Ah, Madame Bovary. I read this in the English translation, obviously - you would be waiting for some time for this review if you waited for me to plough through it in French. This is the terribly tragic tale of Emma, who makes a good, solid marriage to the sensible and not overly exciting Dr Bovary. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for her to become disillusioned as her marriage has not brought the rollercoaster of passion and excitement that she expected. They move to a quiet country town where Charles sets up his medical practice.
Without giving too much of the story away, Madame Bovary then embarks on a life of seeking romance, love and excitement outside her marriage. There are moments of ecstasy, moments of despair, against a background of spiralling debt to fund her lifestyle. Charles is resolutely oblivious.
It doesn't end well.
It was very readable, but to be honest, left me completely cold. I just wanted to shake Emma, and tell her to pull herself together. She was so deluded and silly that I had no sympathy for any of her difficulties or traumas, particularly during her increased neglect/ignoring of her daughter, and I found it really difficult to believe the debt-related strand of the novel. I can understand why it is a classic, but it isn't for me - the characters held no appeal for me, and I didn't really care what happened to them.
This probably displays that I'm not a purist, but I do prefer a story with an element of redemption in it...something that doesn't feature in Madame Bovary.
In other news, I can't find my Kindle - I'm pretty sure it's in the house somewhere but the exact location is a mystery. Hmm. My next reading project will have to be something in real paper...
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