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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! When you get a book to read for school, it is usually a hit or miss, and this was a home run! This was one of the best books I've read in a long time :)
Can’t lie this was a struggle. Did not enjoy this one. Another classic flop
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I know a lot of people disliked this book and especially Emma Bovary but that was not my experience.
My take-away from this book was the feeling that the world is fundamentally unsatisfying. Wherever you get, whatever you achieve that you think will make you happy, it will never be enough for long. Every time, that's it, and is that really everything you wanted from life? So Emma, a very flawed heroine, runs around looking for the real thing that'll make her happy, ruining her life in the process, rebeling against the boundaries set for her but ultimately destroyed by them. She tries to find happiness in a world that won't give it to her. A book about dreams and strife and the crushing realities - in that sense a very French book. What you think will make you happy won't actually change anything. Also, l'enfer, c'est les autres.
The writing is beautiful, too - I really recommend not just reading in short bursts but taking the time to get used to the style and enjoy it.
My take-away from this book was the feeling that the world is fundamentally unsatisfying. Wherever you get, whatever you achieve that you think will make you happy, it will never be enough for long. Every time, that's it, and is that really everything you wanted from life? So Emma, a very flawed heroine, runs around looking for the real thing that'll make her happy, ruining her life in the process, rebeling against the boundaries set for her but ultimately destroyed by them. She tries to find happiness in a world that won't give it to her. A book about dreams and strife and the crushing realities - in that sense a very French book. What you think will make you happy won't actually change anything. Also, l'enfer, c'est les autres.
The writing is beautiful, too - I really recommend not just reading in short bursts but taking the time to get used to the style and enjoy it.
So, apparently sex and arsenic don't mix...that was the theme, wasn't it?
Reading this book was really a departure from my usual novel choices. I'm generally not a fan of 19th century "classics" mostly because I don't usually get hooked by the characters or absorbed into the story like I do with more modern texts. That being said, as an English teacher, I also recognize the importance of earlier works, so I decided to give Madame Bovary a try (mostly because my literary crush Lydia Davis did the translation).
I was pleasantly surprised by the book. To be honest, I was bored at times by the long, seemingly never-ending passages that describe characters' lineages, provincial town squares, and the furnishings of living rooms, but the characters' struggles, the scandalous trysts, and the utter collapse of beauty more than makes up for the dull parts.
Reading this book was really a departure from my usual novel choices. I'm generally not a fan of 19th century "classics" mostly because I don't usually get hooked by the characters or absorbed into the story like I do with more modern texts. That being said, as an English teacher, I also recognize the importance of earlier works, so I decided to give Madame Bovary a try (mostly because my literary crush Lydia Davis did the translation).
I was pleasantly surprised by the book. To be honest, I was bored at times by the long, seemingly never-ending passages that describe characters' lineages, provincial town squares, and the furnishings of living rooms, but the characters' struggles, the scandalous trysts, and the utter collapse of beauty more than makes up for the dull parts.
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Uno cree que recuerda la historia y que releerlo no ha de aportarle nada nuevo, porque es fácil olvidar con libros tan famosos lo pedazo de obras maestras que son. A la vez realista y romántico, escrito maravillosamente, te atrapa desde las primeras páginas y te arrastra hasta el final sin soltarte. Lo acabo de terminar y lo empezaría de nuevo.
Meh.... which is too bad because most of the classics that I've managed to read, really are worth their weight in gold. But Madame Bovary just didn't do it for me. I understand the controversy surrounding the novel and why it caused such a ruckus in the 1850s. However, the unabridged version was very tedious and many of the tangents had so little to do with moving the story along, or even basic character development, that keeping my attention focused was a struggle through much of the book. Maybe it's because I've read so much Dickens' recently that I've become spoiled when as the book comes together in the end, all of the pieces fall into place. Those pieces just stayed in a jumbled mess on the floor at the conclusion of Madame Bovary, which was a disappointment.