea of returning to it as needed... maybe even one day, managing to get to France, to Normandy, to Ry and the rivers and cheeses of the region. ... Read more

Product Description
General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1892Original Publisher: W. W. GibbingsNotes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free.Excerpt:VII.HE was stoical the next day when Maitre Ha- reng, the bailiff, with two assistants, presented himself at her house to draw up the inventory for the distraint.They began with Bovary's consulting-room, and did not write down the phrenological head, which was considered an "instrument of his profession;" but in the kitchen they counted the plates, the saucepans, the chairs, the candlesticks, and in the bedroom all the nick-nacks on the whatnot. They examined her dresses, the linen, the dressing- room ; and her whole existence, to its most intimate details, was, like a corpse on whom a post-mortem is made, outspread before the eyes of these three men.Maitre Hareng, buttoned up in his thin black coat, wearing a white choker and very tight foot-straps, repeated from time to time -- " Allow me, madame. You allow me 1" Often he uttered exclamations. " Charming ! very pretty." Then ho began writing again, dipping his pen into the horn inkstand in his left hand.When they had done with the rooms they went up to the attic. She kept a desk there in which Kodolphe's letters were locked. It had to be opened." Ah ! a correspondence," said Maitre Hareng, with a discreet smile. "But allow me, for. I must make sure the box contains nothing else." And he tipped up the paperslightly, as if to shake out napoleons. Then she grew angered to see this coarse hand, with fingers red and pulpy like slugs, touching these pages against which her heart had beaten.They went at last F61icit6 came back. Emma had sent her out to watcli for Bovary in order to keep him off, and they hur... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (188)

Translations matter
There isn't a lot of argument: "Madame Bovary" is considered one of the great novels of all time. It's well worth your time. And since you're looking for an English translation, the important issue isn't "should I read Flaubert?" The issue is: "What translation?"

The first thing you need to know is that you should avoid the Eleanor Marx Aveling translation published by Dover and others (it's out-of-copyright, so it's popular with budget publishers). The Aveling translation is incredibly clumsy--so bad that I actually looked up the translator's biography to make sure she was a native English-speaker.

The translator of a newer edition, Francis Steegmuller, is an authority on Flaubert and an exceptionally sympathetic translator. While no translation will truly do justice to Flaubert's treatment of Norman dialects and his mastery of the French tongue, Mr. Steegmuller's work is sensational and preserves much of Flaubert's vibrant prose (I read excerpts in college, but am unwilling to take six months reading the original in my indifferent French). His translation is also highly readable, making this edition an easy choice--and worth the extra money over the other translations.

An exercise in separating character and story
I think it bares mentioning before I begin that so far I am extremely pleased with this particular translation, so for anyone looking for a very thoughtfully translated body of text I highly recommend the Bantam Classics edition.

Reading Madam Bovary for the first time was as far a departure from what I originally expected the text to be as humanly possible.

Walking into this I knew that a. the main character was something of a dreamy girl and b. that she ends up having an affair and c. her husband was either a dullard completely divorced from reality or he was something of an ok person but came from a sod of a family. As it turns out all three of these were entirely correct, however I wasn't prepared for the extent of the first fact or how deeply my disgust for Emma would be. A startling and eerily perceptive psychological portrait? Yes. A likable character? No. Emma's one major fault is that she's too real of a character for me to ever really like, that or I've known one too many people exactly like her to ever really have any sort of genuine feeling for her. She's absolutely disgusting in her constant and bull headed pursuit of lofty romantic ideals - I can't experience any sort of sympathy for her but I can very easily see how many, many people do. As for myself I spent the entirety of the novel trying very hard to remind myself that these were fictional characters and therefore Emma was in possession of no actual shoulders for me to shake or neck for me to wring.


Despite my gripes about the protagonist I am deeply impressed and moved by the skill of Flaubert's writing. He truly is a master at his craft and anyone looking for a prime example of how to do an account of people's daily life's and most trivial wants without making it absolutely mind numbing to read need look no further. The lyricism of his prose dances back and forth between moments of breathtaking beauty and awe inspiring levels of technical ability. After finishing this I became utterly convinced that in no other author's hands could this story have been so deftly told or so truthfully rendered. Flaubert is a true genius.

