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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
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
This book would have been FAR more enjoyable if there had been one, even ONE, reason to like the title character, but after 360 pages, I sure couldn't find one. There are plenty of other classics out there, and I'd recommend finding one of them to read instead.
J'ai pas aimé. Emma est super toxique, et j'aime pas les personnages toxiques. Mais si jamais vous devez lire ce livre, je vous suggère d'écouter le livre audio en même temps, ça permet de pas s'endormir ou de pas tomber dans la lune
Not one of my favorites. Oddly, Madame herself slightly irritated me. Though she could probably be compared to Scarlett O'Hara, she is sadder. Guess I don't like sad too much.
My view of the book changed significantly as I aged; I was much less tolerant of Emma Bovary over time. I read it in the French original in 2021 and found the level of French to be quite difficult.
Rereading with my daughter, which is very fun. I haven't read this book since college, but it's just as moving, beautiful and painful. We're having lots of interesting discussions about what Emma Bovary could have done to address her ennui.
Beautiful writing, and a great translation. It really felt as if you were reading a book written in the early 1800s. I loved the snapshot of French rural life in the early decades of the 1800s - the characters, the gardens, the food - a cutlet for breakfast! Maybe Madame needed a woman friend - someone to say - you're constantly striving for things, enjoy the moment - you have a husband, a house a child! You're living in France, for god's sake!
I enjoyed this book. For me it was a bit slw to start, but once it got going, I couldnt put it down. Madame Bovary, seems to me to be he equivalent of a modern day gold digger.
Pretty good for a book from this time period imo, but I wouldn't go out of my way to read it.
A poignant story about appreciating and being content with what you already have!
The central theme is deeply relatable - about how you relentlessly chase a seemingly idyllic dream, achieve it, only to realise that it’s not at all what you had imagined it would be. To quickly fill up the opening void, you find another dream to chase. Emma spirals through this cycle until she has all but destroyed herself, leaving behind a trail of pain, suffering and heartbreak.
Gustave Flaubert’s writing is absolutely phenomenal - despite knowing Emma’s selfish nature, at times, you still can’t help but sympathise with her. Unable to see past her romantic ideals and fantasies, she is unable to grasp all that she already has - a hopelessly smitten and devoted husband - and substitutes it with superficial, insincere, self-obsessed lovers. Ultimately her vices of materialism, ingratitude and narcissism must be punished; Flaubert delivers a brutal, ugly and graceless end that is only befitting.
Also, Charles and Berthe deserved better
The central theme is deeply relatable - about how you relentlessly chase a seemingly idyllic dream, achieve it, only to realise that it’s not at all what you had imagined it would be. To quickly fill up the opening void, you find another dream to chase. Emma spirals through this cycle until she has all but destroyed herself, leaving behind a trail of pain, suffering and heartbreak.
Gustave Flaubert’s writing is absolutely phenomenal - despite knowing Emma’s selfish nature, at times, you still can’t help but sympathise with her. Unable to see past her romantic ideals and fantasies, she is unable to grasp all that she already has - a hopelessly smitten and devoted husband - and substitutes it with superficial, insincere, self-obsessed lovers. Ultimately her vices of materialism, ingratitude and narcissism must be punished; Flaubert delivers a brutal, ugly and graceless end that is only befitting.
Also, Charles and Berthe deserved better