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Salammbô

by Gustave Flaubert, A.J. Krailsheimer (Translator, Introduction)

3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 · rating details · 1,345 ratings · 85 reviews

An epic story of lust, cruelty, and sensuality, this historical novel is set in Carthage in the days following the First Punic War with Rome. Few French historical novels can stand comparison with Salammbo.

Paperback, 288 pages

Published August 25th 1977 by Penguin Classics (first published 1862)

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Aug 02, 2011 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: french, history-and-biography, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, older-men-younger-women

I'd not intended to read Salammbô, Flaubert's close-to-unknown second novel, but I was at the end of Madame Bovary and saw a yellowing 1922 edition in the 1 Franc pile at the Geneva flea market's book stall. How could I resist? It's a strange book, and at first I had trouble getting into it. I'd expected it to be like Madame Bovary, and it really isn't. Instead of the tedium of French provincial life and the brilliant character development, we have a wide-screen historical epic set around Cartha...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jessica by: professor for terrible class that actually has a pretty great reading list

Shelves: they-made-me-do-it, dicklits, groups-of-people, kind-of-depressing, leetle-boys, love-and-other-indoor-sports

Just as it's hard to believe that the Rod Stewart who gave us the classic Every Picture Tells a Story is also responsible for "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", it's baffling that Flaubert wrote Salammbô right after his more famous effort.

This is a historical novel about a revolt against Carthage by unpaid mercenaries following the First Punic War. It hasn't aged nearly as gracefully as Madame Bovary, and I consider it to be quite a difficult book. The first two thirds are just endlessly thick description...more Just as it's hard to believe that the Rod Stewart who gave us the classic Every Picture Tells a Story is also responsible for "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", it's baffling that Flaubert wrote Salammbô right after his more famous effort.

This is a historical novel about a revolt against Carthage by unpaid mercenaries following the First Punic War. It hasn't aged nearly as gracefully as Madame Bovary, and I consider it to be quite a difficult book. The first two thirds are just endlessly thick description, mostly of exotic settings and people's crazy outfits, punctuated by outrageously violent acts. While slogging through this, one might think, "Well, this would be a lot easier if it had any interesting characters with psychological depth, but maybe they just had not invented those yet in 1862." But then one might recall that in fact they -- specifically, Gustave Flaubert -- in fact had invented just that thing, and one might wish he'd incorporated these innovations into the present work.

But, the thing is that Salammbô is just not that type of book, and while it definitely provides rewards for one's hard work, they're not those of nuanced and realistic psychological portraits. The first big payoff comes on page 38, when the Barbarian mercenaries come across (hahaha) this:

A sickening stench struck their nostrils, and on top of a carob tree they seemed to see something extraordinary: a lion's head rose above the leaves. They ran to it. It was a lion, its limbs fastened to a cross like a criminal. Its huge muzzle drooped on to its chest, and its two forepaws, half concealed under its luxuriant mane, were widely separated like the wings of a bird. Its ribs stuck out, one by one, beneath the taut skin; its hind legs, nailed one on top of the other, rose a little; and black blood, flowing through the hair, had collected in stalactites at the bottom of its tail, which hung straight down along the cross. The soldiers stood round amusing themselves; they called it consul and Roman citizen and threw stones at its eyes to drive away the flies.

A hundred yards further on they saw two more, then there suddenly appeared a whole line of crosses with lions hanging on them. Some had been dead for so long that nothing remained on the wood but the remnants of their skeletons; others half eaten away had their faces contorted in hideous grimaces; some of them were enormous, the trees of the cross bent beneath them and they swayed in the wind, while flocks of crows wheeled ceaselessly above their heads. Such was the vengeance of Carthaginian peasants when they caught a wild beast; they hoped to terrify the others by such examples. The Barbarians stopped laughing and for a long time were seized by amazement. "What sort of people are these," they thought, "who amuse themselves by crucifying lions!"

