Sunday, December 12, 2010

Happy Birthday, Gustave Flaubert!

Gustave Flaubert  (December 12, 1821 -- May 8, 1880) was a French novelist whose works include Madame Bovary (1857), Sentimental Education (1869), and Bouvard et Pécuchet (1881). His output was not large because he agonized over each word he would commit to paper, searching for the right word ("le mot juste") for days or weeks at a time. Flaubert combined the traits of a romantic, a realist, and a stylist -- which may explain the wide influence he had on writers who followed him. Many critics consider Flaubert the first modern novelist, however, because of his ability to make the style of his novel often more important than any action he described.

Why not try some Flaubert from CDPL?

"One never tires of what is well written, style is life! It is the very blood of thought!" -- Flaubert

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