Reviews

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

booh's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

alexheartsavril's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

mollywithcurls's review against another edition

5.0

This novel is meant to be about a woman who overcomes her situation – the banality and emptiness of the life of a doctor's wife in rural France. Personally, I was annoyed and frustrated with Madame Bovary through the entirety of the novel. The reason that the book gets 5 stars, however, is the style and form of Flaubert's writing. It's beautiful. The imagery is superb and the emotion is felt on the page. It's no wonder that he has a reputation as perfectionist.

ladystardust55's review against another edition

2.0

I've finished, finally. I chose this book as the 'banned book' in the 2015 reading challenge. I found it hard going, depressing and found some parts of the story unclear. Not a book I'd choose to read again.

nglofile's review against another edition

3.0

This is one of those books that I can appreciate more than I can say that I actually enjoyed. That's not a bad thing, but it does make it difficult to rate alongside other reads.

Plus, any group discussion that begins with "Emma Bovary as quintessential desperate housewife" must have some wit to it, right?

audiobook note: I drove miles out of my usual travels to procure the recording by the divine Davina Porter and was not disappointed in the least.

alinas_library's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

J’étais surprise de l’actualité de quelques caractères et actions. Rodolphe est un « fuckboy » typique et Emma est super « delusional » et rêve de l’amour profonde comme dans ses romans. C’était très amusant pour moi. Quand-même, quelques remarques seront problématiques dans le contexte moderne. 
« Madame Bovary » est parfois persistant, mais c’est très clair, pourquoi on considère ce roman comme un classique. La langage est très poétique et magistrale, la critique de la société, qui était un scandale pendant cette époque, est claire et ironique. 
Un livre bien compréhensible même pour les apprenants du français, comme moi (à l’aide des traducteurs ;)).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Medical content

laurenjpegler's review against another edition

3.0

quite average… lack of plot for 300 pages and writing quite dry but very readable!

russ15's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

kaydee1108's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

sanitakacuba's review against another edition

2.0

I picked up this book to explore a bit more of classics. I see what it made essential and even scandalous at the time but I could not make myself to care about the characters and plot.