Over all I can say that I am glad to have finished Madame Bovary, but I can't say that I am overly happy to have finished it. The characters are true to life, the prose is wonderful and the message is ambiguous at best. Not a book I'd find myself singing the praises of but one that I would still highly recommend.

Ambiguous and Contradictory
This translation of the French classic by Francis Steegmuller leaves much to be desired.The English translation feels choppy and graceless, which I assume from what I've read to be the diametrical opposite of the French original.I also have difficulties getting a hold of the author's attitude in this novel.On one hand, Madame Bovary has ideas and passions, beauty and sophistication but is trapped from realizing her potential because she's married to a helplessly simple man in a helplessly conservative French village.On the other hand, in a mad flight to escape her spiritual imprisonment, she throws herself into the arms of a most despicable rake, destroys her faithful husband, and abandons her daughter.This is most definitely a pre-modern novel, with the author possessing contradictory feelings about his protagonist; a decidedly modern novel would have sympathized more clearly with Madame Bovary.Another reason why it's hard to enjoy this book is that the theme -- a passionate, imaginative individual tormented by the smallness of his/her community -- has manifested itself so much in popular culture that reading "Madame Bovary" now feels lame and hackneyed.

surprising
I wouldn't recommend this book to someone who doesn't like reading, or someone I didn't already know would like the setting and mood because I don't think they would ever finish it. The plot is sort of slow and whole chapters went by where I was so bored I nearly gave up. But I stuck around for all the little history details of that time and the humorous townsfolk. I'm glad I did because the last quarter of the book was completely different and full of drama. In the end it indulges in all the things the book wants to imply are wrong about fantasy and expectations and maybe I enjoyed it more for being starved of it earlier on. I have given this book all the stars because somehow I genuinely loved reading a book where not a single character was likable, and no one got what they deserved.

The style of writing changes as frequently as Madame Bovary's moods and can make you feel crazy, like her I suppose. It was fun to experience that and despite all my hate for her, at the end I swooned and I cried.

Apparently not the preferred translation
Bought this for bookclub and a member who is a literature professor had another translation she preferred.Sorry-- Can't remember which translation that was.I did love the book! ... Read more

Product Description

Flaubert wrote to his mistress, Louise Colet: "An author in his book must be like God in the universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere." In his books, Flaubert sought to observe that principle; but in his many impassioned letters he allowed his feelings to overflow, revealing himself in all of his human complexity. Sensuous, witty, exalted, ironic, grave, analytical, the letters illustrate the artist's life--and they trumpet his artistic opinions--in an outpouring of uninhibited eloquence.

An acknowledged master of translation, Francis Steegmuller has given us by far the most generous and varied selection of Flaubert's letters in English. He presents these with an engrossing narrative that places them in the context of the writer's life and times. We follow Flaubert through his unhappy years at law school, through his tumultuous affair with Louise Colet; we share his days and nights amid the temples and brothels of Egypt, then on to Palestine, Turkey, Greece, and Rome. And the letters chronicle one of the central events in literary history--the conception and composition of what has been called the first modern novel, Madame Bovary. Steegmuller's selection concludes with Flaubert's standing trial for immoral writing, Madame Bovary's immediate popular success, and Baudelaire's celebration of its psychological and literary power.

Throughout this exposition in Flaubert's own words of his views on life, literature, and the passions, readers of his novels will be powerfully reminded of the fertility of his genius, and delighted by his poetic enthusiasm. "Let us sing to Apollo as in ancient days," he wrote to Louise Colet, "and breathe deeply of the fresh cold air of Parnassus; let us strum our guitars and clash our cymbals and whirl like dervishes in the eternal hubbub of forms and ideas!"

Flaubert's letters are documents of life and art; lovers of literature and of the literary adventure can rejoice in this edition.

