Madame Bovary Paperback – December 8, 2017

Madame Bovary, Flaubert's debut novel, is a masterpiece for a number of reasons. First, it is a stunning and unique exploration of the French Revolution, with each character representing a different idea prevalent at that time - very clever. Perhaps we may lack appreciation of that today, as it's no longer new, but in Flaubert's day, this was extraordinary. However, that's far from the only unique feature of the story.See, Flaubert is perhaps the first solid example of masterful handling of what writers and English professors refer to as Free Indirect Speech. You'll notice that the story opens with an unnamed first person narrator, then, without warning, the story shifts to third person omniscient, having already utterly and completely drawn you into the story. It's brilliant, and even today, Flaubert is the one you'll be encouraged to study if you wish to master writing from this point of view.I highly recommend this story, for philosophers, for writers, and for those just looking for an interesting tale exploring some important truths.

I liked the fact that this text was a paperback and was one of the few that I could find on line for a reasonable price. However, this book was edited extremely poorly. It seems that the format was transferred from some other format. I say this because sentences and even words were cut up, ending early on one line on a page and then recommencing on the next line. For a student of the French language, this was disconcerting since it was difficult at times to discern whether or not the letters at the end of the line were supposed to go with the letters on the next line to create a legitimate French word. I would say that only fluent French speakers should buy this edition since they would be able to readily discern whether or not the word at the end of the line was intact or just split up in a weird way and might be able to put up with the problem in return for the reasonable price. For non-fluent French speakers, I would recommend that they stay away from purchasing this book.

"Madame Bovary, Gustave Falubert's first novel, is the story of the beautiful Emma Rouault who is married to the provincial doctor Charles Bovary yet harbors dreams of an elegant and passionate life. Escaping into sentimental novels, she finds her fantasies dashed by the tedium of her days. Nothing serves to satisfy - not marriage, not motherhood. In an effort to fill her emptiness and make her life everything she believes it should be, Emma spends lavishly on clothes and her home and embarks on two disappointing love affairs. Soon heartbroken and crippled by debts, Emma takes drastic action with tragic consequences for her husband and daughter."A beautifully written story of discontent; told objectively, without romanticizing or moralizing. Madame Bovary is a masterpiece of realist fiction.

Like Lady Chetterly, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary spent her life searching for a happiness that was more idealized than real. However, in the case of Madame Bovary, she found that the happiness that she found in illicit relationships was inadequate to fill the emptiness that she felt in her life.. In addition, the acquisition of material goods that led to financial ruin did not satisfy the the yearning which she would bestow upon her a fuller life.The author did a remarkable job of making Madame Bovary's frustration almost palpable. The frantic life of lies and desperation that she lived in pursuit of her illusive dream manifested itself in a madness that would not even allow her to love her own daughter.Flaubert does an engaging job of instilling in the reader a hope that Madame Bovary would not come to a tragic end. But, as the reader expected from the beginning, it was not to be.

I bought this because I heard it was a classic, a sort of landmark work of literature. But ultimately I couldn't really finish it. Yes, I recognize how artistically clever it is, but one can sense the angst and negativity of the mindset that produced it. This novel represents an attack on the previous ideals of romanticism and the enlightenment- nature, sincerity and hope. Flauberts sarcasm and mocking tone is obvious from the first page. He does not view other people with humanity or empathy, but as debased caricatures at the mercy of their lowest human urges, which he imagines to be the only reality. His worldview is essentially heavy and dark, but wrapped up in a sort of smug cockiness. He describes in Charles Bovary the sort of cruel public school-type upbringing that presumably produced the sense of disconnection that emanates from his pen. It is also a relentless and slow-motion attack on the institution of marriage and on Christianity. Unsurprisingly, Flaubert was sued for outraging public morality, thus allowing him to look like a victim.

