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Madame Bovary

By: Gustave Flaubert, Lydia Davis - translator
Narrated by: Claire Bloom
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Publisher's summary

Set amid the stifling atmosphere of 19th-century bourgeois France, Madame Bovary is at once an unsparing depiction of a woman's gradual corruption and a savagely ironic study of human shallowness and stupidity.

Neither Emma, nor her lovers, nor Homais, the man of science, escape the author's searing castigation, and it is the book's final profound irony that only Charles, Emma's oxlike, eternally deceived husband, emerges with a measure of human grace through his stubborn and selfless love.

©1992 Mildred Marmur (P)1992 Penguin HighBridge Audio
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Critic reviews

"Possibly the most beautifully written book ever composed; undoubtedly the most beautifully written novel; a book that invites superlatives; the most important novel of the century." (Frank O'Connor)

What listeners say about Madame Bovary

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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delightful and dramatic

This audible book was delightful to listen to thanks to a very easy to listen to performance by Claire Bloom. Such a descriptive story of life in the 19th century, including the angst of romantics and pragmatists searching for fulfillment, with the inevitable resulting drama. I found it thoughtful and refreshing.

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  • Overall
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best translation, incredible narration

Lydia Davis is arguably the best French translator of literary fiction of our era. Her rendition of Flaubert's masterpiece breathes new life into this timeless work and for the first time English readers will come away reeling in the wit, humor, genius and tragic comedy of the book that is Madame Bovary. Claire Bloom's narration is an interpretive masterpiece: rarely do readers offer such nuance as to make the words themselves sublime. Hands down a gem among audiobooks!

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Avoid

If you try to read along with the book, you get lost and can't find what is being said.

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