Author: Gustave Flaubert
Genre: Classics, Historical Fiction
Publication date: December 15, 1856
Format: Audiobook
Publisher: Inaudio
Narrator: Janine Haynes
Book Description: Madame Bovary is the debut novel of French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life. When the novel was first serialized in La Revue de Paris between 1 October 1856 and 15 December 1856, public prosecutors attacked the novel for obscenity. The resulting trial in January 1857 made the story notorious. After Flaubert's acquittal on 7 February 1857, Madame Bovary became a bestseller in April 1857 when it was published in two volumes. A seminal work of literary realism, the novel is now considered Flaubert's masterpiece, and one of the most influential literary works in history.
Thoughts:
This is certainly a character-based story. It follows mainly Emma, an unlikable young woman who is deeply flawed and suffering trapped in an existence she does not enjoy.
Emma is easy to hate. She seems to be selfish and self-absorbed. She harmed her husband and daughter, and to top it all, had endless excuses for the stupid behaviors and actions she was taking. In a world where women are not supposed to aspire for much other than to marry well and procreate, we can see why, but she didn't even try to let her husband know how unhappy she was feeling with their life. I mean the husband was a blubbering idiot and tried to prescribe her sedatives when she became upset, but they never seemed to be able to communicate with one another. He did try to change his lifestyle to fit her fancy, but he never changed in the way Emma wanted him to, mostly because he had no idea of what exactly she wished.
This is the most anxiety-inducing book I have ever read about marriage. It’s the 19th century where you have to make a vow for life that you can't get out of, not really, in order to test the idea that you might want to be with someone. If you're wrong, that's it. You've failed. It’s all-or-nothing. Emma is the incarnation of the expectations of the institution at the time- all-or-nothing. Madame Bovary is destroyed because she tries to put her all into Charles, then Rodolphe, and then Leon, and none of them can withstand it. Each of them is good for different things, and only for a little while, and she can't accept it. The men in her life see her as the perfect woman until they get tired, they want no expectations, and they only want to have fun. If she becomes demanding, then she stops being desirable and then suddenly they remember their reputation and cannot stand to be linked to this woman anymore, what would society think of them?
On Emma's side, after a while of being with them, she realizes its not perfect, their relationship is not 100% fulfilling. That is not the ideal. She won't accept less than the ideal. You guys, she's nothing more than exactly what she is told is available to her- after she finds a man she will want for nothing else. Society has indoctrinated her to see it as her ultimate goal to find a man and with that she will never want anything else, that's the definition of the perfect life she has been taught.
So all in all, this book is hard to read, the language is not compelling, or maybe the plot, there is very little that happens that feels capturing. I see the idea it's trying to sell, but that does not change the fact that I found it hard to get through. The idea it's trying to convey of a person will always want what they don't have- the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. It's just not an enjoyable read.
I gave this
This is a great example of why classics are hard and teenagers should really not be forced to read such works, that's why many people turn away from reading as a hobby. There's surely another book with more accessible language and the same message we can recommend.
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