Yes, what sort of people indeed. The crucified lions are only the first in a series of scenes of horrific sadism and cruelty that I might normally call "indescribable," except that Flaubert describes them all. Torture, maiming, starvation, child sacrifice, elephant tramplings, leper crucifixion, battlefield vampirism, and pretty much every sicko way of killing a person that Flaubert could think of is depicted here, with as much loving detail as he uses to evoke his lush and sensuous exotic world. This is one of the most over-the-top violent books I think I've ever read. Actually, though, the narrative picked up a lot in the last third -- including many thrilling battle scenes and an intense, highly sexy bodice-ripping romance -- and I wound up more or less enjoying this book, despite a slow start. And it's not all brutality and violence -- there's a beautiful naked woman dancing with her pet snake, some incredible food writing, and more dramatic sets and costume changes than any Hollywood studio could ever hope to replicate. I'm not sure who I'd recommend it to -- maybe fans of extreme graphic violence and historical epics, who don't feel Mel Gibson's Jesus movie went nearly far enough? -- but I'm not sorry I read this bizarre piece of dated gross-out Orientalism.(less)

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May 18, 2012 Hadrian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, french, historical-fiction

Flaubert goes on a radically different track here - after the astonishing success of Madame Bovary he goes for an Orientalist tragedy on the ruin of Carthage.

As expected, he put an astonishing amount of work into this - he's read his Polybius, and written astonishing (exaggerated?) accounts of the Carthaginian religion. Lots of description of destruction and savagery and war. The devourer-god, Moloch. That alone makes it worth a read.

It's as though Flaubert has constructed an elaborate sand cas...more

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May 28, 2013 Mark Shafranski rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just finished reading Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert, a much bally-hooed writer I was unfamiliar with.

Was lead to this work by Carthage Must Be Destroyed, a history of Carthage that I have found terribly interesting. It mentioned Salammbo as a work of historical fiction covering the Mercenary War (a sequel to the First Punic War), which I had just read about in Polybius' first book. It was described as "sado-sexual" so I was looking forward to some intriguing scenes.

This book was written in 1858,...more Just finished reading Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert, a much bally-hooed writer I was unfamiliar with.

Was lead to this work by Carthage Must Be Destroyed, a history of Carthage that I have found terribly interesting. It mentioned Salammbo as a work of historical fiction covering the Mercenary War (a sequel to the First Punic War), which I had just read about in Polybius' first book. It was described as "sado-sexual" so I was looking forward to some intriguing scenes.

This book was written in 1858, and I was very disappointed in the sex. There was none other than a few hints, but I guess that was enough to make the work scandalous 155 years ago. As far as the sadism goes, the Mercenary War was particularly cruel, and crufixion and torture was a blood sport. Carthage was also infamous for child sacrifices by public burnings. The choice of topic alone led to a lot of unsavory action.

Flaubert was a pervert of the first order and spent a great deal of time in Turkish and Egyptian brothels buggering young boys. He WAS a talented writer, however, but too much of his talent seems wasted on excessively flowery descriptions of sunrises, etc.

This particular volume is a library book printed 50 years ago in fine print.It is followed by a lengthy critique of the book by a contemporary French writer who was close to Flaubert - in even smaller print. This in turn is followed by Flaubert's response to the critique - and a refreshing self-criticism.

I would NOT recommend reading Salammbo unless you have read Polybius' first book first. The action is just too confusing without some sort of historical foundation. Flaubert also goes out of his way to incorporate archaic terms for weaponry and everyday items that adds to the confusion. Parts of it I found very entertaining. He certainly paints a portrait of life in third century BC Carthage. His description of the Battle of the Saw is well done. (The main Mercenary army is trapped in a box canyon by a much smaller Carthaginian army and quickly reduced to cannibalism - all historically accurate.) His character portraits seem thin.

