Bouvard and Pécuchet

by Gustave Flaubert

Overview

Although unfinished during his lifetimee Bouvard and Pécuchet is now considered to be one of Flaubert's greatest masterpieces. In his own wordse the novel is "a kind of encyclopedia made into farce . . . A book in which I shall spit out my bile." At the center of this book are Bouvard and Pécuchete two retired clerks who set out in a search for truth and knowledge with persistent optimism in light of the fact that each new attempt at learning about the world ends in disaster. In the literary tradition of Rabelaise Cervantese and Swifte this story is told in that blend of satire and sympathy that only genius can compounde and the reader becomes genuinely fond of these two Don Quixotes of Ideas. Apart from being a new translatione this edition includes Flaubert's Dictionary of Received Ideas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504084550
Publisher:	Open Road Media
Publication date:	04/11/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	466
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) was born in Rouen, France, and dropped out of law school to become a writer. His first published novel, Madame Bovary, was censured by the French government; the resulting trial, on charges of obscenity, brought Flaubert to national prominence. He was eventually acquitted, and Emma Bovary’s tragic quest for romance is now considered one of the finest novels in Western literature. 

What People are Saying About This

Guy de Maupassant

"Among all the works of this brilliant writere Bouvard and Pécuchet is definitely the deepeste the most thoroughe the broadest. . . . It is the Tower of Babel of the sciencese where all the diversee opposinge and absolute doctrines--each having its own language--demonstrate the powerlessness of efforte the vanity of affirmatione and the ever eternal 'misery of everything."

Claudine Cohen

"In Bouvard and Pécuchete Flaubert created an encyclopedia of the sciences in a way that emphasizes all the flaws and failures of knowledgee and at the same timee he did so in a way that breaks the forms of literature itself."--(Claudine Cohene Alliage)

Jean Echenoz

"Flaubert inspires in me an affection that I don't feel for any other writer."

Editorial Reviews

Released in 1881, this comedic novel capped Flaubert's career. It follows the title characters as they abandon their clerkships in the city to try country life and fail at every turn. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"Among all the works of this brilliant writer, Bouvard and Pecuchet is definitely the deepest, the most thorough, the broadest.... It is the Tower of Babel of the sciences, where all the diverse, opposing, and absolute doctrines -- each having its own language -- demonstrate the powerlessness of effort, the vanity of affirmation, and the ever eternal 'misery of everything.'" --Guy de Maupassant

Dalkey Archive Press

"Flaubert inspires in me an affection that I don't feel for any other writer." --Jean Echenoz

Dalkey Archive Press

"In Bouvard and Pecuchet, Flaubert created an encyclopedia of the sciences in a way that emphasizes all the laws and failures of knowledge, and at the same time, he did so in a way that breaks the forms of literature itself." --Claudine Cohen, Alliage

Dalkey Archive Press

From the Publisher

Among all the works of this brilliant writer, Bouvard and Pécuchet is definitely the deepest, the most thorough, the broadest. . . . It is the Tower of Babel of the sciences, where all the diverse, opposing, and absolute doctrines—each having its own language—demonstrate the powerlessness of effort, the vanity of affirmation, and the ever eternal 'misery of everything.'”

Guy de Maupassant

Flaubert inspires in me an affection that I don't feel for any other writer.”

Jean Echenoz

In Bouvard and Pécuchet, Flaubert created an encyclopedia of the sciences in a way that emphasizes all the laws and failures of knowledge, and at the same time, he did so in a way that breaks the forms of literature itself.”

Claudine Cohen - Alliage

In Bouvard and Pécuchet,
Flaubert created an encyclopedia of the sciences in a way that emphasizes all the laws and failures of knowledge, and at the same time, he did so in a way that breaks the forms of literature itself.”— Claudine Cohen

Alliage