L'educazione sentimentale, Volume 1

by Gustave Flaubert, Lalla Romano (Translator)

L'educazione sentimentale è un romanzo di Gustave Flaubert, scritto nel periodo che va dal 1864 al 1869 e pubblicato nello stesso anno, suddiviso in tre parti, delle quali le prime due contano sei capitoli ciascuna, mentre l'ultima sette. Nel progetto originario del romanzo l'autore prevedeva un lavoro a metà strada fra il romanzo sentimentale e quello dei costumi parigini, per fornire al lettore un quadro sulla storia morale della sua generazione. Il successo del libro è stato tardivo e la critica moderna lo inserisce di diritto tra gli esempi più convincenti del romanzo ottocentesco, sottolineando lo stile fluido e le innovazioni narrative e grammaticali che lo hanno contraddistinto.

393 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1869

About the author

Gustave Flaubert was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realism strives for formal perfection, so the presentation of reality tends to be neutral, emphasizing the values and importance of style as an objective method of presenting reality". He is known especially for his debut novel Madame Bovary (1857), his Correspondence, and his scrupulous devotion to his style and aesthetics. The celebrated short story writer Guy de Maupassant was a protégé of Flaubert.

Reviews

[juliemcl]

(Update to my update below: Did I really say I’ll “reserve my rating” below until I finish volume 2? Like everyone’s holding their breath. It’s Flo-bear for god’s sake. He’s a genius.)

Original “review”: I lost the thread. I think it's a bad translation or something got garbled in the free Kindle edition: I was enjoying it but about halfway through it got very confusing. Can't keep any of the characters straight. It might not help that I was using it as sleepytime reading, but it was good at making me confusedly sleepy.

UPDATE: I’m done with volume 1, downloaded volume 2. Will reserve rating until finished but I must say I’m enjoying it now. I think I could read (and maybe have read) the ball scene at the Marechale’s house 100 times. I don’t see that getting old. This turns out to be a more modern novel than I thought it would be; the political stuff about the 1848 revolution resonates today. Frederick’s almost insufferable dopeyness keeps making me laugh, because, like, who hasn’t acted like that on occasion? He’s young and real dumb.

[Federico Donnarumma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lettura relativamente leggera, ma davvero poco interessante.

Il protagonista è un giovane nobile francese, che seguiamo nelle sue vicende amorose e disavventure finanziarie, nessuna delle quali riesce ad essere particolarmente coinvolgente.

Pur essendo considerato uno dei capisaldi del romanzo di formazione, molto deludente.