Customer Reviews (1)

Bovary Madness
If you have the time, then yes, read these letters from the great French author himself.Can't remember if Vol 1 or 2 speaks most about his writing method and beliefs on writing.You can probably get them elsewhere in a how to book, but you certainly won't seem as literate and as smart at your local koffi shop with them as you will with this book--and you can always put some brandy or cognac in your cup whilst hazily reading these beautiful letters. ... Read more

Product Description
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. --- 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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

In the vein of "Troy"...
Gustave Flaubert was one of these writers(Baudelaire , Victor Hugo,Chateaubriand, etc) whose imagination was set on fire by the immensely rich Archeological discoveries of the 19th Century. This book is a richly descriptivetapestry of unsurpassed exotism, and pre-romsn North African opulence, in the epoch and the bein of Troy, or Spartacus.
A feast for the senses and for the mind.

War, high adventure, terrific French 19th Century literature (details)
THE STORY: This historically-based account takes place just before and during a revolt of mercenary warriors against Carthage [a series of cities on the Gulf of Tunis, near the present Tunis, Tunisia] in the Third Century B.C.

After the First Punic War ["Punic" refers to the Phoenicians], the prosperous and greedy aristocratic rulers of Carthage were not inspired to compensate the mercenary army soldiers who, in the face of their unexpected and sudden pecuniary demise, subsequently attacked the ancient walled city. This army was chiefly led by Matho who was handily aided by his slave-associate, Spendius.

Carthage lacked firm leadership but one of its primary ruling generals, Hamilcar Barca, (the man who had originally led the mercenaries to success in battle), ultimately took charge of the matter, leading audacious attacks on Matho's mercenaries with varying degrees of success at each battle. Hamilcar's sensuous daughter, Salammbo, established a sort of psychological enchantment over Matho who had been captivated with her stunning beauty and by her artful guile. Salammbo was also inadvertently spiritually united with Matho subsequent to his shrewd theft of Carthage's most prized sacred icon, the sublime Zaimph, an intricately crafted veil.

This story is bulging with heroic battles, the looting of treasures, the grueling torture of prisoners, and colorful descriptions of the participants in the war who hailed from throughout northern Africa, the Middle East, and beyond. It was first published in 1862.

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was venerated for the high quality of his precise writing style coupled with his remarkable descriptions of both his characters and their appurtenant activities. These accounts are quite vivid and robust -- he spun a terrific yarn. This renowned French author is most widely known for his 1857 Magnum opus, Madame Bovary (Penguin Classics). "Salammbo" was his next book which sealed the deal of literary distinction for Flaubert.

Contemporary authors of fantasy warlord fiction could learn much by reading "Salammbo." Of course the latter dealt with actual events which Flaubert somewhat fictionalized but the fluidness and crispness of his writing are akin to what we encounter much later in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition.

The Penguin softcover edition runs 228 pages and I can't recall having read anything within the historical fiction genre which surpasses the eminence of this superb work. And while this title is not now well-known or much read in America it should be, especially given its sheer merit and readability. Highly recommended.

