In the intro to this book, the editor discusses Flaubert's passion for writing and his desire to have every sentence and word perfect so that he often spent days reworking a single paragraph. The work paid obviously paid off because he has succeed in creating a book so full of amazing imagery and sheer beauty of words that I was continually astounded. I don't know whether to pity or hate Emma. I certainly pity Charles and dislike Rodolphe. However, everyone seems to have a little of Emma's personality in them by wanting the things you do not or cannot have. A timeless, classic book with captivating writing - the scene where she eats the arsenic with her bare hands while they are having dinner in the other room - just amazing. That's all I can say.A couple of my favorite quotes:"A demand for money, being of all the winds that blow upon love, the coldest and most destructive.""We must not touch our idols. The gilt sticks to our fingers." ( )

Poor Emma Bovary! She wants an exciting life with instant gratification from her husband, her friends, and, not finding that--turns to lovers in a novel which survived a trial about its morality. Actually, the outline could be just about any romance novel novel today set in a "historical" period, but at its time, Flaubert was defying convention to show a life which should have been perfect--and was so very flawed. ( )

The language is beautiful in this book. And, unlike Lady whosey-whatsit's Lover, which I hated, the sexuality in this novel is subtle and tense and much more well done. It's a book about appreciating where you are and what you have, and the happiness that can come from unconditional love...and the misery that comes from pride and willfulness. ( )

Straight out i have to say that Emma is the most selfish, self-centered, delusional, manipulative, corrupt, pathetic protagonist i've ever come across. The plot is practically the template for what we know today as telenovelas, cheap entertainment and totally inane. Nothing in this book would shock us modern readers, but i do imagine the scandal it made when it was first published in the 1850s. BUT, Flaubert writes brilliantly, able to evoke clarity, depth and feeling in few words, weaving a narrative that is fast-paced but not hurried, and effectively developing characters who, while deplorable most times, rightly portray human tendencies. It is one of those rare books where the farther u get on with the story, the stupider and more histrionic the characters seem to get, but u keep on because the writing is simply flawless. ( )

Well, first let me say that I am 95% sure that I will never read this novel again. That is not to say that I'm not glad I read it, or that I disliked it particularly, more that I don't think I could put myself through it again.

* SPOILER ALERT *

It is a novel riddled with complex moral and social issues - and Emma Bovary is a complex anti-heroine. At times I felt sorry for her. She is a woman seeking something bigger for herself, something that her role as wife and mother can't offer her. But she is also a very silly character, reminding me somewhat of Catherine in Northanger Abbey in her futile pursuit of idle dreams. Every emotion coursing through her body is absolutely genuine and heartfelt - until disillusionment comes and it vapourises again. She is reaching for a love and a life that exists only in stories, a terminal case of greed, of always seeing that vibrant, greener grass on the other side of the fence, of vanity and utter selfishness. Yet have we not all occasionally felt unhappy with our lot in life? Can we not look around nowadays and see hundreds of selfish and deluded young people indulging their vanity and trying to win fame, fortune, more money, a richer partner?

Was Madame Bovary just too vain for her time? Should she have taken a long hard look at her life, at her loyal husband and little daughter, at her friends and her situation, and been content? Of course. But then, with such corruption dragging her down, could she be blamed entirely for her downfall? One of the most dreadful things about this novel is the violence of Emma's end, the torment of her descent into despair. Worse still is the fact that in the last chapter, the fairytale she has been seeking is utterly demolished: everyone who contributed to her downfall continues with their life, while those around her are ruined. While Berthe is poor, Charles dies of a broken heart and her father is paralysed, Homais is applauded, Lheureux continues to gain from others' ruin, and her two lovers walk away without so much as a word of recrimination or a twinge of remorse.

All in all, a novel that is valuable for its portrayal of society in the 19th century, including its ideas about women, marriage and adultery, religion, and about medical theories and advances. The characters are strongly drawn and as real in their complex and flawed personalities as any I've ever read. It raises questions, it provokes thought about blame and morality, it parallels certain worrying trends that continue into today's society... and despite everything, I was moved by Emma's tragic demise. But I think the repetitive nature of the novel - mistake, regret, repentence, repeat - and the unlikeable, unredeemable nature of the title Madame will stop it being a keeper for me.

* SPOILER END * ( )