Getting back to real histories. Not wild about European fiction writers. They seem to have a hard time getting to the point.(less)

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Apr 06, 2013 Semih Oktay rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

SALAMBO

Gustave Flaubert

Bir hafta kadar oluyor Salambo adlı romanı devrettiğim.Şanına yakışır bir son ile nihayete erdi roman.Yazarın hayal gücüne hayran kaldım.Betimlemelerine ise şaştım kaldım.Salambo bir isim.Bir insana verilmiş bir ad.Kartacalı Komutan Hamilkar biricik kızı doğduğunda bu adı vermiş...Elleri küçücük.İşte bu kadar.Koca romanın kahramanı olan bu kızdan aklımda kalan işte bu:ellerinin küçücük olduğu.Milattan beşyüz,altıyüz yıl öncesinde geçiyor romanın konusu;Salambo'nun yaşadı...more SALAMBO

Gustave Flaubert

Bir hafta kadar oluyor Salambo adlı romanı devrettiğim.Şanına yakışır bir son ile nihayete erdi roman.Yazarın hayal gücüne hayran kaldım.Betimlemelerine ise şaştım kaldım.Salambo bir isim.Bir insana verilmiş bir ad.Kartacalı Komutan Hamilkar biricik kızı doğduğunda bu adı vermiş...Elleri küçücük.İşte bu kadar.Koca romanın kahramanı olan bu kızdan aklımda kalan işte bu:ellerinin küçücük olduğu.Milattan beşyüz,altıyüz yıl öncesinde geçiyor romanın konusu;Salambo'nun yaşadığı zamandan bahsediyorum...(Şu garipliğe bakın ki ben Salambo hakkındaki satırları yazıyorken son günlerin Gangnam Style adlı popüler şarkısını dinlemekteyim!..) Matho var ayrıca;kahramanlardan biri o da. Matho ismi aklıma maço'dan gelecek;gelsin!..Barbarların serseri komutanı diye tarif edeyim Hazret'i.Onu da betimleyememiş Yazar. Boyunu, bosunu,kaşını,gözünü tarif edemiyorum.Zihnimde Matho'nun görüntüsünü canlandıramıyorum,,,Salambo'yu gözümün önüne getiremediğim gibi.Neyse efendim bu Barbarlar'ın bir alıp veremediği var Kartacalılar'a karşı.İlla Kartaca'yı kuşatacaklar,yaşayanlarını öldürecekler,kutsal örtüsünü ele geçirecekler.Kartaca bir ellerine geçsin kendileri geçip yaşayacaklar orada;keyif çatacaklar.Matho kutsal örtü diye tanıtılan bir örtüyü kaçırır Kartaca'dan.Örtüyü tarif edemem,zira örtü hakkında da bilgi yok;bizi adam yerine koyan yok ki!(?)Bu örtü,savaş sahneleri dışındaki -neredeyse- tek konusudur romanın.Salambo dindar bir kız galiba! O vakitler onlarca tanrıya tapıyor insanlar bildiğiniz gibi.Henüz İsa Peygamber'in yeryüzündeki görevine yüzyıllar var.Ay Tanrısı,Güneş Tanrısı,puttan yapılmış tanrılar o zamanın insanlarının inandığı dolayısıyla kutsal saydığı mabutlar. Hâl böyle olunca örtünün bile kutsalı savaş çıkarmaya değecek kadar önemli oluyor zahir.Savaşın bu kutsal örtü yüzünden çıkıp çıkmadığını dahi tam olarak anlayabilmiş değilim.Hem para verseler bile bir daha okuyamam ben bu romanı.Üstelik eseri puanlayacağım diye kaç gündür yorumunu yazmıyorum.Şu bir haftalık süreç romana en iyi puanı vermemin doğru olacağı sonucuna vardırdı beni.Romanı, konusu ve üslubu dolayısıyla okuduğum iki üç özgün romandan biri olarak kabul ediyorum.Özgün romanlarım galiba üç oldu,evet,evet üç oldu bu romanla.Birincisi Pierre Rey'in Para (OUT) romanı -ki asla bir başka romana değişemeyeceğim tek romandır- ikincisi Sadık Hidayet'in KÖR BAYKUŞ (Bûf-i Kûr) adlı novellası olmuştu...Üçüncüsü de işte bu roman,yani:SALAMBO olacak.(Oldu olacak,denilince de aklıma AĞAOĞLU adlı biri geliyor hayal meyal,acaba nedir nedir? Salambo,sevgili Salambo,sakın bana kızma,adını beğenmedim diye.Adını beğenmedim ama seni iyice bir tanıyamadığıma çok üzüldüm,üzülüyorum(!).Sen tabii eski topraksın,Allah bilir sizin zamanınızda patates cipsi bile yoktu! Şimdilerde bizler kahvaltıda olmadık gıda maddeleri yiyoruz.Bunlardan biri de senin adını andırıyor.Adını andırıyor değil de aslında adın ve soyadın gibi tıpkı:Salam diyoruz biz bu yiyeceğe;ara sıra yediğimiz et mamullerinin bir çeşidi bu...Adının Salam soyadının Bo koyulduğunu düşünsene Salambo.Salam Bo...Bana uyar diyor musun? Eee,bizce de sorun olmaz.Salambo,bir siyasetçimiz püskevit diye telaffuz ettiydi de bisküviyi,,,bir girişimcimiz bu püskevit deyişin isim hakkını aldı yahu;yakında üretim yapacakmış...Neyse Salambo o kutsal örtüyü Matho'nun karargâhından nasıl apardığını biliyorum...Baban seni yok yere başka adama nişanlamadı! Korkma,sırrını kimseyle paylaşmayacağım hele burada hiç paylaşmam;burada önüne gelen okuyor zaten yazdıklarımı-zı.Salambo yaşadığınız zamanlarda insanlarınız pek yabaniymiş;senin şu Matho'yu sona götüren yöntem geldi de aklıma.Pek vahşice buldum.Sen belki kurtarabilirdin Matho'yu o dehşetten ama neden korktun,niçin hiçbir girişimde bulunmadın, anlayamadım.Kalpsiz misin, vicdansız mısın yoksa çok mu korkaksın,,,çözemedim.

