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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
“Everything, even herself, was now unbearable to her. She wished that, taking wing like a bird, she could fly somewhere, far away to regions of purity, and there grow young again.”
“She would have liked not to be alive, or to be always sleep.”
“She was the amoureuse of all the novels, the heroine of all the plays, the vague “she” of all the poetry books.”
i read this as i’m on a journey to read all of the books referenced in donna tartt’s the secret history and you know it was a fine book. i really don’t think i would have picked this up on my own but i very much enjoy messy woman novels. before i had read this i read kate chopin’s the awakening which i enjoyed immensely so this was a bit of a let down compared to that novella. but i really did like this book and emma is such an interesting protagonist who is again, just a mess. the conflicting nature that she has with her wife role and the fact she didn’t have a choice in her marriage is interesting as we are usually following mr bovary.
“She would have liked not to be alive, or to be always sleep.”
“She was the amoureuse of all the novels, the heroine of all the plays, the vague “she” of all the poetry books.”
i read this as i’m on a journey to read all of the books referenced in donna tartt’s the secret history and you know it was a fine book. i really don’t think i would have picked this up on my own but i very much enjoy messy woman novels. before i had read this i read kate chopin’s the awakening which i enjoyed immensely so this was a bit of a let down compared to that novella. but i really did like this book and emma is such an interesting protagonist who is again, just a mess. the conflicting nature that she has with her wife role and the fact she didn’t have a choice in her marriage is interesting as we are usually following mr bovary.
Really good. The translation was excellent, as I've tried to read this before and not been drawn in. Emma is really such a tragic character. You like her and despise her in equal amounts. You pity her for falling so easily into the traps of consumerism, bourgeois values, the necessity of keeping up appearances and over-romanticism. She's at once victim and perpetrator. She's her own worst enemy. Her selfishness knows no bounds... But really a good book. I enjoyed the time I spent with it.
This is the very first time I have ever read Madame Bovary. I’ve known it to be a very controversial book for its time, and have always been curious as to why. Now that I’ve read it, I have come to understand why it would have cause such a stir.
It a story about a young woman who gets married to a widower, who is the doctor of the Provence. She finds that her marriage lacks the luster she had read about in novels of her school years and finds herself greatly unhappy. Her husband adores her, worships her even, but this is still not enough for her, and she wishes to actually experience love. Over time, she loses respect for him, phasing in and out of religious piety to attempt to save her from committing wicked acts...only to fall prey to the whims of her heart.
She has a couple love affairs during her time. None of which her husband catches on to, being a traveling doctor. They are whirlwind romances of high passion that fizzle out eventually and leave her with emptiness. After one such breakup she even becomes extremely ill from her heartache which nearly kills her.
I can see how this story was not only controversial, but how it could be a very real possibility. During the time this book takes place, women were often disillusioned about romantic relationships and were often sexually oppressed. Most of this was because of misinformation or lack of it on the topic of sex, and more often than not, women had no choice but to gain information from literature that they had access to. Which was few and far between. Romance novels, which were controversial at the time anyway, were what they had access to to tell them about love, and books on the topic of sex were only available to men, doctors, and pretty much only written by men and doctors and thus not very accurate. All this snowballs into the issues that Madame Bovary experiences that lead her into a life of adultery.
Some parts of the book that were not very realistic were the illness from her first major breakup with a lover. I find in period novels like this one, especially ones written by men, often have this kind of conflict. The woman, heartbroken and unable to say why, is thrust into a spiritual illness that manifests it’s self as a physical one. She’s thrown into a hysteria, nearly dies, and I some cases either rallies again out of apathetic bitterness, or does in fact die of heartbreak (much like we see in books such as Wuthering Heights). This is of course where things become unrealistic.
