Submitted by StrawberryFields_ t3_121l04y in books
I noticed that this classic is not mentioned much on this subreddit despite its influence on literature. Whereas other influential 19th century works like Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment are mentioned quite frequently.
Not sure whether it has to do with poor English translations or if the book hasn't aged as well as the others. For those who read this work in French, what did you think of it?
I've read a few reviews in English mentioning the writing style being underwhelming. I read it several times in French and studied it in depth in class and the writing style in particular is one of my favorites. Very direct, and plain, but also delicate. Some pages feel more like poetry. I havent read it in English though, hard to say if the salt of it is lost in translation or not.
I didn't like it because the 19th century just doesn't do it for me. but I saw what he was getting at and I appreciated that. fwiw, mb was actually the only assigned college book (any language) I had a truly spontaneous and sincere essay idea about. The way Flaubert used dimensional space suddenly got hold of me and became fascinating.
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nothing i've read that was written in that century has appealed to me. i disliked all of it, in both french and english.
the only exception i can remember is emile zola. i liked germinal so much that i went on to read all but two or three out of his rougon-macquart cycle. but he's the outlier.
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edit: i lie again. moby dick. i like moby dick too.
> this classic is not mentioned much on this subreddit despite its influence on literature
doesn't mean anything
> Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment
these are among the finest novels ever written – MB is good, but, one could-should say, with a little exaggeration, there are worlds between them and MB. Worlds.
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I concur, and not just because I’m diehard when it comes to Russian literature.
I haven't read it, but I did read Sentimental Education which I thought was some of the most gorgeous writing I've ever read
I didn’t like it. I read “the scene” that got Flaubert sued and thought “wow this is a really weird carriage scene”
Read it in french for an English lit class (with the ok of the teacher). It's wonderfully written but I hated it. I couldn't get past how much the characters annoyed me.
Oui, bien sur 🤷🏼♂️
FSL speaker: I've read it in English and at the time found it a change from more morally upright 19th century English novels. Tried to read it in French a decade later, couldn't buy into anyone's characterisation (look at female writers' characterisation of women who are more on the sensitive or romantic side, vs. Flaubert's) or the descriptions of Emma's fingernails, got bored, read (also in French) the blingtastic D&D campaign that is Salammbô instead, and now incapable of ever taking Flaubert seriously as a writer. Hard to believe he'd ever really met people, especially women.
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Don't know about french, but when I did read it in my native tongue, his language was very hard to enjoy. even though I quite liked the plot, I just COULDN'T read it. put it down after 100 pages or so.
And I adore Crime and Punishment. Brilliantly written. One of the best novels I've ever read.
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Whaffled t1_jdmd0ms wrote
The book that sent me to grad school. The narration is unlike anything I'd ever read -- lovely, precisely detailed descriptions of scenes, objects are attributed to Emma in the most indirect ways. The plot has never been more secondary.