Flaubert'in romandan bir öğüt almamızı ister bir tavrı yoktu doğrusu.Son sayfaya geldiğimde bir şeylerin doğru gitmediğini sezdim...Hele o son satıra geldiğimde!

Elveda Salambo...Elveda.

Tek tesellim o son satırlarda Poe'nun o güzelim Annabel Lee şiirindeki kızı hatırladım ve seni ona benzettim Salambo.Seni sevdim Salambo(!).

Elveda.(less)

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Jan 12, 2012 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, heritage-press

Like most, I read this book because it immediately follows his ultra-famous Madame Bovary, and, like many, I was disappointed at what I discovered, given the author's reputation.

This is a book of descriptive emumerations, not the deep psychological insight that I was hoping for after reading Bovary. The lists are endless, many taking whole paragraphs: monetary systems and coinage, countries and peoples, religous rites and paraphernalia, architectural details, military fitments and styles, and mu...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Didi A rated it 3 of 5 stars

I just finished and closed Flaubert’s Salammbo with mixed emotions and a nagging feeling of guilt, because I did not appreciate it enough at the beginning and enjoyed it for the wrong reasons at the end.

First a confession – I have not read Madame Bovary, although I have watched a couple of movie adaptations and can place it in literary tradition. Therefore I did not look for a replay of a certain style and flow when I picked up Salammbo but yet noticed the latter could not be a match for the ps...more

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Jun 07, 2011 Capsguy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: french, war

Note: I generally go for more modern translations for the classics, but for this I went with the public domain one, and it was fine.

Gustave Flaubert, generally only known for Madame Bovary managed to show that he wasn't just a one trick pony with Salammbo, a historical fiction novel set in the First Punic War. This isn't for the fainthearted as there is plenty acts of torture, cannibalism, and the like. However, in amongst all that the romantic tale behind the story works out pretty well too, so...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Philippe Bernard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Une oeuvre hors-norme, décalée. Comment Flaubert, qui plus qu'un autre a nourri son inspiration de l'air du temps, a-t-il pu s'aventurer six ans durant dans un territoire si lointain, exotique et méconnu que nous avons presque l'impression aujourd'hui de lire de l'heroic-fantasy? Une écriture incroyablement moderne et cinématographique. La description des batailles et des charges d'éléphants carthaginois n'a rien à envier à celle qu'on peut visionner dans le Seigneur des Anneaux par exemple. Cru...more

