The first time I read this it was 33 degrees celsius outside, full summer, and I sat reading in front of our tent, at a campsite in France. The location might have been more fitting, but the season surely wasn’t. Autumn, with its orange & yellow colours and its melancholy feel must be the perfect season to read Madame Bovary.
This time, my second time reading the book, I was surprised by the many things I had forgotten about it. The first 58 pages tell so much, and I had remembered so little about them. Being introduced to the boy Bovary, the new boy, almost made me feel sympathetic to him. And the fact that Madame Bovary is not just the one that takes centre stage later on in the novel, but is first the mother and then the first wife of Charles, had completely slipped my mind. I did remember the despair I felt when the wedding of Charles and Emma was agreed on, that was no different this time.
Is Madame Bovary above all a description of the vulgarity of life? The wedding, the lies? If anything, Flaubert seems to describe it almost ruthlessly. I had not considered his style before, being too busy to figure out the plot the first time around. I might not want to make any guesses now, since I am saving the introduction for later.
For more thoughts on the first part of this new translation by Lydia Davis, see Frances’ blog Nonsuch Book for the other participants in this read along.
I’ve never read this…look forward to hearing about your reading experiences with it!
Did you like the book the first time around? I admit, I hated this one so much that nothing would induce me to reread it…
So interesting that this book seems like an Autumn book to you – to me it seems like a book for the Spring! All those passages about the blossoming flowers and fields later on must have really made an impression!
The season is just as important as the setting when reading a book. I think I’d definitely prefer to read this in autumn or winter because of the unhappiness (I don’t really remember the much of th description of landscapes or the weather). I read this one a couple of years ago before I really knew what was going to happen and was really surprised how things changed for Charles and how my symphathies changed with that.
It’s been 30 years, so I’ve forgotten most everything. But I do think I had more patience for Charles back then–no doubt because I identified somewhat with him since in those days I still considered myself a country bumpkin!
I also had forgotten much of that first part of the book, and also agree that the current weather suits me well for a re-read. And as for the vulgarity? I suspect that Flaubert was specifically targeting the vulgarity of the bourgeoisie. In a witheringly direct streams of contempt. So restrained in language! It sounds one way and looks like hate graffiti in my mind. Thanks so much for reading along!
He really did have a way of languishing over his descriptions and making them sound both beautiful and unbearable.
I must admit I’ve never read this before. But your post makes me think it might be worth it …perhaps. I’m not sure I’m up for another “got to pay attention” classic.
This is definitely an autumn book, perhaps a Fall book. Somewhere Davis has translated a ‘sidewalk’, which jars the English ear.
Nabokov reminds us that Flaubert’s loathing was for the philistine aspect of bourgeois, rather than a Marxist interpretation. You are spot on though, the intention of Flaubert’s critique is a death blow, not a debate.
I read this last year in November and found it a bit too depressing, so although I’m so so tempted to read it again with everyone right now, I just don’t know if it would be a good idea! But I’m loving all the insights everyone is bringing to it.
I agree, Iris, that it feels like a fall book. I see what Steph is saying about the blossoms and new life, but everything seems tinged with death somehow. Even though I’m still in the beginning, I sense that. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling so sensitive toward Emma.
I definitely felt sympathetic to Bovary at first—and off and on throughout the rest of the novel, as well. And yes, the triple Madame Bovary role – so interesting. Very much underlines the point that “Madame Bovary” is a slot to fill, not a particular individual.
I’ve never read this book, but I get the feeling that books have seasons. I was trying to read Tim O’Brien over the summer, but the books felt more late fall/winter to me because of the subject and style.
I felt, feel, quite sympathetic to Charles, too. It’s funny how I vascillate between commiserating with Emma and wanting to slap her, but with Charles? I deeply feel him pain at being the excluded boy at school, the bumbling doctor who just wants to heal people, and the husband who’s unloved in return.
Iris, love your question about whether Flaubert meant the novel as an attack on “the vulgarity of life” and your description of the novelist as “ruthless.” Very fitting both! Although it’s hard to form opinions on a complex work only 60 pages in, so far I can say that I envy you the fact that you’re reading this for your second time already. That is, I think it’s going to live up to the hype for me!
I’m jealous that you were able to read this the first time camping in France, wrong season or no!
I’m glad I’m reading this with a group, because I would have missed the whole “vulgarity” of life perspective. I’ll be able to keep that in mind as I read the rest of the book. At this point, I have no dislike for Charles, I just think he’s rather clueless.
Autumn does seem a fitting time for Madame Bovary. There’s so much more to notice and appreciate when you aren’t totally wrapped up in the plot…enjoy your second reading!
Aw, I wish this one was on my list. It sounds so good. All the read-along posts are making me curious about it.
I see you’ve got Jane Eyre on your ‘next up’ list. That was the first classic I read off my list. Excellent novel.
I’m saving the introduction to read later as well: so often it gives away too much for me to really enjoy the story, and this will be the first time I’ll have finished this novel (assuming I do finish). Looking forward to your next installment.
To the end of Part 1, I’m feeling a lot of sympathy for both Charles and Emma. In both cases they’re products of their upbringing, and their lives have been pretty constrained till they meet. (This is a reread for me, but I don’t remember a thing!)
I’m curious why you feel despair when their wedding is agreed on. To me it seems , at this point in the novel, like an obvious match — they’re perfect for each other! He’s head over heels, and partcially speaking for her it’s very sensible.
Umm, “practically.”
Madame Bovary is a subversive novel, seeking to expose both the corrupt social conventions and the dominant way of thinking of the day. Flaubert attempted to show how life really was, which is rather different from the Romantic notions people held, and in which Emma and Charles Bovary both believed, to their great cost. They were both deluded, and it is the agonisingly precise exposure of their delusions that makes Madame Bovary the great Realist novel it is.
I haven’t read the new translation yet. I want to take my time over it. I love this book almost as much as Anna Karenina.
I’ve been fascinated by this book too. I had no idea that Emma was such a normal woman at the beginning of the book.
By the way, if you’d like to participate, I’ve tagged you. Check it out here…
http://avidreader25.blogspot.com/2010/10/tagged-one-year.html
I’m looking forward to reading this new translation.
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