Carnage in Carthage
Perhaps wearied by his years in the company of the pathetic bourgeoise Emma Bovary, Gustave Flaubert chose as his next creation what may be the most extravagantly exotic novel ever written, "Salammbô". The critic Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve called it "this laboriously artistic work" and the book, published in 1863, does require a great deal of patience from its readers. To begin with, there is the esoteric vocabulary: a suffete is a judge with tyrannical power, a hierodule is a temple slave, and the all-important zaïmph is a holy veil, the theft of which causes many problems for the main characters. Most of these characters are historical, such as Matho, Spendius, Hanno and the great Hamilcar himself. Hannibal appears as a ten-year old boy, saved from ritual sacrifice to the ravenous god Moloch by the ruthless machinations of his father. Hamilcar simply has a slave boy substituted, despite the parents' grief-stricken protests. (The famous pledge scene at the altar between Hamilcar and Hannibal is not presented here.) As for Salammbô, did she really exist? Obviously, Hamilcar had a daughter (his successor Hasdrubal is listed as his son-in-law) but evidently Polybius nor any other historian ever names the girl. In Flaubert she's an extremely strange and sensual character; at one point she's intimate with a python. Mind-boggled, I had to stop in mid-description, go back and start reading the passage again, but there it is: "The serpent ... gluing its tail to the ground, rose perfectly erect ...resting the centre of its body upon the nape of her neck, allowed its head and tail to hang ... Salammbô rolled it around her sides, under her arms and between her knees; then ... brought the little triangular mouth to the edge of her teeth ... {she} panted beneath the excessive weight, her loins yielded ... and with the tip of its tail the serpent gently beat her thigh."If you're wondering how mid-Victorians dealt with this description, I understand "Salammbô" was not translated into English until 1956. And if reptilian sex isn't enough for you, there are descriptions of torture, mutilations, cannibilism and (as mentioned before) the sacrifice of children, their parents being encouraged to chant "Lord, eat!" during the ceremony. All these events are centered around Hamilcar's suppression of a revolt of mercenaries and the enemy's threat of siege on Carthage in the years prior to 238 BC. It's a little difficult to follow the expeditions of Matho et albecause the plan of Carthage and the geography of the surrounding countryside are awfully vague. Sainte-Beuve suggested that illustrative maps would be useful, and perhaps some future edition will include them. But for the time being the narrative itself, "glutted with sensations and abominations", is enough to hold a reader's fascination till the last violent page.

An epic and sensual tale
Evil triumphs over evil

Flaubert spent several years researching this book about an army of mercenaries who revolt against ancient Carthage.

The book is a combination of history and myth not unlike Homer's Iliad. Like the Iliad it is a larger than life epic tale, but this tale has neither poetry nor heroes.

Carthage does not want to pay the mercenaries their due; the mercenaries seek to plunder Carthage in revenge.Both sides rely on deceit and treachery to advance their cause.

In the background, the sensual and mysterious Salammbo, seeking her own objective, indifferently and unwittingly affects the outcome.

The war becomes long and brutal as the balance shifts back and forth.The horror of war becomes increasingly indefensible as the author offers neither heroes nor justifications.Fed only by greed, pride and revenge, the war and the slaughter grind on endlessly.

Some would criticize, "This is not Madame Bovary, and this is too much violence without a point."Others would say, "This is not Madame Bovary, but to criticize that it is too much violence without a point, is to miss the point."

Flaubert, painting with exquisite detail and unapologetic language, tells an epic, exotic and sensual tale of failure.

Citizen Kane Opera
In the movie, Citizen Kane, this is the opera that is being performed by Susan Alexander, proteg
ee of Kane.Orson Wells was a great reader. ... Read more

Product Description
In his Introduction, MacKenzie discusses Flaubert's life, the writing of Madame Bovary, the world in which the novel is set, and its publication and reception. Footnotes, a bibliography, and a chronology are also provided. ... Read more

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A literary event: one of the world's most celebrated novels, in a magnificent new translation

Seven years ago, Lydia Davis brought us an award-winning, rapturously reviewed new translation of Marcel Proust's Swann's Way that was hailed as "clear and true to the music of the original" (Los Angeles Times) and "a work of creation in its own right" (Claire Messud, Newsday). Now she turns her gifts to the book that redefined the novel as an art form.

Emma Bovary is the original desperate housewife. Beautiful but bored, she is married to the provincial doctor Charles Bovary yet harbors dreams of an elegant and passionate life. Escaping into sentimental novels, she finds her fantasies dashed by the tedium of her days. Motherhood proves to be a burden; religion is only a brief distraction. In an effort to make her life everything she believes it should be, she spends lavishly on clothes and on her home and embarks on two disappointing affairs. Soon heartbroken and crippled by debts, Emma takes drastic action with tragic consequences for her husband and daughter.