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Mar 04, 2013 hirtho rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: flaubert

tran JS Chartres - Everyman's Library 1948 - 278 pages

So beautifully written, to the point where it makes the unreadable boring snoozery of the narrative and characters (sword&sandal bullshit abt some savage stealing some totem from some titular priestess whose dad is some bigshit warmonger so there's battles - I'm sure whoever watches all those shitty cable shows like Rome and Game of Thrones and Vikings would love it) even more frustrating than if they were just simply dealt with. But in a...more

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Dec 26, 2012 M.R. Dowsing rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the first Flaubert book I've read and, while I understood that it was not typical of his work, it was certainly not what I had expected. It tells the story of the Mercenary War between Carthage and the Barbarians in the third century BC. The level of detail is nothing short of astounding. As described by Flaubert, both the opulence of Carthage and the savagery of the battles reach almost surrealistic levels of excess. The battles are extremely brutal and bloody, and the book is filled wi...more

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Aug 20, 2012 bkwurm rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story is set in the immediate aftermath of the first Punic war when Carthage, having been soundly defeated by the rising power of Rome and forced to pay punitive reparations demanded by Rome, is also faced with thousands of unpaid and angry mercenaries who want to be paid for their years of service.

The language is rich and evocative but the plotline suffers from lack of explanation of the animosity between the 2 suffets, Hanno and Hamilcar. Hanno, unfortunately, comes across as a stock vil...more

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May 13, 2013 Tieu uyen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anh chàng mặt phị, mắc bệnh thần kinh, ế vợ và viết những câu chuyện buồn nẫu ruột, lại cho ra một quyển tiểu thuyết lịch sử làm người ta trố lòi cả mắt vì sự kì vĩ và đồ sộ của nó. Một lịch sử được tái hiện với âm mưu và máu, cùng với những biểu tượng và ẩn dụ tràn đầy tác phẩm. Một tuyệt tác về về cái ác và chiến tranh.
Bóng dáng lộng lẫy cùng với “đạo đức” và “sự dâm loạn” của Emma Bovary đã làm nên tên tuổi của Flaubert. Thế nhưng cuộc sống thượng lưu ở Paris đã làm người ta quên bẵng đi cuộ...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Dergrossest rated it 5 of 5 stars

Before Rome squared off with the Gauls, Greeks, Persians, Germans and Huns, it had to grapple with the maritime superpower of Carthage in the Punic Wars. The Carthaginians were a fascinating blend of nascent capitalists, rampant imperialists and crazy cultists who employed vast armies of mercenaries from all over Europe, Asia and Africa to fight their battles, led by the famous Barca clan (who produced the great general Hannibal, not Lecter). This story is set after the First Punic War when Cart...more

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Nov 26, 2007 Nick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anyone who thought Flaubert was dull based on being assigned Madame Bovary in High School really, really ought to read this. (Madame Bovary is lovely too, of course, but it doesn't have nearly as much intrigue, torture, battles, human sacrifice, cannibalism, or leprous evil oligarchs with rotting flesh).

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Aug 26, 2012 Gijs Grob rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, french, fiction, novels

De roman had beter 'Carthago' kunnen heten, want Salammbô is slechts één van de wat vlakke, ééndimensionale hoofdpersonen die een ondergeschikte rol vervullen in Flauberts pogingen het oude Carthago te doen herleven. Dat betekent weinig psychologie, maar een filmisch geschreven afwisseling van trage, zwoele, evocatieve beschrijvingen van exotische landschappen met snelle, warrige passages over voornamelijk veldslagen. Deze "camerawendingen" zijn soms uitermate boeiend, maar vaak verliest Flauber...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Michael William West rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's so spectacularly precise. It's perfect, more or less. The attention to detail that would be expected of a poet given to a full length novel - Flaubert must have been a lunatic. It indulges enormous, baroque, ethnocentric fantasies, and I can't recall much literature that is as psychedelically ornate as this. Not anything like the psychological intricacy of Madame Bovary, but I found the Romantic brute Matho and the classical, tragic heroine Salammbo enthralling enough. So many vivid dream s...more

