This new translation by Lydia Davis received positive attention for being more faithful to Flaubert's original pared-down style than previous versions. I wouldn't have any way to know about that, but since I'd never read it, I decided to give it a try.

In her introduction, Davis writes of Flaubert: "He realizes early on that he has set himself a formidable task ... to write a novel about shallow, unsympathetic people in a dreary setting, some of whom make bad choices and come to a horrible end." That's pretty much it, although I'd argue the dreary setting. Any interest I took in the book came from historical curiosity about the detailed descriptions of rural French life in the 1850s, which were all new to me. Ironic since apparently he wrote in such detail with only mocking intent.

I'm sure this was very important in the development of the novel, but I spent most of the book waiting for something to happen and then counting the pages until the end.