A review by lina_reads_to_escape
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

challenging dark tense 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

1.0

I hated this book. Regardless of the fact that it’s considered a classic, for whatever reason, I found it completely uninteresting and irritating. I read this in French, the original version, for class, and I hated every moment of it. The character of Emma is completely unlovable and irritating. She keeps chasing an unachievable dream, wanting more in life, a fairy-tale-like existence, and when she doesn’t achieve something so obviously impossible for her time, she blames absolutely everyone else but herself  for such expectations. There is no character development. Continuously, more things happen to her, she has new experiences, meets new people, she is still unhappy, she blames it on everyone  and any one. Her husband is too mediocre, her lovers don’t love her enough and don’t give her enough thrill, this book is completely « one note », and it absolutely didn’t require 400 pages to tell me that Emma is a flawed person with unachievable expectations which lead to her inevitable demise. Boring, repetitive, trust me, there are far better classics, do NOT recommend.
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