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Mar 11, 2009 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Flaubert's powerful capacity for physical detail (sometimes here bordering on the grotesque) comes across in this fast-paced historical novel about Carthage's life-or-death struggle against its own mercenary army. Flaubert's customary flare for psychological detail and complexity, however, is nowhere to be seen. Edward Said would have had a field day with this work, if he ever addressed himself to it, as characters are little more than stereotypes of the "eastern mind". Too bad. It's more the ki...more

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Oct 22, 2009 Justin Evans rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

A bit of a rollicking tale, especially unexpected from Flaubert; it has the feeling of an epic poem, or a medieval romance. That's probably the best way to judge it: not dealing with deep characters (although Spendius is chilling); not interested in a perfectly coherent, driven plot (although there's plenty of action); but filled with asides, descriptions and repetitions. But it's also 'realistic', in the sense of packed with detail; this clashes in an interesting way with the characters' speech...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Tucker rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished, eunuch

A curious retelling of a mercenary revolt that took place over 2200 years ago. The flowery, hallucinogenic style used to exoticize the "East" (here, North Africa under some Middle Eastern religious influence) is similar to that of Rudyard Kipling's Kim except that the plot is actually comprehensible. There's cannibalism, child sacrifice, and magic superstition. My analysis of a minor character, the eunuch high priest Schahabarim, is posted to Helium.

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Dec 02, 2009 Kakanier rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: landesbibliothek, fantasy, roman

Conan = Pussy
Klassizismus = RAWCK ON!

Ich würde es als Roman zu Eugène Delacroix Malerei bezeichnen. Es hat diese bizarre Mischung aus der präzisen Romanpsychologie der Zeit, krankhaft genauer Recherche, purer Exotizismus und eine gewisse knallige, abweisende Schilderung.

Atm sind mir die meisten Dinge entfallen, die ich mal zum Thema Kultur des 19. Jhds wusste und hier gerade passen wären. Auf jeden Fall lesenswert, wenn man Fantasy im Stile von Conan mag.

Der Roman wurde mir durch ein Buch zum Th...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Bob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Basically a sort of Romeo and Juliet story for the Decadent literary movement, it gives you a quick view of the Punic Wars which you have to be more of a historian than I to know much about. The writing is incredibly lush and I began listing the arcane vocabulary (in English) and paused to look up every unfamiliar word, which made it a different kind of reading experience than it otherwise might be.

A few examples:

malobathrum
hoplite
silphium
lictor
galbanum
seseli
byssus
carrobalistae
onager
gomor
styrax
d...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Danette Baltzer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic

Flaubert's 'Salammbo' is a classic tale of adventure and romance. Introduced to me primarily as a romance, I was unprepared for the grittiness of war the love story is set amidst. As a result I probably did not enjoy it as much as I might have. But this is not to diminish the importance of the book nor to say that Flaubert writing is not captivating. The historical detail is brilliant and the action is nonstop. Young men in particular are going to enjoy this sweeping tale of passion and war. Thi...more

