Title: Madam Bovary
Author: Gustave Flaubert
Series: -
Genres: Classic, Fiction, Cultural
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release: 2004
Source: Paperback
Pages: 329
// Goodreads //
BLURB:
When Emma Rouault marries Charles Bovary she imagines she will pass into the life of luxury and passion that she reads about in sentimental novels and women's magazines. But Charles is a dull country doctor, and provincial life is very different from the romantic excitement for which she yearns. In her quest to realize her dreams she takes a lover, and begins a devastating spiral into deceit and despair.
EXPECTATIONS: This book was
a part of my reading list when I was doing my Bachelor degree in English. I
remember thinking that it was going to be another Jane Austen type books, but
oh was I wrong!!!!
THE WORLD: The world
in this book is very realistic 19th century France. We get a lot of
descriptions of how people look, what their wear, eat, what they do, what their
houses look like and so on. I actually liked the world in this book, I knew a
lot from history studies and just other books, but it’s always very unique how
different books describe the same world.
CHARACTERS: The basic
plot of this book is basically this: a naïve girl, who grew up without a proper
patent guidance is married off to a rather good natured young doctor, they live
OK for a while, until she gets bored because she has read one too many romance
books and basically is mad that her life is not like in the books. I mean we
all have been there, but honey you took it way too far! So our main character
is called Emma. She is this naïve girl who instead of trying to understand her
husband is a country doctor, who needs to go help his patience gets angry at
him for not calling her this or that, for leaving her alone and stuff and
paints her life in the frame of all these romance novels she read. I hated and pitied
Emma. She was stupid yes, but at the same time I just wanted for her to finally
be happy to finally understand what it is to be loved, to love and to live in
peace. She never knew what love was from her parents, so she read these romance
novels to feel love. Her husband loves her of course just not in the way she
wants. Charles, the husband, is a kind man, and I liked him. He wanted to do
right by his family, he had difficulty to express emotions sometimes, but he
was a good man.
In the
book we also have couple of men who become Emma’s lovers. And I just had no
patience with this. She believed that both these men loved her beyond anything.
Leon was just a child in my eyes, a stupid boy who didn’t know what he wanted,
and Boulanger was a manipulative asshole! Hated him so much, he charmed me too
but I knew he was bad news! We also have different characters like these absolutely
annoying Lheureux or Homais who did nothing else but used both Emma and Charles
for their mind games and I literally got sick when they would show up.
There is
also little Berthe, the daughter of Emma and Charles who in my opinion is the
true victim in this book.
ROMANCE: There is
so much romance you will get sick of it. But it’s good romance, romance you are
glad you have more brain to say no to. Emma is just too naïve for love.
GOOD: I liked
that Flaubert, the author, took what was wrong with French society at that moment
and wrote a book about it.
BAD: It
sometimes can get too boring.
OVERALL: I think
people should read this book, it’s a classic and yes it might get boring or annoying
but Flaubert books are always great!
What do you think about MADAM BOVARY?
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