Madame Bovary (Vintage Classics)

Loved reading it

I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did, but the translation is excellent and easy to understand. The characters are well written and Emma(Madam Bovary) seems so familiar to me, very much like the shallow young women I’ve known well. The tragedy of her selfishness is that she destroyed not only her own life but the lives of her faithful loving husband and her adoring daughter as well. A timeless story and well worth reading.

Madame Bovary is a book whose content was more than I had expected. Flaubert's ability to weave characters into various roles is prevalent in this classic! I did not expect the ending. The character Madame Bovary was passionate, yet ruthless, caring, yet unable to truly connect with family or friends.

I a bit ashamed that I had not read this classic years ago. Having just finished it, I am feeling slightly stupefied by it: the novel seems to touch on everything, e.g., romanticism, idealism, rationalism, etc, and yet it feels likes it is about nothing at all. While the merits of the original work is arguably, this translation is nothing short of a masterpiece.

I've always avoided this kind of (classic) book so I started it reluctantly. Within 50 pages I was stunned by how good it is. Lots of translations are available; from what I can tell this one (Steegmuller) is still the best.

Easily comprehended by readers such as me, who appreciate a realist style. Flaubert and translator provide a clear descriptive portrayal of a mid-19th C. French young middle-class woman, her quest for romance, social standing, trapped in a loveless marriage circumscribed by mores of the times. I've come away appreciating Flaubert's wonderfully descriptive passages, and contemplate how current this quaint Victorian tale is to our 21st C concerns about love, sex and personal power.

The novel was an ok read. It started out well but as it progressed, it became like a jigzaw puzzel. Other characters that had little to do with the plot became more important than the main characters. I lost interest at this point.

Vendor sent a preferred translation in very good condition. Sordid story of a weak-willed, selfish woman who was easy prey for several men