Böcker av Gustave Flaubert

The Temptation of Saint Anthony is a novel by the French author Gustave Flaubert published in 1874. Flaubert spent his whole adult life working fitfully on the book. In 1845, at age 24, Flaubert visited the Balbi Palace in Genoa, and was inspired by a painting of the same title, then attributed to Bruegel the Elder. (wikipedia.org)

"A Simple Heart", or Un coeur simple in French, is a story about a servant girl named Felicité. After her one and only love Théodore purportedly marries a well-to-do woman to avoid conscription, Felicité quits the farm where she works and heads for Pont-l'Évèque, where she picks up work in a widow's house as a servant. She is very loyal, and easily lends her affections to the two children of her mistress, Mme Aubain. She gives entirely to others; although many take advantage of her, she is unaffected.She has no husband, no children, and no property, and is reliant on her mistress to keep her; she is uneducated; her death is virtually unnoticed. Despite her life being seemingly pointless, she has within her the power to love, which she does even when she does not receive it in return. She also carries within her a yearning, a majestic quasi-religious sensibility which finds its apotheosis in the deification, as she dies, of her pet parrot who floats above her deathbed masquerading as the Holy Ghost. She lives a simple, unexamined life.Flaubert's challenge was to create the main protagonist as someone very different from the satirical characters appearing in his previous novels such as Madame Bovary. (wikipedia.org)

Le c¿ur du récit est tiré du roman de Sainte-Beuve, Volupté, qu'Honoré de Balzac avait déjà traité et d'une certaine manière réécrit avec le Lys dans la vallée. Le roman de Flaubert reprend le même sujet selon des règles narratives entièrement neuves, réinventant le roman d'apprentissage pour lui donner une profondeur et une acuité nouvelle. Malgré la critique négative lors de sa parution, il est devenu, depuis Marcel Proust, un livre de référence pour les romanciers du XXe siècle.L'Éducation sentimentale est le fruit de trois essais de jeunesse de Flaubert. Ainsi de janvier 1843 à janvier 1845 il produit une première Éducation sentimentale qui succédait à la rédaction de Novembre, achevé le 25 octobre 1842, et à une toute première ébauche de jeunesse intitulée Mémoires d'un fou en 1838. Le roman définitif est rédigé à partir de septembre 1864 et achevé le 16 mai 1869 au matin.

Par un chaud dimanche d'été, près du bassin du port de l'Arsenal, sur le boulevard Bourdon, à Paris, deux promeneurs, Bouvard et Pécuchet, se rencontrent par hasard sur un banc public et font connaissance. Ils s'aperçoivent qu'ils ont eu tous deux l'idée d'écrire leur nom dans leur chapeau : « Alors ils se considérèrent. ». Tombés sous le charme l'un de l'autre, Bouvard et Pécuchet découvrent que non seulement ils exercent le même métier de copiste, mais qu'en plus ils ont les mêmes centres d'intérêt.

Salammbo (1862) is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert. It is set in Carthage during the 3rd century BC, immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt which took place shortly after the First Punic War. Flaubert's main source was Book I of Polybius's Histories. The novel jumpstarted a renewed interest in the history of the Roman Republic's conflict with the North African Phoenician colony of Carthage.Contemporary readers familiar with Flaubert's previous realistic work, Madame Bovary, were shocked and in some instances appalled by the indiscriminate violence and sensuality prevalent throughout the novel, which is why, notwithstanding the praise it received for its style and story, Salammbô remains controversial in literary circles to this day. Nevertheless, it was a massive best-seller, sealing the author's reputation as one of the most prominent French writers of the 19th century. It was even said that Flaubert's descriptions of Carthaginian costume influenced contemporary fashions. Since then, however, the novel has fallen into obscurity in much of the Anglophone world. (wikipedia.org)