When published in 1857, Madame Bovary was deemed so lifelike that many women claimed they were the model for its heroine. Today the novel is considered the first masterpiece of realist fiction. Flaubert sought to tell the story objectively, without romanticizing or moralizing (hence the uproar surrounding its publication), but whereas he was famously fastidious about his literary style, many of the English versions seem to tell the story in their own style. In this landmark translation, Lydia Davis honors the nuances and particulars of a style that has long beguiled readers of French, giving new life in English to Flaubert's masterwork. ... Read more

Product Description
A Simple Soul, written by legendary author Gustave Flaubert is widely considered to be one of the greatest books of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, A Simple Soul is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic literature, this gem by Gustave Flaubert is highly recommended. Published by Quill Pen Classics and beautifully produced, A Simple Soul would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Short But Powerful and Impressive
Gustave Flaubert (1821 to 1880) was a French writer who is still considered to be amongthe greatest western novelists. He authored Madama Bovary which is considered to be the perfectly balanced modern novel. That novel and the author's style and approach has been hailed by a range of writers and critics including, for example, Saul Bellow, who modeled his own novels from Flaubert's works. Fluabert's writings have been referenced by Nabokov and many others as being an inspiration to a whole century of Western writers, and helped to launch the age of realism in novels.

The present story comes from the 1877 publication Three Tales (Trois Contes. It consists of the short stories: Simple Heart, Saint Julian, and Herodias. Dance of Death is another story sometimes grouped with Simple Heart and Saint Julian as Three Short Works.

A Simple Heart was inspired by biographical events in Flaubert's own life: he lived in rural Normandy, he had problems with his studies similar to the character Paul, and he was prone to epileptic seizures similar to the protagonist Felicite.

I read the story first without looking at any analysis, made up my own mind, then read the analysis. What struck me was that Flaubert had crammed a whole lifetime of human emotions into a single very short story. That all by itself was impressive. How could someone come up with that idea? Amazing.

A Simple Heart, also called A Simple Soul or Un Coeur Simple, in French, is a story about a girl named Felicité. She is a servant who has lived with the same family ever since she was betrayed by her lover. She has a strong sense of loyalty and self sacrifice: she lives to help others.

This short story has been admired by many critics over the years and used as a basis or a source of inspiration for other stories.

This takes only an hour or so to read and is highly recommended.
... Read more

Product Description
The text of this Norton Critical Edition is based on Eleanor Marx Aveling's celebrated translation, revised by Paul de Man. Margaret Cohen's careful editorial revision modernizes and renews Flaubert's stylistic masterpiece. In addition, Cohen has added to the Second Edition a new introduction, substantially new annotations, and twenty-one striking images, including photographs and engravings, that inform students' understanding of middle-class life in nineteenth-century provincial France.

In Madame Bovary, Flaubert created a cogent counterdiscourse that exposed and resisted the dominant intellectual and social ideologies of his age. The novel's subversion of conventional moral norms inevitably created controversy and eventually led to Flaubert's prosecution by the French government on charges of offending "public and religious morality." This Norton edition is the only one available that includes the complete manuscript from Flaubert's 1857 trial.

"Criticism" includes sixteen studies regarding the novel's central themes, twelve of them new to the Second Edition, including essays by Charles Baudelaire, Henry James, Roland Barthes, Jonathan Culler, and Naomi Schor.A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Exceptional realist novel
What could anyone ask for when reading a work for a class in Realism than a novel that not only inspires one to keep reading, but also contains a transcript of a trial the author goes through on a charge he was lewd and lacivious in the writing of the story?

Flaubert keeps the reader entertained with his descriptive rendering of a woman who cannot accept her life with her boring husband and takes lovers to keep her passionate flame lit. The sad part of the tale is the husband never knows and loves her unconditionally, and even at the end find reasons to hold her in the highest esteem and diefy her name. ... Read more

Product Description
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style, best exemplified by his endless search for "le mot juste" ("the precise word"). In September 1849, he completed the first version of a novel, The Temptation of Saint Anthony. In 1858, he travelled to Carthage to gather material for his next novel, Salammbo (1862). It is now commonly admitted that he was one of the greatest writers who ever lived in France and his greatness principally depends upon the extraordinary vigour and exactitude of his style. His private letters show that he was not one of those to whom easy and correct language came naturally; he gained his extraordinary perfection with the unceasing sweat of his brow. Many critics consider Flaubert's best works to be models of style. His other works include Over Strand and Field: A Record of Travel Through Brittany (1904), Herodias (1877) and A Simple Soul (1877). ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more