Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners (Oxford World's Classics)
Product ID: 13415112
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One of the acknowledged masterpieces of 19th century realism, Madame Bovary is revered by writers and readers around the world, a mandatory stop on any pilgrimage through modern literature. Flaubert's legendary style, his intense care over the selection of words and the shaping of sentences, his unmatched ability to convey a mental world through the careful selection of telling details, shine on every page of this marvelous work. Now the award-winning translator Margaret Mauldon has produced a modern translation of this classic novel, one that perfectly captures the tone that makes Flaubert's style so distinct and admired. Madame Bovary scandalized its readers when it was first published in 1857. And the story itself remains as fresh today as when it was first written, a work that remains unsurpassed in its unveiling of character and society. It tells the tragic story of the romantic but empty-headed Emma Rouault. When Emma 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 an ordinary 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, Rodolphe, and begins a devastating spiral into deceit and despair. And Flaubert captures every step of this catastrophe with sharp-eyed detail and a wonderfully subtle understanding of human emotions. Malcolm Bowie, a leading authority on French literature, explores Flaubert's genius in his masterly introduction to this must-have book for all lovers of great literature. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. Review: Phenomenal Classic - Like peeling back an onion's layers, Flaubert's "Madame Bovery" has a seemingly unlimited amount of layers. This book is as revelatory, controversial, pertinent and absolutely phenomenal now as it was when first published. If you've read it before, this is faithful to and interpretive of Flaubert's original nove!; if you haven't read it (or haven't read it in a while), PICK UP THIS PARTICULAR ENGLISH TRANSLATION! Review: Unsatisfied life, be grateful for what you have - Sad story of unrequited love, a person never satisfied or content with what they have. Desiring more and more, once obtained realizes she will never find it.
| Best Sellers Rank | #170,425 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2,347 in Psychological Fiction (Books) #3,104 in Classic Literature & Fiction #7,507 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 476 Reviews |
M**.
Phenomenal Classic
Like peeling back an onion's layers, Flaubert's "Madame Bovery" has a seemingly unlimited amount of layers. This book is as revelatory, controversial, pertinent and absolutely phenomenal now as it was when first published. If you've read it before, this is faithful to and interpretive of Flaubert's original nove!; if you haven't read it (or haven't read it in a while), PICK UP THIS PARTICULAR ENGLISH TRANSLATION!
A**R
Unsatisfied life, be grateful for what you have
Sad story of unrequited love, a person never satisfied or content with what they have. Desiring more and more, once obtained realizes she will never find it.
R**M
Not my favorite story, but this is a good edition.
I read this for a Phil/Lit 400 level college course. This is a good edition for such a purpose. I had previously heard Madame Bovary described as a story about a married woman who had a problem with infidelity and a habit of collecting lovers. That is a complete misrepresentation of the plot. Overall, this is a story about a woman who becomes increasingly disconnected with reality. This is not what you would call a romance- by any stretch of the imagination. It is a story of a tragically unstable woman. The characters are well rounded. Flaubert is very readable and has a style that isn't too complicated.
D**T
Something To Consider--A Woman's Plight
This is the story of Emma Bovary, who lives in a small, unsophisticated town in France shortly after the Napoleonic Wars, a time when there was a growing middle class, in which she finds herself. She is unhappy with her lot in life and is constantly striving for excitement from romantic adventure and the next new purchase. She is not a sympathetic figure as an uninterested mother, an adulterous wife and conniving spendthrift. Flaubert's character development kept me both interested and mildly amused, but I did find the many allusions to French history and geography distracting. I would recommend this book. It is not a hard read and even though, Emma's character is unsympathetic, a woman's plight of being near totally dependent on a man for her happiness and fulfillment is an overarching theme worth considering. As an interesting aside, Flaubert was put on trial for obscenity shortly after publishing Madame Bovary. I think its safe to say that what was judged as obscene at the time would hardly raise an eyebrow now.
A**S
excellent service
item arrived as described, ahead of schedule and carefully packaged.
D**L
This book is horrible
Order was good, condition was perfect. I urge you to not read this trash for leisure. Only read if you have to for class.
D**S
Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary is a timeless clasic.I bought it for my daughter as part of her readings of the classics.She very much enjoyed it.
Y**I
Four Stars
A good read..
J**.
Libro bueno, regular traducción
El libro es bueno, la traducción un poco deficiente y hay cosas mal escritas, como allí sustituyendo "l" por el número 1.
G**H
Good edition
Good edition. Worth giving a read.
A**R
Good Enough
Madame Bovary is a masterpiece, and my rating is for the translation (for the book I would give 5 stars). Firstly, the translation from french to english in this oxford classic is good but not excellent. There are some readers who prefer to read classics for their language, as it was written, so for those people wordsworth edition might be the best one as they are most close to the original. This oxford translation simplifies the language, but still to some extent you can enjoy it.
G**A
Nice
Good book
C**Y
An excellent edition
I won't focus this review on the actual novel itself. In terms of Flaubert's contribution to the development of the novel and to realism, this novel obviously deserves five stars. It is a truly remarkable novel that fully warrants its central place in the nineteenth-century canon. I would highly recommend this edition. At £5.59, the Oxford University Press are managing to sell this book on the cheaper end of the spectrum. However nothing is sacrificied; the translation is to the highest standard I have come across, the footnotes and annotations are erudite and help one achieve a fuller understanding and appreciation of the novel. The introduction compliments the text well and provides some astute and insightful criticism of it and also includes some useful historical context from nineteenth-century France. There is also a useful bibliography that can direct the reader to the more worthwhile secondary texts about Flaubert and Madame Bovary. If you would like to read this novel, this is the edition to buy. I would recommend it for everyone, from the inexperienced reader of classical novels to someone who is pursuing a degree in literary studies at university.
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