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Feb 16, 2010 Maria João rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A escrita de Gustave Flaubert revelou-se uma surpresa que me deixou de queixo caído! Apesar de nunca ter lido nada deste autor, sempre o imaginei pertencente à escola francesa do romantismo, e julguei (antecipada e erroneamente), que os seus livros seriam literatura de cordel. Mea culpa, mea culpa! Não se deve julgar o que não se conhece!
Flaubert foi sim um inovador e um dos primeiros realistas do século XIX, opondo o seu estilo ao instaurado romantismo da sua época. Responsável pelo advento de...more A escrita de Gustave Flaubert revelou-se uma surpresa que me deixou de queixo caído! Apesar de nunca ter lido nada deste autor, sempre o imaginei pertencente à escola francesa do romantismo, e julguei (antecipada e erroneamente), que os seus livros seriam literatura de cordel. Mea culpa, mea culpa! Não se deve julgar o que não se conhece!
Flaubert foi sim um inovador e um dos primeiros realistas do século XIX, opondo o seu estilo ao instaurado romantismo da sua época. Responsável pelo advento de novos temas e criador de um estilo sem precedentes na literatura do seu tempo, simultaneamente conseguiu chocar e conquistar a sociedade francesa.
“Salammbô” não fugiu à regra, e tal como “Madame Bovary”, gerou celeuma após a sua publicação. Ao passo que uns criticavam algumas incongruências históricas por parte de Flaubert e não compreendiam uma sociedade que por vezes demonstrava poucos escrúpulos, outros adoraram-no e simultaneamente o livro tornou-se um bestseller.
Flaubert surpreendeu-me pelo realismo da sua escrita (algo que encontro muito em Eça de Queirós), denotando cuidado no rigor descritivo de um tempo há muito passado, sombrio e sangrento, e cujas fontes são esparsas e por vezes pouco confiáveis. Outro pormenor reside na atenção que Flaubert tem para com o seu leitor, tomando-o à partida leigo nos intervenientes e acontecimentos históricos da Cartago da era pré-cristã. Todo o vocábulo mais específico, técnico e desconhecido, é seguido da sua explicação, para que nada passe despercebido ou incompreensível.
Neste livro viaja-se no tempo, para a Cartago do auge das guerras púnicas, e do melting pot que gravitava à volta da cidade. Incontáveis bárbaros, mercenários e sedentos de guerra, das mais variadas culturas e origens, preenchem esta narrativa e tornam-na colorida e rica de cheiros, sons, visões e sensações! A violência é clara, descrita sem pudor e sem eufemismos, podendo chocar os mais sensíveis; mas não poderia ser de outra forma, pois Cartago não se tornou famosa pela suavidade das suas guerras.
Sallambô é uma personagem riquíssima, que influi sobre tudo o resto. Esta filha do general Amílcar confunde-se com a própria Cartago, personificando a promiscuidade que existe entre guerra e religião, e em como o moralismo por vezes é esquecido para justificar certos fins.
“Sallambô” é mais que um romance histórico: é aquilo que todos os livros de História deveriam ser!
Lisboa, 16 de Fevereiro de 2010
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May 11, 2008 Bryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm only half-way through this time, but this is one of the most excrutiating, unreadable 'great' novels ... partly due to Flaubert's triumph in stripping everything down to its material essence, avoiding all character psychology, and prompting all of us to ask why we are reading. It is essentially a prose poem that deals with a violent, decadent subject (3rd century Carthage) in a style that for the most part eschews psychology and heroics for multi-layered imagery. Cruelty and conquest are eve...more

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Mar 26, 2009 Bieiris added it · review of another edition

Flaubert hace aquí de guía en un museo dedicado a rarezas cartaginesas.
Compré este libro en homenaje a mi profesora de historia en el instituto, que lo adoraba. Y como ella me contagió en cierto modo el amor por el mundo clásico, pensé que yo también lo adoraría. Pues no. Mi edición, la de Cátedra, en su sesuda introducción, viene a decir muy sutilmente lo que pensaría cualquier lector moderno, que esta novela está pasada de moda. Demasiado preciosista y cultureta. Parnasiana, muy parnasiana. Y...more

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May 27, 2010 Dfordoom rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: decadent-fiction

An outrageous, decadent and perversely erotic work. Flaubert was an enthusiastic admirer of the works of the Marquis de Sade, and it shows. There are no attractive or even truly memorable characters in the novel, but it succeeds through sheer style. No-one has ever written about human cruelty quite so beautifully as this. Superb.

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Nov 28, 2011 Salvatore rated it 2 of 5 stars

The latter half is pure battles and gruesome events. The setup is slow and methodical (should I have expected anything less from Flaubert?) but it didn't have the same energy as Madame Bovary. Perhaps that's unfair. But I found getting into this historical novel a bit challenging, and therefore it was hard to continue sometimes.

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Feb 09, 2007 ROB rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Llegue a Salambo no por Flaubert, sino porque me gusta mucho leer libros de historia, y estoy experimentando con las novelas historicas. En alguna parte que no recuerdo, lei que Salambo era uno de los mejores libros escritos en esta categoria.
Al comienzo, me parecio que el estilo de Flaubert es demasiado descriptivo para mi, sin embargo a medida que uno va avanzando se da cuenta que es una descripcion que no cansa, sino que esta muy bien construida e invita a imaginar Cartago y sus alrededores,...more

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May 28, 2012 Christopher Records rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The language in this is both frustratingly hard and terribly, terribly beautiful. This is definitely not a book for the faint of heart, but, undertaken properly, methodically, at a very slow pace, with an eye toward really savoring every single phrase, it's immensely satisfying.

