James L. Roberts

“Flaubert was a very diligent and precise craftsman. He spent more than five years working on Madame Bovary, in the course of which he wrote biographies of all the characters and drew maps of the towns which were his settings.”
― James L Roberts, CliffsNotes on Flaubert's Madame Bovary

“Throughout the novel there is a very carefully planned selection of episodes and incidents, so that “realism,” if interpreted to mean a kind of journalistic reportage, is misleading. Every detail in Madame Bovary is chosen for a purpose and is closely related to everything else that precedes and follows it, to an extent that may not be evident (or possible) in real life. There is profound artistry involved in what is selected and omitted and in what weight is given to specific incidents.”
― James L Roberts, CliffsNotes on Flaubert's Madame Bovary