For these short stories I both listened to the wonderful LibriVox reading by David Barnes (available here) and read along with the same translation over at Google Books (available here).

"The Legend of St Julian the Hospitaller" is a retelling of an old French medieval legend about the French Saint of hunting. Flaubert follows the general arc of the legend but adds some significant new details. In Romantic fashion it is a synthesis of Medieval, Christian and Classical Pagan themes. I don't think Flaubert set out to accomplish anything more (or less) then a beautiful retelling of an old story that once captured his imagination as a youth in a church stained glass window.

"A Simple Soul" is a contemporary story and often considered one of Flauberts best (it's where the famous parrot is introduced). Interestingly, while the story of St Julian is about the high and famous, this is about the low and invisible. Flaubert shows it is possible to write an epic story about the invisible nobodies of the world. Indeed "A Simple Soul" and "The Legend of St Julian" can be seen as a matching pair - both concern a sort of living death and loss of identity. The high and low of the world share the same problems. This sort of egalitarianism would have been appealing to the Democratic bourgeois spirit of the French Third Republic, and indeed the modernism project in general.

"Herodias" is a retelling of the biblical story of John the Baptists, in particular his beheading. I found it difficult to follow, most of the people and places are unfamiliar to me so I will return to it later.

"The Dance of Death" (1838) is a "prose poem" in the tradition of Danse Macbre. It reminded me of the Rolling Stones song "Sympathy for the Devil" in which we meet the Devil and learn of his role in history. It is dark, brooding and wonderfully imagined. Note: when listening to David Barnes' LibriVox recording, it is helpful to follow with the text because like a play there are different speakers who take the stage and are not fully evident by audio alone. Death personified will speak, then the Devil, then the narrator, then Nero - there is a slight change of voice, but it's not clear who it is speaking, but the text makes it clear.

This is my first reading of Flaubert, I began with his lesser known work. My immediate impressions: for a 19th century text it reads remarkably modern and easily. Laughably so since Flaubert is the father of modernism. There is a sort of fundamentalism feeling in that regard, made more vivid by the Biblical themes of the stories. The details of his prose are colorful and precise, a few well chosen items, colors and smells bring it alive.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd ( )

1439 Three Tales, by Gustave Flaubert translated by Arthur McDowall (read 20 Mar 1977) The first tale, "A Simple Heart," tells of a simple lady who has a parrot which dies and is stuffed. The second, "The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller," is an account, written in medieval style, of a saint. The third, "Herodias," tells of the beheading of St. John the Baptist. ( )

French Classic Short Story

St Julian is a story I've read over and over. I first read it in Philosophy class in high school, then again in my thirties and finally in my late forties, when a book group of which I was part discussed it. It is a lesson of redemption and the cost of salvation.

Thanks to a senior seminar, I can now appreciate the beauty and symbolism of Flaubert's prose in these short stories. Still, I doubt I'll be re-reading this any time soon. ( )