sarahhahmad's review against another edition
4.0
one of the first books written about a Woman destroyed. a woman with passion festering within her that is too much for a bourgeois/“normal” society who is better off dead.
eliandbooks10's review
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up
my thoughts will be wrapped in a series of questions. did I enjoy this? maybe. did I love this? no, many issues actually. was it sad? yes. did it have quite powerful statements I have thought and been unable to put words to? yes, I appreciate it.
thanks to flaubert for this read but next time I hope he avoids weird comments about Black women and blind people.....
my thoughts will be wrapped in a series of questions. did I enjoy this? maybe. did I love this? no, many issues actually. was it sad? yes. did it have quite powerful statements I have thought and been unable to put words to? yes, I appreciate it.
thanks to flaubert for this read but next time I hope he avoids weird comments about Black women and blind people.....
irenealasclarin's review
4.0
Una de tantas novelas decimonónicas con nombre femenino. El adulterio esconde en esta novela la asfixiante situación de la mujer: Emma no es culpable de nada. Como dice Bovary al final de la novela, es culpa de "la fatalidad".
Desde el siglo XXI, vemos en esa fatalidad la sombra del patriarcado y su vertiginoso ciclo social, que condena a Emma, una mujer de trayectoria vital corriente, a la incomprensión total por parte del resto del mundo y, en especial, del género masculino.
Añádase a esto la eterna referencia al síndrome quijotesco y la crítica mordaz al sistema burgués, y nos queda un gran clásico de la literatura.
Desde el siglo XXI, vemos en esa fatalidad la sombra del patriarcado y su vertiginoso ciclo social, que condena a Emma, una mujer de trayectoria vital corriente, a la incomprensión total por parte del resto del mundo y, en especial, del género masculino.
Añádase a esto la eterna referencia al síndrome quijotesco y la crítica mordaz al sistema burgués, y nos queda un gran clásico de la literatura.
clc54's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
montecrito's review
3.0
3.5 stars
this started very well, and the development into the middle of the book was magnificent. i even highlighted some parts! until i reached 60% of the book and it started feeling like any other classic.
i cannot say i disliked the book: i empathized with emma, tried to understand her position, her background. it's a book that, with the right mindset and some thought, can open your eyes towards many mundane things. nevertheless, i wish to know how this book would've been written from a woman of the period. it's useless to imagine a woman portraying this sort of role but... wow, imagine. that would've been something.
and against my expectations, this didn't have the same atmosphere as anna karenina. yes, it's once again men projecting a rather negative and catastrophic vision of adultery by women and really, all that criticism that we may give the issue now and deep-in-thought conclusions, considering different factors of the period, the authors were far away from achieving them. but madame bovary held an even more dramatic and i'd dare to say psychopathological tone to emma's actions (she was in fact ill too, which makes you atribute her "socially inadequate" decisions to her physical state indirectly).
this started very well, and the development into the middle of the book was magnificent. i even highlighted some parts! until i reached 60% of the book and it started feeling like any other classic.
i cannot say i disliked the book: i empathized with emma, tried to understand her position, her background. it's a book that, with the right mindset and some thought, can open your eyes towards many mundane things. nevertheless, i wish to know how this book would've been written from a woman of the period. it's useless to imagine a woman portraying this sort of role but... wow, imagine. that would've been something.
and against my expectations, this didn't have the same atmosphere as anna karenina. yes, it's once again men projecting a rather negative and catastrophic vision of adultery by women and really, all that criticism that we may give the issue now and deep-in-thought conclusions, considering different factors of the period, the authors were far away from achieving them. but madame bovary held an even more dramatic and i'd dare to say psychopathological tone to emma's actions (she was in fact ill too, which makes you atribute her "socially inadequate" decisions to her physical state indirectly).
cursedmeow's review
slow-paced
2.0
so painfully slow-paced and detailed and yet the most important character remained undeveloped
casparb's review against another edition
4.0
Nothing wrong with a cheeky reread - even if it is curtains for Emma.
whatdoreadss's review
4.0
My teachers recommended this book, so I thought I had to read it. I liked the story and the writing style as well. The plotline itself was also nice to read, but sometimes it was a bit boring * to be honest.