Should I Read This?????????????????

[Linda B.D.]

After reading all the mixed reviews, this book sounds a lot like, "Forever Amber" . Tragic. I think I need something to lift my spirits at this time or is this book REALLY worth the read?

[Jonathon]

If you are looking for a lift I would probably not try to get one with this book. It's kind of bleak at times. A great read though but probably not what you are looking for right now.

[Linda B.D.]

hirtho wrote: "If you're reading for surface-level narrative stories and happy endings, this isn't the book for you. But we all should be reading for aesthetic beauty of sentences and passages and the philosophic..."

Thank You! I think I'll give it a try.

[Nathalia]

Well, a fun, uplifting and light read it is not. It is also not like the book you mentioned, I have not read it, but the plot is a lot different. Since it is one of those books where everybody seems to glean something different, it is hard to say what it is about, without spoiling it. Read it, yes, but if you are in the mood for something light, this will really try your patience.

[Linda B.D.]

Thank you to everyone for the advice. I will read it. It may be next months or so, but sometime in the near future. Again, thank all of you, Linda

[Anita]

I have to admit, the end took me by surprise, however, the writing style was something that kept me going. I'd recommend it to everyone.

[Linda B.D.]

Thank you! I will read it.

[Agostina]

I read this book this year because a friend recommended it to me. I have to admit it was too difficult to read. I'm from Argentina and I read it in Spanish. I don't know what on earth the translator was thinking when she/he decided to use the kind of style he used. I mean, in Spanish we have A LOT of verb tenses, and he decided to use the worst. It was so difficult to read and to follow the story. It's a kind of deppresing and sad story. And you never expect the ending. At least I did not. But I have to tell this friend of mine spoiled it a little bit. But anyway, I recommend it. Read it and then tell us what you think of it.

[Richard]

Hi, Linda,
I just checked your Goodreads page. I have to confess that I'm not familiar with most of the titles I saw there. Maybe i should scan your bookshelves again to find something that will stretch my boundaries. On the other hand, I'm very familiar with Madame Bovary. It's one of the books I wouldn't want to do without. I agree with others who've told you that it's not light reading but worth getting to know for insight, skill, originality,and understanding of character and society. Flaubert had a tremendous influence on later writers. All this is not to say that you will like Madame Bovary, but if you give it a chance, I predict it will have s strong impact.

[Lumindanu]

Tragic, tragic tragic.... all the good things said about it are true... but

it was just so sad... and true to life, we've all known women just like her...

I read it once, and would never touch it again... I was depressed for days.

[Malcolm]

LindaB.D. (old AKA LindaD.) wrote: "After reading all the mixed reviews, this book sounds a lot like, "Forever Amber". Tragic. I think I need something to lift my spirits at this time or is this book REA..."

Forever Amber may be like MB but I doubt it very much. Amber is a mistress to Charles II who dies of the plague. Madame Bovary is an adultress who faces a different comeuppance than dying of the plague.

Madam Bovary is possibly pulp and contempreaneous to the times in which it was written; but Forever Amber is a pure pulp historical romp written in the 20th cent probably with the author thinking it would make a good Gainsborough costume drama if a hit with the readers.

Madam Bovary is definately worth the read; and so is The Doctor's Wife by Mary Braddon, who wrote it as an English version of the controversial French novel.

[Melana]

They did make "Forever Amber" into a Gainsborough costume drama starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde in 1947.

[Mariora]

I never liked this book. I read it in both French and English. Mme. Bovary was so annoying, so totally self absorbed. Yes the book is reflects the era, but there are so many more interesting books that are well written. I would never recommend it. Try Bel Ami.

[Malcolm]

Melana wrote: "They did make "Forever Amber" into a Gainsborough costume drama starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde in 1947."

I know!

[P.e.]

Again, one of those things you read in French lit classes. A timely stakeout in issues and form. If you put this as a genre maybe more contemporary books are better reads. Flaubert looks like he's going Balzac. Two of his other works "Salambo" and "The Temptation of St. Anthony" are extremely different and exotic. For the historical record this seems like one of those one book standouts. For artistry it has more than historical worth and the realism.

The self-absorbed central character...Yes that is a common thread. The Romantic problem of a person ACTUALLY going beyond all the boundaries as the passion directs.

[Tracey]

Should you read this - absolutely, but I'm biased.

It's not a Cinderella happy ending, but that's the point. Emma can't separate reality from fiction. She's the cliched dizzy blonde who believes happiness is contained in all the daft romantic fiction she reads. Nothing wrong with escapism, but you can't live like that.

There are some wonderful technical aspects in the way he shows her vacillating between emotions. The subservience of her husband, eager to please, something that would never have happened in real life. The Power of Attorney, women did not generally hold property, but with great power comes great responsibility.

