Madame Bovary

It's taken me a long time to get around to reading this novel. What finally did the trick was the large print! Along with my attendance at two fiftieth anniversary parties for friends (not grandparents) my attraction to large print makes me realize that I'm getting on. As most everyone knows, Madame Bovary is a work of nineteenth century realism that resulted in an 1857 obscenity trial - a dirty book. Emma is a convent educated farmer's daughter who marries a country doctor. Her brief exposure, at a party, to a more elegant and sumptuous lifestyle makes her life with the simple yet kind Dr. Bovary seem all the more dull in comparison. Her evening at the Viscompte's estate is a turning point, a "that's the flavour I've been missing" moment. Emma recognizes her passionate nature, has a baby, has affairs that burn bright then fizzle out as she, wanting more, becomes increasingly possessive. She also buys lots of stuff, incurs debt and becomes the victim of a loan shark, all in an attempt to banish the ennui that has overcome her. When she can no longer hide the evidence of her profligacy from her husband, who surely would have forgiven her, she takes her own life. Then her heartbroken husband dies, abandoning her little daughter to a bleak future. That's it in a nutshell. It's not romantic but it is tragic. She commits adultery and is punished for it.
Flaubert's prose is economical - he' doesn't use two words if one will do and I think that's what I liked most about the book: his ability to create clear and vibrant images out of few words. And his descriptions of Emma's relationships ring absolutely true, even today. The constraints on women were considerable at the time the novel was written and Flaubert writes about the inherent conflict between these constraints and Emma's passionate nature. There is something of Emma in every woman. It's a very modern view and makes this a great rather than a briefly sensationalistic novel. But, course, no one needs me to tell them this.