I've read 'Madame Bovary' at least twice before but long enough ago not to recall it in detail. So, I had the perfect excuse to buy the recent translation by a favourite writer Lydia Davis - I also enjoyed her take on Proust. I hadn't fully taken on board, until I read the reviews of this edition, how fraught the world of translating can be. Assessments ranged from scathing (Julian Barnes in the LRB) to vast acclaim, so mixed were reactions that James Wood, writing in the 'New Yorker' confessed to reading Davis's 'Bovary' alongside three other translations plus the original! I didn't try that, after all if my French weren't rusty why would I need a translation? So, I can't comment on Davis's version versus the others available, all I can say is that I very much appreciated it; I found it fluid and sensitive; certainly it didn't spoil my engagement with Flaubert's story or his characters. 'Madame Bovary' is a wonderful story and Emma is a fascinating character, so for anyone who hasn't read the novel I would recommend trying it in this version.

I bought this as it was a book group choice and the library copy had depressingly small print. It was dreary and somewhat inevitable. I suppose it may have been scandalous in its day but it follows a depressingly common pattern. THIS KINDLE VERSION ENDED AT THE END OF PART TWO. A fact I discovered when returning to the book to read the introduction there prior to writing my own crit. It referred to a quote I did not recall when I read it and the missing part became obvious. It may be a Victorian classic but that's no excuse to sell an incompletely transcribed book. There was no suggestion that it was only parts one and two. This should be put right straight away.

Good grief this is an abysmal translation. I'm glad it was free, but not surprised. This "translator"(if it is indeed a person) doesn't deserve to be paid. The whole content of the book has changed due to the misinterpretation of words, misspellings and atrocious sentences composition. I stopped reading after the first chapter as I found myself having to re-read sentences just to see if I could make any sense. I couldn't. Take this kindle version off Amazon!

It's hard to understand how this edition was created. It's as though someone with about three week's knowledge of French decided to translate Madame Bovary into English. They've gone through the book and replaced the French words that they knew with the English translation. But that doesn't explain why 'Los Angeles' appears so often throughout the text. I eventually worked out that the female form of the French definite article ('la') gets replaced with 'los angeles'.I subsequently bought the Amazon edition (at no cost at all) which is perfectly fine. Here are a couple of the bizarre translations that I've found: 'parents' becomes 'mom and dad' and 'fort' becomes 'fortress'. After one chapter I found the book unreadable and gave up.Don't bother with this edition.

I thought there must be something wrong with my Kindle but I’m told by someone who lives in the 21st century that this translation was possibly done by a machine. It certainly can’t have been done by anyone who speaks either English or French. What’s the point of selling rubbish like this? I have given it one star simply in order that I can warn off other prospective buyers. I shouldn’t have been so cheap. You get what you pay for, except not in this case.

An impressive and thoroughly engaging book which I read when a student in the 1960s in the Penguin edition.This is a very clunky, heavy handed translation which uses unnecessarily abstruse words and deftly manages to render some sentences unintelligible.But far, far more irritating is the Kindle edition which has a huge number of misspellings which make nonsense of the meaning of a phrase e.g. "along" instead of "alone"; "seem" instead of "seen" ... and many many more.

A great book, but this is not a good printing.I think it has been done by scanning the original with recognition software -- so there are some errors in the text and the typeface and layout are very basic and look like they were done on a fairly basic word processor.More importantly, there are no notes and no introduction. I really missed these as I am an Englishman who is still learning to read French. Fortunately my wife had a copy of the book in English to which I could refer. Based on the dozen or so books I have read to date in French, I'd recommend books published by either "Le livre de Poche" or, even better, "Folio Classique".

if I have to come clean about my opinion about this book I would need to take things back to when I was a teenager, the first time I read this book - and please note that I only read it because everyone said it was a classic and I was curious, I did not like it at all, I thought Madame Bovary was a cold heartless woman who only wanted to make troubles and who married on the heat of the moment then blaming innocent people around her but now after 20 years I read it again after many failed attempts. This book is very poetical too in the description of nature and emotions, Madame Bovary is sometimes capricious and impulsive but always unhappy and unable to grasp the happiness that at times seems to be there for her. I am not going any further because I do not want to spoil things for someone who hasn't read it or does not know the plot.at the time I wrote the draft for this review the only audio version was as far as I knew, the Whole story audio books unabridged 11 CDs version read by Davina Porter who does a great job, she does not overdo it and while keeping perfect balance in the voice she is not too cold or too impartial or too melancholy which is a great thing. in a few words you have the feeling that she is impartial but not too cold or detached, she reads at the right pointRecently Naxos released their own version of the book (11 CDs) and when I knew the reader was Juliet Stevenson I could not resist buying this version as well. for those who do not know Juliet Stevenson she is excellence and to me her voice has also an evocative power that transports me there especially if listened to at night in complete silence ... magic

