a classic! i recommend the translation by lydia Davis from the original French. The book is full of nuance, subtle humor, and wordplay. The wordplay is present even in the title as the name Bovary relates to the word bovine. The significance is that it implies that any wed-able(marriageable? idk) woman is comparable to a cow that can traded and bartered with. There is so much symbolism and depth that is carried by exceptionally flowery language that is just so fun to read and reread (because sometimes it is difficult to comprehend). Main character Emma marries into a mundane and provincial life and finds herself terribly bored (she is just like me fr!) as she desires to live with passion and exuberance. Some say she is neurotic and immature but to me she is just a girl with a bad case of financial irresponsibility and a desire to live for the plot (she is dissatisfied with her boring ass life and you would be too!). I won’t spoil the rest but bitches hate to see a slut in society and Emma knows slutery like no one else! Also she grew up in a monastery which is so funny to me. It is packed full of the most ironic romanticism and it is so fun to learn what everything could represent and reflect as a criticism of the bourgeoise.
May 2, 2024
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a woman must live a life with passion and fulfillment. a girls life is more than just a man. tragic and inspirational at the same time somehow? i think about this book at least once a week
Oct 29, 2024
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Super underrated book, and Madame Bovary is clearly great, but this is also great, and sort of outlandishly, almost tauntingly ahead of its time
Mar 29, 2022
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Recently bodied this. Old big French novel. Technically about the mining strikes in northern France in 1866, and definitely about that, but also just about life during that time. Scrapping in the mines. Living in close quarters, turning up in the village with the other workers. The implied stuff Zola looks at in terms of family structure, mating rules, social life. It moves like novels of that time, like the Russians, say, in how it roams omnisciently in that quintessentially 19th century way. But something about how he starts it, with the protagonist pulling up to a new town, homeless and hungry, and seeing him gradually integrate into the mining community… The intimacy of living in such close quarters… Idk, it’s counterintuitively spicy, I recommend it, it slaps.
Aug 16, 2022
Top Recs from @lizapotts
your quality of life will improve 10fold when the first thing you see in the morning is fresh flowers! and don’t tell me the bs about they are a waste of money because they are going to die; practice prioritizing vibes and pretty things!!!
Mar 7, 2024
May 13, 2024
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my friends and I have started saying “unclear” instead of “I don’t know” & it is unclear how this started but it is so nice to not immediately place blame on yourself for not being omniscient! Highly suggest trying this out
Apr 4, 2024