The strands woven together in Gustave Flaubert's famous, path breaking 1856 novel Madame Bovary include a provincial town in Normandy, France, a shy young doctor with an indifferent career and a lovely young woman who lives in a fantasy world based on the innumerable romantic novels she reads. Of course there is also the story of a dull marriage punctuated by passionate, adulterous love affairs. First published in serial form in a Parisian magazine and deemed to be the “perfect” novel, Flaubert's debut was received by both readers and critics with acclaim and admiration...

Here is a collection of strikingly different pieces by Flaubert: a prose poem in the voices of Death, Satan and Nero; the trials and apotheosis of a medieval saint; and the life of a selfless maid in 19th century France. Each exhibits the vigorous exactness, and the mixture of realism and romanticism, for which Flaubert is renowned.

Le « Dictionnaire des idées reçues » : recueil d’exemples de l’intelligence humaine qui se dépasse elle-même. Les temps changent ; ce genre d’intelligence, non. Flaubert nous fait des clins d’œil depuis sa tombe – et ceci durera certainement jusqu’à la fin des temps… (Par Didier)

Charles Bovary, médecin de campagne, veuf d'une mégère, fait lors d'une tournée la rencontre du père Rouault et de sa fille, Emma. Après leur mariage, Emma reste insatisfaite et rêve d'une nouvelle vie. Son premier amant lui donne le goût du luxe et fait miroiter un avenir à deux avant de l'abandonner. Une fois remise, Emma continue à faire de folles dépenses, qui peu à peu la mènent à la ruine et au déshonneur. (Résumé par Nadine)

After completing the famous Mme Bovary, Flaubert put all his efforts into researching the Punic Wars and completed the lesser known Salammbô. In this volume, Flaubert describes in detail the Mercenary Revolt and the fight of the Mercenaries against the all-powerful Carthage, the theft of the magical Zaimph and the love and hate between the Carthaginian princess Salammbô and the fiercest leader of the Mercenaries, Matho.

Roman historique situé au 3ème siècle avant JC. La trame du récit raconte la guerre qui oppose Carthage aux mercenaires qu'elle avait employé lors de la première Guerre Punique, et qui se rebellent car Carthage tarde à leur payer leur solde.Le roman met en scène Salammbo, fille fictive du général Hamilcar ainsi que l'amour que lui portent deux chefs mercenaires. Ce roman se caractérise par la richesse de ses descriptions et il s'en dégage une atmosphère poétique toute particulière...

Sentimental Education is a novel by Gustave Flaubert, that is considered one of the most influential novels of the 19th century. The story focuses on the romantic life of a young man at the time of the French Revolution of 1848. - Summary by Wikipedia

An extraordinary work of the aesthetic imagination, cast in the form of a psycho-drama detailing the events of one night in the life of the aged hermit, later Saint, Anthony, in the course of which his claims to sainthood are severely tested by, among other things, Gods, Magicians, Science, Food, Monstres, Lust and Death. Beautifully translated by Lafcadio Hearn, justly celebrated for his eerie re-tellings of Japanese ghost stories and legends, it boasts equally extraordinary printworks by renowned symbolist artist Odilon Redon. - Summary by Tony Addison

Written over a century and a half ago, Madame Bovary is still an extraordinarily fresh, exciting and shockingly frank novel, at once an acute psychological study of a woman drawn into adultery through circumstances we can partly understand, and a sharply-observed comedy that offers a fascinating glimpse of the social and cultural divisions running through French provincial society in the mid nineteenth century. This translation is by Eleanor Marx-Aveling, a prominent social activist and literary translator. She was the youngest daughter of Karl Marx.

La soñadora Emma, una joven de provincias casada con Charles Bovary, quien la ama pero es incapaz de comprenderla y satisfacerla, buscará la realización de sus sueños en otros amores, pasionales, platónicos..., pero ninguno de ellos logrará calmar su desesperada ansiedad y sus románticas inquietudes. La publicación de Madame Bovary provocó el escándalo de la burguesía francesa, esclava de mil prejuicios, y el proceso judicial que siguió contribuyó a un éxito editorial sin precedentes...

Salambó recrea la “Guerra de los mercenarios” que tuvo lugar en el siglo III AC en la ciudad de Cartago. Se puede considerar una novela histórica aunque en ella aparecen tanto personajes reales como ficticios. Flaubert relató con todo lujo de detalles, excesivos para algunos de su época, hechos, lugares... vestimentas, etc.La obra está llena de violencia; batallas, sangre, crímenes, incluso canibalismo.Por otro lado está Salambó, hija de Amílcar, de la que Matho, líder de los mercenarios se obsesiona. Matho roba el zaïmph, velo sagrado que envuelve a la diosa Tanit en su templo y que es guardián de la ciudad. Graves consecuencias conlleva el robo del zaïmf.