Madame Bovary

Missed the meeting due to a serious dose of man flu... I had even read Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary well in advance. So thought I would try this blog thing.

Well, I really enjoyed it! The story built and built, and I couldn't put it down once I had got into the last third. I found the book true to it's times, but with gloriously readable passages of descriptive prose that gave it a more contemporary feel than a classic nineteenth century text. The theme of self-destructive pursuit of happiness is one that resonates with us now; but no matter how we view Madame Bovary's sad demise I wonder how many of us hoped for a miraculous cure or a rising from the dead as she slipped away...