Flaubert is making fun of her, but he does it in a beautifully subtle way.

[Geoffrey]

I was more intrigued by the sidebar plot of the provincial doctor who emulates the slick city physicians and attempts the correction of the poor soul with a clubfoot. Perhaps I have got some of the details wrong. It`s been a while. Or wasn`t he the village pharmacist who thought he had surgical skills?

[Tibor]

Yes, I absolutely recommend this book. It describes so many marriages today, where one partner feels the same way as Madame Bovary.

[Tracey]

Yes, he does try to remedy a club foot. I guess it's part of his insecurity, as he failed his medical exams the first time, so perhaps he feels he has something to prove. Again you are right about the druggist who practically takes over when Charles Bovary leaves.

It's a sad indictment of marriage. We romantic writers need to be careful what we put in our fiction.

[Karine]

It one of the most famous French classic. It is widely taught in French middle/high schools.
The story featured a woman who married a doctor not by love but hoping he would help her climb the social ladder...Madame Bovary is a great classic: The story takes place in the 18th century but its themes are universal. They include arranged marriage hoping for a better social position, desillusion and addictions.

[Florence]

I had to read this book in high school, and didn't like it because I HAD to read it. But it stayed with me and in me. I picked it up again at about 25, and totally rediscovered it. I read it a few more time since and was planning to reread it this year. It's very powerful. When I hear the name Emma, I never think of Jane Austen, but always of Flaubert.

[Malcolm]

Definitely read it. It's a very good tragic romance about a silly woman in an unhappy marriage obsessed by sex and shopping. I really enjoyed it.

You might prefer Mary Braddon's 'English' take on the story The Doctor's Wife, which is also very good.

[Paul]

Read it... in French. It is impossible to translate the prose of Flaubert. It is impossible to appreciate his masterful work on language and sonority when you read it... in English.

I read this novel at least twelve times and every time I discover new things.

Madame Bovary is the quintessence of the 19th Century. It is romantic, realistic and symbolic.

From a French speaking writer... (sorry for my style)

[Mariah]

Okay so I was forced to read this for a college literature class that I took. I did not think I was going to like this book but I absolutely loved it! I just thought it was really interesting and it had a lot of themes and this book really made me think. It was a fantastic book and I would recommend this book to anybody.

[[deleted user]]

Linda B.D. wrote: "After reading all the mixed reviews, this book sounds a lot like, "Forever Amber". Tragic. I think I need something to lift my spirits at this time or is this book REA..."

If you're looking for an uplifting work, Madame Bovary isn't going to be it. It's gritty, rough, realistic, difficult. It is, however, a fantastic book, and well worth your time at some point ... perhaps just not right now.

[Paul]

Madame Bovary est le prisme à travers convergent le romantisme, le réalisme et le symbolisme qui ont marqué le XIXe siècle français. Formellement parlant, c'est une oeuvre exceptionnelle, unique, pratiquement impossible à traduire avec fidélité.

[Read On!]

I'd highly recommend it as it's one of the more easy classics to read. The plot is relatively simple, although not always a bundle of laughs, but when Madame Bovary decides enough is enough, she turns out to be quite a character. I really enjoyed it.

[Sandra]

I'm new to commenting on Goodreads, not new to the site, and this discussion caught me. I hope it's never too late to respond. Madame Bovary is the first classical book I read, and it absolutely hooked me on the classics. Later, in college, Emma Bovary was hotly debated as either a despised pathetic character or the most perfect tragic character every portrayed. It surprised me that people either loved or hated her. I loved her as a tragic character! Early on, there is a passage that describes Emma as enthralled with romantic literature, and for me, that set the stage for her tragedy. She idealizes romanticism, and each move she makes is motivated by a need create an ideal that does not exist, which, of course, leads to her downfall. I will forever love this book for turning me on to the classics.

[Jafar]

"Madame bovary" is like "goat of mr. Seguin".bothe want liberty at all coste, free frome the soscial convention.Both are right.

[Jafar]

Who have not read this book have not read a book! Look at "perpetual orgy"

[sunflowerbooknook]

Linda B.D. wrote: "After reading all the mixed reviews, this book sounds a lot like, "Forever Amber". Tragic. I think I need something to lift my spirits at this time or is this book REA..."

I have read both books and Forever Amber was brilliant loved the ending on that book, Madame Bovary is a totally different read

[sunflowerbooknook]

Sandra wrote: "I'm new to commenting on Goodreads, not new to the site, and this discussion caught me. I hope it's never too late to respond. Madame Bovary is the first classical book I read, and it a..."

l love your comments on this book I felt the same way on it was a good novel thanks for posting agree 100%