Yes, heartache is real and often a psychological ailment can manifest it’s self physically. However, I feel that the concept of a “weaker sex” as these period pieces believe women to be often take this too far. The stresses of living during that period are enough to have killed anyone from our modern day, along with the multitude of ailments anyone and their brother could have gotten from the plague to the flu. Folks would have had to build a lot of immunities just to survive to 50. Those were some hardy country folks. Not to mentions she was the wife of a doctor. She’s seen some stuff in her day that would make anyone faint-hearted pass out, but as the book describes, she’s a doctor’s wife and takes care of some pretty ugly ailments while the doctor is away. Not to mention all the illness her husband has to bring home with him in his profession. I hardly believe that a little heartache would have nearly killed the poor girl. Perhaps an attempted suicide from the depression of it, sure I could go for that nearly killing her and putting her in bed for nearly 6 months after her year-ish long fling with her first lover. Not heartache.
Also, another thing I found really interesting, is that Madame Bovary is an educated woman. That’s not super common in her day, especially since she is a wealthy farmer’s daughter. You would think she’d be a farm girl through and through with no formal education other than agriculture and livestock. However, we find she is very intelligent, well read, and familiar with a great deal of scholarly work and philosophy. So why is she so naive? You would think she’d be a bit smarter about the kind of men she picks for a husband or lover right? Another reason I feel this book is fairly unrealistic.
One scene I thought was hilariously done and entertaining was the carriage scene in Rouen with her second lover. Of course, sex scenes were not really written much during the time, however this one was done really well because it’s written entirely from the perspective of the poor cab driver who definitely knows these two are having sex in his carriage. Poor driver is just riding around town with this violently shaking carriage and exhausted horses that need water and food at some point but there two lovers just will not quit it. Guy even stops a few times just to drop the hint, but they keep shouting for him to drive longer so they can keep going at it. Hilarious and really very scandalous. One of my favorite parts of the novel.
Over all, I struggle to read romances. I often find them boring. This one wasn’t so boring thankfully, but it certainly wasn’t one of the most realistic stories I have ever read. I’d say if you like tragic romances, you’d probably really enjoy this one. If not, don’t bother with it. I give it 3 of 5 stars. It’s. A nice classic piece for it’s time with some great steamy parts.
It a story about a young woman who gets married to a widower, who is the doctor of the Provence. She finds that her marriage lacks the luster she had read about in novels of her school years and finds herself greatly unhappy. Her husband adores her, worships her even, but this is still not enough for her, and she wishes to actually experience love. Over time, she loses respect for him, phasing in and out of religious piety to attempt to save her from committing wicked acts...only to fall prey to the whims of her heart.
She has a couple love affairs during her time. None of which her husband catches on to, being a traveling doctor. They are whirlwind romances of high passion that fizzle out eventually and leave her with emptiness. After one such breakup she even becomes extremely ill from her heartache which nearly kills her.
I can see how this story was not only controversial, but how it could be a very real possibility. During the time this book takes place, women were often disillusioned about romantic relationships and were often sexually oppressed. Most of this was because of misinformation or lack of it on the topic of sex, and more often than not, women had no choice but to gain information from literature that they had access to. Which was few and far between. Romance novels, which were controversial at the time anyway, were what they had access to to tell them about love, and books on the topic of sex were only available to men, doctors, and pretty much only written by men and doctors and thus not very accurate. All this snowballs into the issues that Madame Bovary experiences that lead her into a life of adultery.
Some parts of the book that were not very realistic were the illness from her first major breakup with a lover. I find in period novels like this one, especially ones written by men, often have this kind of conflict. The woman, heartbroken and unable to say why, is thrust into a spiritual illness that manifests it’s self as a physical one. She’s thrown into a hysteria, nearly dies, and I some cases either rallies again out of apathetic bitterness, or does in fact die of heartbreak (much like we see in books such as Wuthering Heights). This is of course where things become unrealistic.
Yes, heartache is real and often a psychological ailment can manifest it’s self physically. However, I feel that the concept of a “weaker sex” as these period pieces believe women to be often take this too far. The stresses of living during that period are enough to have killed anyone from our modern day, along with the multitude of ailments anyone and their brother could have gotten from the plague to the flu. Folks would have had to build a lot of immunities just to survive to 50. Those were some hardy country folks. Not to mentions she was the wife of a doctor. She’s seen some stuff in her day that would make anyone faint-hearted pass out, but as the book describes, she’s a doctor’s wife and takes care of some pretty ugly ailments while the doctor is away. Not to mention all the illness her husband has to bring home with him in his profession. I hardly believe that a little heartache would have nearly killed the poor girl. Perhaps an attempted suicide from the depression of it, sure I could go for that nearly killing her and putting her in bed for nearly 6 months after her year-ish long fling with her first lover. Not heartache.
