Reviews - Madame Bovary: Sittenbild aus der Provinz

4.22k reviews for:

Madame Bovary: Sittenbild aus der Provinz

Gustave Flaubert

3.51 AVERAGE

dostylover's review against another edition

4.25

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

La muerte de Emma es lo mejor que le pudo pasar a Charles

maroon_daydreamer23's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The last 30 or so pages left me with my jaw dropped. Crazy how these characters can go from being insufferable to being so pitiful

ladysugarquill's review against another edition

2.0

Realistic stories in general are still not my thing, and Madame Bovary was a bit overlong and repetitive, but it was still much more enjoyable than I expected.

Still like Charles most of all.

ndnsfr's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

Frustrated with the characters—no development whatsoever

skullcutter02's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

At times tedious, at times uneven, but when it works it really does, especially the ending. Definitely could be shorter though. The prose has a poetic quality to it that transports you through its gently rocking rhythm.

Emma Bovary is one of the more fascinating characters in literature. Her desire to find love is a admirable one, but it is perverted by the act of adultery and her own personality. She can only get what she wants in her mind, but nothing in reality could satisfy her. The book is a major forerunner in the realist movement, and it vividly portrays the empty bourgeois life that I so often see portrayed by films from Antonioni.

The men in the book are equally fascinating. There's the sharp contrast of the pathetic but sympathetic character of Charles Bovary, who is basically a simp for his wife, whose good intentions (instead of being a wife beater like many other authors would do to justify adultery) paradoxically heighten the understanding of Emma's desire for more romance.