Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Madame Bovary

Ein sehr anspruchsvolles Buch, das den tragischen Untergang einer einst glücklichen Familie zum Thema hat. Madame Bovary hat zum Fehler, dass sie sich nicht zufrieden geben kann, immer nach mehr strebt. Letztendlich wird ihr das trauriger weise zum Verhängnis und während sie immer nervöser uns von Nervenproblem geplagt wird, geht es mit ihren Finanzen bergab. Leider erliegt Madame Bovary einer Vergiftung. Vor allem ist das Ende ihrer Tochter zu bedauern. Ohne Eltern oder Vermögen muss sie alleine in der Welt zurückbleiben.

Besonders schlimm erscheinen mir jene Menschen, die sich nach Madame Bovarys Tod daran bereichern wollen und Monsieur Bovary ausnehmen. Zu Lebzeiten der Madame nutzt auch der fahrende Händler ihre Naivität aus und stürzt sie in einen Berg aus Schulden.

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nineinchnails's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

i love this and surprisingly even loved charles which i did not expect going into this. he was naive and clueless when it came to his wife’s feelings but seemingly pretty sweet otherwise. it was ironic he had no clue about how miserable emma was in their marriage though, considering he had just been in a loveless marriage himself. this is pretty dense - it felt like so much happened but also nothing at all so it was a slog to get through occasionally. i loved the style of the prose and the flowery language it felt almost poetic in places - i wish i was fluent in french because i imagine the prose would flow even better in the original text.

i did get a little bored in the middle since i’d assumed the fun was over for our titular character (and the pacing of this was pretty strange) but she got a second wind and i ended up loving it!! emma had no redeeming qualities that i can recall but she was really engaging to read about and i found myself empathising with her, especially towards the end. she came across as quite naive and disillusioned so i had a lot more vitriol for rodolphe on account of his shameless manipulation of her. he wasn’t the only man to take advantage of her naïveté and it was both gratifying (because she was pretty awful) and frustrating to watch it happen as the reader.

the copy i read had a section at the end of “explanatory notes” which was referenced to constantly throughout and it massively contributed to my enjoyment since i ended up learning so much about 19th century france and flaubert himself. it was genuinely really interesting and i had no idea just how advanced medicine was in those times. i don’t think i agree with the moral of the story (from my interpretation) but i still really enjoyed this. no plot little character development just vibes but the vibes were gorgeous. i loved the setting and the prose was incredibly pretty.

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roxyunderscored's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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glorgona's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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hiddeninbooks's review against another edition

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sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

Stimulating read, with interesting language.

I wish the first Madam Bovary hadn't been so quickly and neatly killed off. I think the doctor's emotional affair is treated softly relative to the two affairs of his second wife, quickly overshadowed by the first Madam Bovary's lack of forthrightness with regards to the mortgages on her properties, and all of it set aside as she conveniently dies shortly thereafter. Were the first Madam Bovary to live, it would have left the doctor longer to contend with being in the position his second wife finds herself in.

The fact that the doctor dies of a broken heart, while his second wife, the presumably titular Madam Bovary, dies from suicide, and all the disgrace therein, again points to their disjointed treatment. I also wish that there might have been some sort of reflective comment on the fact that Madam Bovary underwent a minor (though perhaps not experienced as such given the time period) sexual assault by a man she sought aid from just prior to her suicide.

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saintmaud's review against another edition

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Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

emma is so beautiful, so sensuous, so hungry, so french.. flaubert's writing is wondrous, almost cinematic; his use of different techniques in the narrative was so marvelous to read, i need more.

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