Madame Bovary, originally published as Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners (French: Madame Bovary), is the debut novel of French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life.When the novel was first serialized in Revue de Paris between 1 October 1856 and 15 December 1856, public prosecutors attacked the novel for obscenity. The resulting trial in January 1857 made the story notorious. After Flaubert's acquittal on 7 February 1857, Madame Bovary became a bestseller in April 1857 when it was published in two volumes. A seminal work of literary realism, the novel is now considered Flaubert's masterpiece, and one of the most influential literary works in history. The British critic James Wood writes: "Flaubert established, for good or ill, what most readers think of as modern realist narration, and his influence is almost too familiar to be visible." Long established as one of the greatest novels, the book has been described as a "perfect" work of fiction. Henry James wrote: "Madame Bovary has a perfection that not only stamps it, but that makes it stand almost alone: it holds itself with such a supreme unapproachable assurance as both excites and defies judgment." Marcel Proust praised the "grammatical purity" of Flaubert's style, while Vladimir Nabokov said that "stylistically it is prose doing what poetry is supposed to do". Similarly, in his preface to his novel The Joke, Milan Kundera wrote, "not until the work of Flaubert did prose lose the stigma of aesthetic inferiority. Ever since Madame Bovary, the art of the novel has been considered equal to the art of poetry." Giorgio de Chirico said that in his opinion "from the narrative point of view, the most perfect book is Madame Bovary by Flaubert". Julian Barnes called it the best novel that's ever been written.The novel exemplifies the tendency of realism, over the course of the nineteenth century, to become increasingly psychological, concerned with the accurate representation of thoughts and emotions rather than of external things. In this way it precedes the French novelist Marcel Proust and the twentieth-century apotheosis James Joyce. (wikipedia.org)

Ce livre est un recueil de trois nouvelles: Un coeur simple, Légende de Saint Julien l'Hospitalier et Hérodias. Celui-ci témoigne d'une grande puissance d'évocation, qu'il s'agisse du portrait psychologique de Félicité dans 'Un coeur simple', de la violence des actes de Saint Julien, ou de l'atmosphère surchargée jusqu'au vertige d'Hérodias.

Félicité is a French maid who is devoted to helping her mistress and her two children navigate their new life following her husband¿s untimely death. Despite her lack of formal skills, Félicité is an endearing figure who brings warmth and stability into their lives.In nineteenth century France, Félicité works as a loyal housemaid to her mistress, Madame Aubain. She tends to her two children and is a constant source of support for the family. Félicité is a hard worker whose reputation precedes her. She¿s known for her kindness, compassion and morals. Despite her tragic upbringing, Félicité manages to find joy in every part of her life. A Simple Soul is a testament to her faith, resilience and enduring spirit.A Simple Soul is a character-driven novella that highlights the ups and downs of a meek existence. Félicité is a pure soul who makes the most of what she has and shares what she can. This story is a celebration of unsung heroes who work in the shadows but are never given their due.With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of A Simple Soul is both modern and readable.

Emma Rouault, fille d¿un riche fermier, a été élevée dans un couvent. Elle rêve d¿une vie mondaine comme les héroïnes romantiques des romans qüelle dévore et dans lesquels elle se réfugie pour rompre l¿ennui. Mais en devenant l¿épouse de Charles Bovary, qui malgré de laborieuses études de médecine, n¿est qüun simple officier de santé, Emma se retrouve plongée dans une vie monotone à laquelle elle ne s¿attendait pas. Emma parviendra-t-elle à donner du sens à son existence ?

Lorsque que Flaubert a écrit cette ¿uvre, il etait dans une période difficile de sa vie, et c'est pour cela que ses contes sont pessimistes. Les histoires sont très différentes : La Légende de Saint Julien l'Hospitalier est en partie un souvenir de la comptemplation des vitraux de l'eglise de Caudebec en Normandie et de la Cathédrale de Rouen. En effet ce conte provient des souvenirs de la vie de Gustave Flaubert : avec Un c¿ur simple, Flaubert retrouve sa Normandie natale et l'histoire d'Hérodias est le voyage en Orient pendant la jeunesse de Flaubert.

Ema Bovari është një vajzë provinciale që lexon shume libra romantikë dhe ka marrë një formim konservator në manastir. Për shkak të letërsisë romantike që lexonte, Ema bën zgjedhjet e gabuara në jetë, humbet lidhjet me realitetin dhe shndërrohet në një viktimë të pasioneve të saj, të cilat e orientojnë drejt aventurave të pafundta. Ema dëshiron ndryshimin në jetën e saj, por problemi qëndron me faktin se ajo është heroinë pasive: nuk vepron vetë për të dalë nga monotonia, por varet prej personazheve të tjerë.Në kohën që u shkrua romani shoqëria franceze kalonte një krizë shoqërore, ekonomike, psikologjike, morale dhe filozofike. Romani ka si qëllim të demaskojë vlerat false të shoqërisë, moralin hipokrit të saj, kotësinë e letërsisë romantike dhe influencën negative të saj. Romani është vepër realiste që shquhet për pasuri të vëzhgimeve të jetës dhe psikologjisë së shoqërisë së kohës për vërtetësinë e fakteve, për përgjithësimin e madh artistik që i bëhet fenomenit Ema.