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A review by selenajournal
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
5.0
It seems that you either love or hate this book. Well, I liked it.
I own the Lydia Davis translation of this book and to be honest, I was waiting for it to come out before I attempted Madame Bovary again. I couldn't get through it the first time I tried it (pre-Davis).
Having never before read Flaubert, it felt like a real gap in my reading. In a way, I guess I've crossed it off, but I'm not done with Flaubert yet, though. I enjoyed his writing style and his focus on the little details within the book. I understood, through his descriptions, the life that Madame Bovary wanted, and the very blase life that she was stuck with.
For a "classic," the book was easy to read and I felt engaged. I knew the ending to the book before I started reading it but in a way, it's like reading Anna Karenina. You know the ending. But what matters is how she gets there. That was my only qualm with the book - the ending.
It felt so rushed, her decision to commit suicide and to poison herself. It felt like the dramatic end to her life matched her dramatic moods and her desperation, but it was still too rushed. On the other hand, discussing this book with friends, the idea was brought up that her life was nothing without her possessions.
Instead of ending the book at her suicide and death or even at her funeral, I was glad that Charles got some extra attention at the end of the book. Though he was her husband, he felt like a minor character comparatively and his devotion to his wife truly came through in the end of the book.
Also, just as a P.S. since I've been reading so many reviews of Madame Bovary... I'm finding that people are having a hard time separating their feelings for the main character from their review of the book and the quality of the writing, merit of the author, etc. There is a difference and there are many books where you can certainly hate the protagonist (and do) but the book itself is worth reading.
tl;dr Please review the book, not how much you like the damn characters because I do not care.
I own the Lydia Davis translation of this book and to be honest, I was waiting for it to come out before I attempted Madame Bovary again. I couldn't get through it the first time I tried it (pre-Davis).
Having never before read Flaubert, it felt like a real gap in my reading. In a way, I guess I've crossed it off, but I'm not done with Flaubert yet, though. I enjoyed his writing style and his focus on the little details within the book. I understood, through his descriptions, the life that Madame Bovary wanted, and the very blase life that she was stuck with.
For a "classic," the book was easy to read and I felt engaged. I knew the ending to the book before I started reading it but in a way, it's like reading Anna Karenina. You know the ending. But what matters is how she gets there. That was my only qualm with the book - the ending.
It felt so rushed, her decision to commit suicide and to poison herself. It felt like the dramatic end to her life matched her dramatic moods and her desperation, but it was still too rushed. On the other hand, discussing this book with friends, the idea was brought up that her life was nothing without her possessions.
Instead of ending the book at her suicide and death or even at her funeral, I was glad that Charles got some extra attention at the end of the book. Though he was her husband, he felt like a minor character comparatively and his devotion to his wife truly came through in the end of the book.
Also, just as a P.S. since I've been reading so many reviews of Madame Bovary... I'm finding that people are having a hard time separating their feelings for the main character from their review of the book and the quality of the writing, merit of the author, etc. There is a difference and there are many books where you can certainly hate the protagonist (and do) but the book itself is worth reading.
tl;dr Please review the book, not how much you like the damn characters because I do not care.