Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
emotional
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
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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
It’s mostly terrible, but the ending is kind of funky and gothic.
Second star only for that.
Second star only for that.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
**may contain spoilers**
”It seemed to her that certain portions of the earth must produce happiness- native only to those soils and doomed to languish elsewhere. Why couldn’t she be leaning over the balcony of some Swiss chalet? Or nursing her melancholy in a cottage in Scotland, with a husband clad in a long black velvet coat and wearing soft leather shoes, a high-crowned hat and fancy cuffs?”
These were the thoughts of Emma Bovary shortly after her marriage to Charles Bovary, in the honeymoon stage of her marriage, when you’re supposed to be happy. From these words we learn the true character of Madame Bovary- a French country girl, lucky enough to have been given a good education, a shallow girl with delusions of grandeur and impossible to please. Throughout the book I struggled with the character of Emma Bovary. A horrible wife, a worse mother, adulterer, a woman with no concern for anyone but herself and appearances. Emma thought she’d be escaping her country life to live in the city with her well-to-do husband that happened to be a doctor. When Emma arrived in the village where her husband practiced, she soon realized that she fled the country for a life not much better than the one she left. Perhaps Charles was a bit boring, perhaps Emma was a bit young to be married- but none of this can excuse her actions as a wife and mother. There are those with the opinion that Emma is a heroine because she did what she wanted to and eschewed the morals and constraints of Victorian era France. I wouldn’t call adultery and child neglect ‘eschewing the morals and constraints of Victorian society’, I call that cowardly, poor behaviour for anyone, in any era. Emma was not a poor, abused wretch, her father was a fairly successful farmer that ensured his daughter was well educated and married off to a good man. The only bad thing about poor Charles Bovary was that he loved Emma. Ok, Emma Bovary rant over. Other than poor Berthe, there was not one worthwhile character in this book!
Now, the book- beautifully written and I wish that I could read French well enough to read it in it’s original language, it must be spectacular. Gustave Flaubert was actually summoned before a public prosecutor for ‘offences against morality and religion’; prior to being released in it’s entirety- Madame Bovary was published in heavily edited segments in a popular French magazine. The trial served only to popularize Madame Bovary, Flaubert was acquitted and Madame Bovary was an immediate success. I think even without the sensationalized release, Madame Bovary would have been a success. I’ve been meaning to read this for several years, but I’m glad that I waited- I think it had much more of an impact on me being a wife and mother.
”It seemed to her that certain portions of the earth must produce happiness- native only to those soils and doomed to languish elsewhere. Why couldn’t she be leaning over the balcony of some Swiss chalet? Or nursing her melancholy in a cottage in Scotland, with a husband clad in a long black velvet coat and wearing soft leather shoes, a high-crowned hat and fancy cuffs?”
These were the thoughts of Emma Bovary shortly after her marriage to Charles Bovary, in the honeymoon stage of her marriage, when you’re supposed to be happy. From these words we learn the true character of Madame Bovary- a French country girl, lucky enough to have been given a good education, a shallow girl with delusions of grandeur and impossible to please. Throughout the book I struggled with the character of Emma Bovary. A horrible wife, a worse mother, adulterer, a woman with no concern for anyone but herself and appearances. Emma thought she’d be escaping her country life to live in the city with her well-to-do husband that happened to be a doctor. When Emma arrived in the village where her husband practiced, she soon realized that she fled the country for a life not much better than the one she left. Perhaps Charles was a bit boring, perhaps Emma was a bit young to be married- but none of this can excuse her actions as a wife and mother. There are those with the opinion that Emma is a heroine because she did what she wanted to and eschewed the morals and constraints of Victorian era France. I wouldn’t call adultery and child neglect ‘eschewing the morals and constraints of Victorian society’, I call that cowardly, poor behaviour for anyone, in any era. Emma was not a poor, abused wretch, her father was a fairly successful farmer that ensured his daughter was well educated and married off to a good man. The only bad thing about poor Charles Bovary was that he loved Emma. Ok, Emma Bovary rant over. Other than poor Berthe, there was not one worthwhile character in this book!
Now, the book- beautifully written and I wish that I could read French well enough to read it in it’s original language, it must be spectacular. Gustave Flaubert was actually summoned before a public prosecutor for ‘offences against morality and religion’; prior to being released in it’s entirety- Madame Bovary was published in heavily edited segments in a popular French magazine. The trial served only to popularize Madame Bovary, Flaubert was acquitted and Madame Bovary was an immediate success. I think even without the sensationalized release, Madame Bovary would have been a success. I’ve been meaning to read this for several years, but I’m glad that I waited- I think it had much more of an impact on me being a wife and mother.
challenging
dark
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
"Perhaps they loved each other platonically" be soooo fucking for real man.
Emma Bovary is high on the list of the most unlikeable protagonists I’ve read but I cried during her death scene, so…
“Madame Bovary” is a classic I’m glad I read. I’m surprised it took me this long to read it because it’s basically “The House of Mirth” written 50 years earlier.
Flaubert’s writing is flowery (a product of the time) and the book drags in places, but Emma was a dumpster fire I couldn’t look away from. She’s never happy in the moment, has a relatively comfortable life but still wants more material things, and wants to enjoy the benefits of certain things without putting in any effort. And she has affairs that her doting but clueless husband is completely blind to.
I despised Emma and yet Flaubert wrote her death scene so well that I almost saw her as a tragic figure for a hot second? It was slow and agonizing. But what was most heartbreaking I think was Charles’ reaction. He loved her so deeply and having to watch the love of his life slowly die with nothing he could do about it was absolutely awful. This was the first time I cried while reading.
Flaubert also had a lot to say, in this book, about the hypocrisy of religion, his disdain for the rise of the new French middle class (“the bourgeoisie”), and the fragility of the institution of marriage.
I think you’d get the same vibe and have an easier time reading “The House of Mirth,” but if you’re willing to put in the effort, “Madame Bovary” is worth the read.
“Madame Bovary” is a classic I’m glad I read. I’m surprised it took me this long to read it because it’s basically “The House of Mirth” written 50 years earlier.
Flaubert’s writing is flowery (a product of the time) and the book drags in places, but Emma was a dumpster fire I couldn’t look away from. She’s never happy in the moment, has a relatively comfortable life but still wants more material things, and wants to enjoy the benefits of certain things without putting in any effort. And she has affairs that her doting but clueless husband is completely blind to.
I despised Emma and yet Flaubert wrote her death scene so well that I almost saw her as a tragic figure for a hot second? It was slow and agonizing. But what was most heartbreaking I think was Charles’ reaction. He loved her so deeply and having to watch the love of his life slowly die with nothing he could do about it was absolutely awful. This was the first time I cried while reading.
Flaubert also had a lot to say, in this book, about the hypocrisy of religion, his disdain for the rise of the new French middle class (“the bourgeoisie”), and the fragility of the institution of marriage.
I think you’d get the same vibe and have an easier time reading “The House of Mirth,” but if you’re willing to put in the effort, “Madame Bovary” is worth the read.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
she is literally me (without the adultery)