Some beautifully written prose and thought-provoking moments. My favourite part was the suggested love-making moment in the carriage. Even though I enjoyed the book, I really disliked Madam Bovary and her wimpy husband. There are times when I found myself getting irritated and tutting at the characters. But I guess this is just the sign of brilliant writing.

This has been my favourite novel for many years. Some years ago, I had an unabridged audio book narrated by Ronald Pickup in cassette form. That was very poor, as he had a difficulty in changing his voice. Moreover, this sort of novel was best suited to have a woman reading it.This CD version, read by Juliet Stevenson is a real delight to hear. The narrator has a fine range of voices that takes the listener into provincial France and the world of one of literature's most famous adulteresses, Emma Bovary. Even as the novel opens, we feel the atmosphere of the classroom, as Stevenson effortlessly describes the clumsy 'new fellow', Charles Bovary in his first day of school.Any fans of Madame Bovary, or novels like that, will find that this audio book is essential to their collection.

There are two free editions of Madame Bovary available. Both use the late Victorian Eleanor Aveling-Marx translation (as do some of the paid versions). This edition is attractive at first sight as it has an introduction (albeit rather dated) and an active table of contents but beware! The text is incomplete, having only the first two parts of three, so a third of the novel is missing. Go for the other edition if you want a free text.

I approached this novel having already tasted something of Flaubert's richly descriptive prose in 'November', a book I would certainly recommend. This book is far more layered than that enjoyable ode to youthful obsession; it stretches across many themes, though overall I view it as a story of juxtaposition on many levels.This is borne out in the hypocrisy which permeates the novel, positively rising from the page, as Flaubert consummately undermines the faux-sincerity of middle-class provincial life; in a society where appearances are almost everything. Without wishing to go too deeply into the storyline, there are also intriguing themes arranged around Madame Bovary herself which conflict with eachother constantly; conformity / personal fulfilment, marriage / sexuality representing a small example. The novel successfully portrays a very realistic human character, a woman in possession of raging passions we may feel a range of emotions towards as the novel progresses. When asked of his inspiration for this unforgettable character, Flaubert replied "Madame Bovary, c'est moi". Apart from sounding far more enigmatic in French, this remark reveals something of the author's personal 'complexities', which are also touched upon in the well-written introduction to the novel.I highly recommend this book. It does not require an iron will to stick with it until it becomes interesting; rather, it coaxes you in to the story, into Yonville itself, until you find yourself chuckling with recognition at some small observation Flaubert sardonically throws out about one of the many inhabitants. I enjoyed reading this book for many different reasons - the delicious irony, the beautiful (and at times haunting) imagery and, of course, simply for the engaging story of a restless butterfly -(edit - plot spoiler!)... I'm sure you will find your own reasons to love this novel too.

Part 3 is missing, one third of the novel! Which is a shame, but I guess you get what you pay for

As far as tragedies go, this is a pretty decent example. I would say that it was artful in it's delivery if not particularly poetic. I think the sign of a good book is when you're lost to the world that's been created and I certainly felt drawn into the impending doom. I'm making my way through the top rated classics and have been disappointed with some but I think Madame Bovary deserves to be on the list.

Was drawn to this great book by my discovery of Guy de Maupassant and his wonderful short stories. Flaubert was his mentor and a similar writer. I don't know if it's the translations (all good) but these stories feel modern and read so well. There is the odd typo here and there and there is the occasional asterisk followed by an explanation (right in the middle of the page so what's the point of the double asterisk). Other than that this is great, a bargain and in nicely "English" English!