Paperback, 388 pages
English language
Published Aug. 6, 2012 by Trans Atlantic Press.
"Down in her soul she was waiting for something to happen. Like a shipwrecked sailor, she perused her solitary world with hopeless eyes, searching for some white sail..."
The realities of married life fall a long way short of Emma Bovary's expectations. Her romantic hopes have been dashed on the rocks of a stultifying life bound to a dull, mediocre, provincial doctor. The novels she read merely feed her dissatisfaction. Material possessions offer scant recompense. Motherhood disappoints. To fill the yawning void Emma succumbs to reckless extramarital affairs. But pursuing a fantasy brings only one certainty: that the mounting debts funding her dream will one day fall due for repayment. Hopes and ideals are crushed by bitter experience in Flaubert's unflinching tragedy of domestic life, which scandalised polite society and became the subject of a cause célèbre when it was published in 1857. --back cover
"Down in her soul she was waiting for something to happen. Like a shipwrecked sailor, she perused her solitary world with hopeless eyes, searching for some white sail..."
The realities of married life fall a long way short of Emma Bovary's expectations. Her romantic hopes have been dashed on the rocks of a stultifying life bound to a dull, mediocre, provincial doctor. The novels she read merely feed her dissatisfaction. Material possessions offer scant recompense. Motherhood disappoints. To fill the yawning void Emma succumbs to reckless extramarital affairs. But pursuing a fantasy brings only one certainty: that the mounting debts funding her dream will one day fall due for repayment. Hopes and ideals are crushed by bitter experience in Flaubert's unflinching tragedy of domestic life, which scandalised polite society and became the subject of a cause célèbre when it was published in 1857. --back cover
Präzise, zum Teil auch ein wenig bissig, beschrieben. Der Ehebruch wird so angedeutet, dass man genau weiß, was Sache ist, ohne dass es zu genau ausgesprochen oder aber drumherumgeeiert wird. Die Charaktere sind schön ausgearbeitet. Das Ende finde ich besonders bemerkenswert und eindrücklich dargestellt.
This story is haunting--and I finally know what that means. It's so well-written that I could actually feel Madame Bovary's boredom and inner despair.
There is a strong message here, as well, about what ennui can do. In this case, it lead to actions that not only ruined Madame Bovary's life, but that of her family, as well. Very tragic.
“Ennui has made more gamblers than avarice, more drunkards than thirst, and perhaps as many suicides as despair.”
(Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)
This story is haunting--and I finally know what that means. It's so well-written that I could actually feel Madame Bovary's boredom and inner despair.
There is a strong message here, as well, about what ennui can do. In this case, it lead to actions that not only ruined Madame Bovary's life, but that of her family, as well. Very tragic.
“Ennui has made more gamblers than avarice, more drunkards than thirst, and perhaps as many suicides as despair.”
(Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)
