Madame Bovary (Bantam Classics)

Emma is a woman who is seemingly trapped in a circumstance that she can't escape - and yet, all around her are choices. The tragedy is the choices she makes creates a prison far more confining than the life with her husband she detests so much. The narrative itself is wonderfully constructed, but I have to wonder if Flaubert meant for Emma to be a sympathetic character... or simply tragic. To me,...more

Emma is a woman who is seemingly trapped in a circumstance that she can't escape - and yet, all around her are choices. The tragedy is the choices she makes creates a prison far more confining than the life with her husband she detests so much. The narrative itself is wonderfully constructed, but I have to wonder if Flaubert meant for Emma to be a sympathetic character... or simply tragic. To me, it was difficult to sympathize with a woman who had so many choices in front of her, and yet chose to consistently do the worst. Then again, I was reading it as a woman in modern times. I found the story itself frustrating - and yet the plot structure engrossing.   hide

Great book. Made me squirm a little at the accurate portrayal of human nature with our vanities and faults. I found it a little hard to get into Flaubert's style but the story got me about half way through so I was glad I perservered. This book created a bit of a scandal in it's time and I must say it is quite 'riske' for the time it was written. Flaubert was prosecuted in 1857 for irreligion...more

Great book. Made me squirm a little at the accurate portrayal of human nature with our vanities and faults. I found it a little hard to get into Flaubert's style but the story got me about half way through so I was glad I perservered. This book created a bit of a scandal in it's time and I must say it is quite 'riske' for the time it was written. Flaubert was prosecuted in 1857 for irreligion and his immorality in scenes with their explicit and realistic content. Nothing like a scandal to make a book popular! He was acquitted and the book was a success.   hide

This is one of my favorites. Every time I read it I notice more tongue in cheek by Flaubert.

Emma is not a character easy to sympathize with, which I believe is Flaubert's intention. The psychology of all the characters, especially Emma, is fascinating.

I realize I probably shouldn't admit to this, but I absolutely hated this book. Emma Bovary is a self-absorbed, stuck up, hideously annoying main character, and most of the time I found myself wanting to reach into the book, grab her by the neck and shake her. The only even slightly loveable character, Emma's husband, Charles, who is loving, kind and goes out of his way to make his...more

I realize I probably shouldn't admit to this, but I absolutely hated this book. Emma Bovary is a self-absorbed, stuck up, hideously annoying main character, and most of the time I found myself wanting to reach into the book, grab her by the neck and shake her. The only even slightly loveable character, Emma's husband, Charles, who is loving, kind and goes out of his way to make his impossible wife happy, ends up dying of sorrow. The whole book is an endless tragic affair, of course, so it is to be expected that the characters all end up miserable (most of them, anyway), which usually isn't something that bothers me, but in Madam Bovary there just wasn't anything interesting enough to make me care about them. Most of the book is made up of eternally long, descriptive paragraphs. There is little dialogue and little character development. Flaubert definitely isn't for me.   hide

nice

Sob story - but flawless writing. My favourite touch was so carefully planted I almost didn't notice. Earlier in the book Flaubert says of Mme Bovary "She did not realise that her feelings were like a pool of water slowly collecting on top of an ill built roof, destined sooner or later to burst through the roof causing destruction" (or something similar) Later Flaubert reactivates this image as...more

Sob story - but flawless writing. My favourite touch was so carefully planted I almost didn't notice. Earlier in the book Flaubert says of Mme Bovary "She did not realise that her feelings were like a pool of water slowly collecting on top of an ill built roof, destined sooner or later to burst through the roof causing destruction" (or something similar) Later Flaubert reactivates this image as Mme's young lover gives up on the whole thing and leaves. Desparate to keep him Mme says "But..it's raining" - "I have an overcoat" says he and leaves. This of course would be weak dialogue if Flaubert had not carefully loaded the words much earlier in the book.   hide

Considered a masterpiece, this 19th century novel is indeed a classic work of art. I'm not usually a fan of the classics, as my patience quickly runs thin, and I admit this book tested my resolve a number of times. However, if one looks beyond the long distracting descriptions of seemingly useless information, it becomes clear why the book is so well received. Aside from expertly examining the...more

Considered a masterpiece, this 19th century novel is indeed a classic work of art. I'm not usually a fan of the classics, as my patience quickly runs thin, and I admit this book tested my resolve a number of times. However, if one looks beyond the long distracting descriptions of seemingly useless information, it becomes clear why the book is so well received. Aside from expertly examining the psychological minds of his characters, Flaubert paints readers a stunningly clear picture of Baroque France. If you have the patience to read classic novels, this is indeed a must read.   hide

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