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About Gustave Flaubert

Bulgarian: Гюстав Флобер

Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He was born in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, in the Haute-Normandie Region of France.

Flaubert's curious modes of composition favored and were emphasized by these peculiarities. He worked in sullen solitude, sometimes occupying a week in the completion of one page, never satisfied wi...more Bulgarian: Гюстав Флобер

Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He was born in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, in the Haute-Normandie Region of France.

Flaubert's curious modes of composition favored and were emphasized by these peculiarities. He worked in sullen solitude, sometimes occupying a week in the completion of one page, never satisfied with what he had composed, violently tormenting his brain for the best turn of a phrase, the most absolutely final adjective. It cannot be said that his incessant labors were not rewarded. His private letters show that he was not one of those to whom easy and correct language is naturally given; he gained his extraordinary perfection with the unceasing sweat of his brow. One of the most severe of academic critics admits that in all his works, and in every page of his works, Flaubert may be considered a model of style.

That he was one of the greatest writers who ever lived in France is now commonly admitted, and his greatness principally depends upon the extraordinary vigour and exactitude of his style. Less perhaps than any other writer, not of France, but of modern Europe, Flaubert yields admission to the inexact, the abstract, the vaguely inapt expression which is the bane of ordinary methods of composition. He never allowed a cliché to pass him, never indulgently or wearily went on, leaving behind him a phrase which almost expressed his meaning. Being, as he is, a mixture in almost equal parts of the romanticist and the realist, the marvellous propriety of his style has been helpful to later writers of both schools, of every school. The absolute exactitude with which he adapts his expression to his purpose is seen in all parts of his work, but particularly in the portraits he draws of the figures in his principal romances. The degree and manner in which, since his death, the fame of Flaubert has extended, form an interesting chapter of literary history.

The publication of Madame Bovary in 1857 had been followed by more scandal than admiration; it was not understood at first that this novel was the beginning of something new, the scrupulously truthful portraiture of life. Gradually this aspect of his genius was accepted, and began to crowd out all others. At the time of his death he was famous as a realist, pure and simple. Under this aspect Flaubert exercised an extraordinary influence over Émile de Goncourt, Alphonse Daudet and Zola. But even after the decline of the realistic school Flaubert did not lose prestige; other facets of his genius caught the light. It has been perceived that he was not merely realistic, but real; that his clairvoyance was almost boundless; that he saw certain phenomena more clearly than the best of observers had done. Flaubert is a writer who must always appeal more to other authors than to the world at large, because the art of writing, the indefatigable pursuit of perfect expression, were always before him, and because he hated the lax felicities of improvisation as a disloyalty to the most sacred procedures of the literary artist.

He can be said to have made cynicism into an art-form, as evinced by this observation from 1846:

To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness; though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.

His Oeuvres Complètes (8 vols., 1885) were printed from the original manuscripts, and included, besides the works mentioned already, the two plays, Le Candidat and Le Château des avurs. Another edition (10 vols.) appeared in 1873–1885. Flaubert's correspondence with George Sand was published in 1884 with an introduction by Guy de Maupassant.

He has been admired or written about by almost every major literary personality of the 20th century, including philosophers such as Pierre Bourdieu. Georges Perec named Sentimental Education as one of his favou(less)

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Quotes from Salammbô

“C'était à Mégara, faubourg de Carthage, dans les jardins d'Hamilcar.” — 1 person liked it

“Through the forest he pursued the she-monster whose tail coiled over the dead leaves like a silver stream; and he came to a meadow where women, with the hindquarters of dragons, stood around a great fire, raised on the tips of their tails. The moon shone red as blood in a pale circle and their scarlet tongues, formed like fishing harpoons, stretched out, curling to the edge of the flame.” — 1 person liked it

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