Also, another thing I found really interesting, is that Madame Bovary is an educated woman. That’s not super common in her day, especially since she is a wealthy farmer’s daughter. You would think she’d be a farm girl through and through with no formal education other than agriculture and livestock. However, we find she is very intelligent, well read, and familiar with a great deal of scholarly work and philosophy. So why is she so naive? You would think she’d be a bit smarter about the kind of men she picks for a husband or lover right? Another reason I feel this book is fairly unrealistic.
One scene I thought was hilariously done and entertaining was the carriage scene in Rouen with her second lover. Of course, sex scenes were not really written much during the time, however this one was done really well because it’s written entirely from the perspective of the poor cab driver who definitely knows these two are having sex in his carriage. Poor driver is just riding around town with this violently shaking carriage and exhausted horses that need water and food at some point but there two lovers just will not quit it. Guy even stops a few times just to drop the hint, but they keep shouting for him to drive longer so they can keep going at it. Hilarious and really very scandalous. One of my favorite parts of the novel.
Over all, I struggle to read romances. I often find them boring. This one wasn’t so boring thankfully, but it certainly wasn’t one of the most realistic stories I have ever read. I’d say if you like tragic romances, you’d probably really enjoy this one. If not, don’t bother with it. I give it 3 of 5 stars. It’s. A nice classic piece for it’s time with some great steamy parts.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
reflective
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
4.5 stars rounded down for Goodreads.
"Lively once, expansive and affectionate, in growing older she had become (after the fashion of wine that, exposed to air, turns to vinegar) ill-tempered, grumbling, irritable."
Umm, when did Flaubert meet me?
An unhappy wife drags her family down with her as she succumbs to the consequences of temporal weaknesses in 19th century provincial France.
This is one of the most expressive and beautifully written books I have read.
Flaubert's writing is so luscious and absorptive I was mesmerized, absolutely enthralled by his manipulation of the craft. Not only did his descriptions of scene and setting drop me physically into the French countryside, but enveloped me in the ethos of the time as well. Madam Bovary is quite the case study in human behavior.
He tackles: morality, depression, obligation, obliviousness, obsession, deception, desperation, and the rippling effect the demise of a human being inflicts on the world they inhabit, all with deft insight and rapturous verbage.
This is not a critical review, more so an appreciation gush, because this book is deserving of a dissertation. Not a Goodreads review.
So on that note I will leave you with this...
"The next day was a dreary one for Emma. Everything seemed to her enveloped in a black atmosphere floating confusedly over the exterior of things, and sorrow was engulfed within her soul with soft shrieks such as the winter wind makes in ruined castles."
"Lively once, expansive and affectionate, in growing older she had become (after the fashion of wine that, exposed to air, turns to vinegar) ill-tempered, grumbling, irritable."
Umm, when did Flaubert meet me?
An unhappy wife drags her family down with her as she succumbs to the consequences of temporal weaknesses in 19th century provincial France.
This is one of the most expressive and beautifully written books I have read.
Flaubert's writing is so luscious and absorptive I was mesmerized, absolutely enthralled by his manipulation of the craft. Not only did his descriptions of scene and setting drop me physically into the French countryside, but enveloped me in the ethos of the time as well. Madam Bovary is quite the case study in human behavior.
He tackles: morality, depression, obligation, obliviousness, obsession, deception, desperation, and the rippling effect the demise of a human being inflicts on the world they inhabit, all with deft insight and rapturous verbage.
This is not a critical review, more so an appreciation gush, because this book is deserving of a dissertation. Not a Goodreads review.
So on that note I will leave you with this...
"The next day was a dreary one for Emma. Everything seemed to her enveloped in a black atmosphere floating confusedly over the exterior of things, and sorrow was engulfed within her soul with soft shrieks such as the winter wind makes in ruined castles."
