I really don't understand the comments in others' reviews. There's nothing perplexing about this beautifully-crafted little book: it's a novel about someone who wonders about what it means to be "the author of a book", and about the differences between fictional reality and what I suppose I'd have to call "real" reality. Which parrot is Flaubert's? The one about which he wrote? either of the two that rival establishments claim as the true parrot? Or no parrot at all?

Anyone who doesn't wonder at such things probably doesn't deserve to be allowed to read novels. ( )

Absolutely marvelous. I can not escape the idea that this book is a lot more than just Flaubert’s life. Mme Bovary was considered to be the first “novel of realism” in the literary world, but Flaubert very much refused to parade around as a contemporary celebrity. I always wonder is there a message here? Read Barnes' other book “Something to declare” right after this one. ( )

Flaubert's Parrot is a kind of post-modern meta-novel that mostly discusses the life, work, and critical reception of Gustave Flaubert (who wrote Madame Bovary, among other things). But that isn't really what it is about. It is sort of about a retired doctor / amateur Flaubert historian. It is sort of about the doctor's wife. It is sort of about reading and writing and criticism. A lot of it is about adultery and marriage and being with someone and being alone. And some of it is about the identification of stuffed parrots and the exact color of red current jam in the 19th century. That Barnes manages to fit all this and more into 216 pages on the life of Flaubert (and to make those pages conversational, readable, and fun) is quite a feat.

If you have never read any Flaubert, hate Flaubert, or rankle at fiction that breaks the fourth wall and employs post-moderny conceits, then this is probably not the book for you. But I really liked it.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2009/11...] ( )

This book is a strange amalgam of fictionalised biography, literary criticism and novel, with a light sprinkling of authorial philosophising. It is also considerably more entertaining than I expected.

However, it almost seems unable to decide what it wants to be, and some of the comments by the narrator about his own history seem intrusive and out of place. The format of the book is somewhat unorthodox, and I couldn't decide whether it was a success in experimental literature or whether the author was trying to be bold and experimental and just ended up coming across as pretentious. I can't decide what I think about the book - but I shall certainly continue to think about the book even now that I've finished it. ( )

this tore my heart with its steely passion, well-timed, lovingly calibrated.

conversational. informative. provoking.
and provocative. ( )