Margaret Cohen (1) (1958–)

It seems important with all the news in the world right now about women losing more rights over their own bodies to read Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Madame Bovary is a tale about a woman who reads, thinks too much, loves too much, flaunts conventions, has no agency over her finances, and then ultimately… well, this is a 19th-century novel, so she is not likely to get away with it.

I enjoyed the book, Flaubert’s writing is rich in description, setting, and "if the carriage is a rocking, don’t be a stopping" detail that put the book on many a “don’t read this list” over the years.

I don’t know think there was one character I truly liked. Emma was not a very likable character—she did not care for her husband, or her child, and seems to only care for her own feelings. She falls in love too easily. She is passionate about the wrong things, and she gives little thought to consequences until it is too late. Her husband is clueless. Her lovers are opportunists. Her husband’s mother is unlikeable. But then who doesn’t like reading about bad things happening to unlikeable people? Or maybe I like the is just me who has also been turning into the Depp/Heard trial all this week, or why I read novels by Thomas Hardy, clearly I have a thing for unlikeable characters.

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…. The work is a classic because the thing, such as it is, is ideally done, and because it shows that in such doing eternal beauty may dwell.” (Source: The Novel 100)

I’ve found this title on no less than five recommendation lists and I’m sure I’ll find more:
1001 Books to Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall
“Reading List for the College Bound found” in The Literature Lover’s Book of Lists.
Books published by Signet Classics
The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time by Daniel S. Burt (ranked #7)
Mentioned by Amor Towles in an interview in The Writer’s Library by Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager… (altro)

Cohen carefully places the Sea Story into the history of the novel, explicating first the precursors to Daniel Defoe, then following J. F. Cooper's influence in England and France, finishing up with Melville, Conrad, and then Patrick O'Brian. She explains the differences between the novel of adventure and the novel of manners, the latter which we tend to think of as the sole example of the form, and described how other novelistic genres grew out of the practical reason characteristic of the sea story.

Ms. Cohen restored my faith in academics, at least a little. She makes her case with grace and wit, and provides plenty for the wide-ranging reader to think about in assessing what they read. It also has a great bibliography. I recommend this highly.… (altro)