[HN Gopher] Flaubert versus the World
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       Flaubert versus the World
        
       Author : apollinaire
       Score  : 23 points
       Date   : 2024-01-12 23:24 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (newrepublic.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (newrepublic.com)
        
       | squidbeak wrote:
       | I'm repeating myself, but the letters are one of the jewels of
       | literature.
       | 
       | As far as the review goes, I'm always disappointed at how many of
       | these pieces struggle to get past the cliche of Flaubert as shut-
       | in, ignoring his North African sexfest and only skating over his
       | endlessly dazzling intellectual chatter.
       | 
       | For anyone able to read French, Rouen University has a
       | magnificent repository of the letters, many with scans.
       | https://flaubert.univ-rouen.fr/correspondance/correspondance...
        
         | thx wrote:
         | is there a great collection of his letters in a book you'd
         | recommend?
         | 
         | i love Jack Kerouac's "Windblown World" (an awesome collection
         | of his journals / letters / notes on writing) & would highly
         | recommend if you're a fan
         | 
         | haven't really explored Flaubert & am curious about where'd be
         | a good place to start
        
           | squidbeak wrote:
           | In English and if you can find it, Geoffrey Wall's
           | translation is close to the French and his selection's free
           | of moral judgments.
        
           | beezlebroxxxxxx wrote:
           | There is the book that the linked review is covering, _The
           | Letters of Gustave Flaubert_ by NYRB publishing, which covers
           | a lot of his life.
           | 
           | Another is _Flaubert-Sand: The Correspondence_ from 1993,
           | which is a selection of letters between Flaubert and George
           | Sand.
           | 
           | If you can read french, the Rouen collection is probably the
           | most complete, but there are other french collections. If
           | you're just looking to start with Flaubert in general you can
           | start with _Mme. Bovary_ , rightly regarded as one of the
           | best novels ever. Flaubert's control over his sentences, the
           | breathtaking style, is incredible to read.
        
       | willsoon wrote:
       | Missing the point: check.
       | 
       | Well, you don't read this novel expecting a great story with a
       | moral. Because there's almost none in, let's say, the first third
       | of the novel. You go there in search of expression and vivid
       | imagery: "Standing up with his hands on the back of her chair he
       | saw the teeth of her comb that bit into her chignon. With every
       | movement that she made to throw her cards the right side of her
       | dress was drawn up. From her turned-up hair a dark colour fell
       | over her back, and growing gradually paler, lost itself little by
       | little in the shade. Then her dress fell on both sides of her
       | chair, puffing out full of folds, and reached the ground. When
       | Leon occasionally felt the sole of his boot resting on it, he
       | drew back as if he had trodden upon some one."
       | 
       | Emma, it's OK, I think everyone knows the part where she vomits a
       | black unknown substance. So she got what she deserved, you prude.
        
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