Madame Bovary

[fistfullofsteel]

Wouldn't you know it, a book about a serpent. Supposedly one of the greatest fiction books of all time. I have't read all of it, but if you read it, why do you think so?

 

[Stefka]

Wouldn't you know it, a book about a serpent. Supposedly one of the greatest fiction books of all time. I have't read all of it, but if you read it, why do you think so?

I read it years ago. I remember hating her. Flaubert did a fantastic job of kind of preventing his readers from having any real sympathy for the character. She's just too lost to really care about.

***Spoiler***
I like at the end where she's dying and he doesn't even have enough "respect" for her to focus on her. He goes on like a big rambling detour on the doctor and his life. It is the main character's death scene - usually a big deal - and Flaubert is kind of like, no big deal - she's not that important, let's talk about someone that is actually worth something. It was fantastic because it played in so well with her previous experiences. She pretty much lives in a fantasy world, pretending to be something she can never be - and she never seems to realize it. So she has this awesome idea to kill herself. It is supposed to be a dramatic and graceful exit - but Flaubert presents the reality of a death by arsenic. Messy and painful and not romantic at all.

I think one of the best things about the book is that it's theme is still relevant today. People waste their lives idealizing wealth and power and prestige. They spend more time dreaming about being one of the beautiful people that they don't take the time to cultivate themselves, to create, to explore, to utilize their natural talents. Their lives seem boring in comparison to the lives of the elite so they kind of give up. They spend so much time obsessing over what their lives lack that they never appreciate what they have.

Now I kind of want to read it again.

 

[fistfullofsteel]

I read it years ago. I remember hating her. Flaubert did a fantastic job of kind of preventing his readers from having any real sympathy for the character. She's just too lost to really care about.

***Spoiler***
I like at the end where she's dying and he doesn't even have enough "respect" for her to focus on her. He goes on like a big rambling detour on the doctor and his life. It is the main character's death scene - usually a big deal - and Flaubert is kind of like, no big deal - she's not that important, let's talk about someone that is actually worth something. It was fantastic because it played in so well with her previous experiences. She pretty much lives in a fantasy world, pretending to be something she can never be - and she never seems to realize it. So she has this awesome idea to kill herself. It is supposed to be a dramatic and graceful exit - but Flaubert presents the reality of a death by arsenic. Messy and painful and not romantic at all.

I think one of the best things about the book is that it's theme is still relevant today. People waste their lives idealizing wealth and power and prestige. They spend more time dreaming about being one of the beautiful people that they don't take the time to cultivate themselves, to create, to explore, to utilize their natural talents. Their lives seem boring in comparison to the lives of the elite so they kind of give up. They spend so much time obsessing over what their lives lack that they never appreciate what they have.

Now I kind of want to read it again.

i will say the words he uses and the order he uses them in is perfect. he sets up beautiful imagery. shakespeare is my favorite because you can say something so many ways but shakespeare said it the best.

 

[Stefka]

i will say the words he uses and the order he uses them in is perfect. he sets up beautiful imagery. shakespeare is my favorite because you can say something so many ways but shakespeare said it the best.

Are you reading it in french or english?

 

[fistfullofsteel]

Are you reading it in french or english?

Bitch Please, In Latin with one eye while translating another book from Chinese to English with the other eye.


Ok, ok, I kid, I kid. In English, if I understood French then I would have to kill myself.

 

[Stefka]

Bitch Please, In Latin with one eye while translating another book from Chinese to English with the other eye.


Ok, ok, I kid, I kid. In English, if I understood French then I would have to kill myself.

I don't speak French, I read it in English too. I always wonder with translations though. Like Flaubert is famous for his obsession with the perfect word, but I wonder if we get the full effect when reading in English.

I like Shakespeare, but he's never been my favorite.
I am obsessed with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. His writing is absolutely perfect in every way.

 

[fistfullofsteel]

I don't speak French, I read it in English too. I always wonder with translations though. Like Flaubert is famous for his obsession with the perfect word, but I wonder if we get the full effect when reading in English.

I like Shakespeare, but he's never been my favorite.
I am obsessed with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. His writing is absolutely perfect in every way.

there is always something lost in the translation, i thought about that too. it was probably better in french

shakespeare is the main man. don't forget that. he put the smack down and dropped hard line after hard line.