Yalla’s review of מאדאם בובארי > Likes and Comments
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I hit the 'like' button because your prose is magnificent, and I am really glad you enjoyed it so much... but oy, Yalla, I cannot stand Flaubert's omniscient smugness, pompous pontification, and—to quote a great philosopher—"scrappy crappy" narrative. Honestly, I think the only thing poor Emma is actually carrying on her narrow shoulders is a total lack of agency and the inability to think because an overconfident male writer with no real knowledge of women decided to create her as flat as a piece of cardboard and then called it 'female psychology.' I'm quite confident you wouldn't have written women like that had you been an author... or we would have real problems. 😂
GR Mahtab... are we fighting again? Not everyone are deep. Many are flat and shallow. I do believe that the disintegration here is on par with Zola and Tolstoy and even with female writers as Ferrante and Plath. This is my second reading and I actually find Emma so much more enchanting now. Her pain, her loneliness, her apathy, her desire for love feel honest and real. Her addiction to glitter regardless of the cost is very much en vogue still. I see so many Emmas, male and female, all over the place. I also love the style. The minimal dialogue and emphasis on the narration and mind reading. The metaphors and similes are just incredible. Cold plaster as damp linen. Ill made wines that taste of resin. The windows of the village were all on fire beneath the slanting rays of the sun sinking behind the field... I find Flaubert amazing
Yalla wrote: "GR Mahtab... are we fighting again? Not everyone are deep. Many are flat and shallow. I do believe that the disintegration here is on par with Zola and Tolstoy and even with female writers as Ferra..."
Again? When was the last time we fought?! You already saw the dark side of the moon under your own review a few days ago, and this isn’t even close to that. So no, I don’t fight. Never. At least not with you. It’s just a very friendly duel over a 19th-century glamorous idiot. I respect your taste, but I cannot appreciate flowery language when the scaffolding beneath it is so shaky that it might collapse on the reader’s head at any moment. I’d rather choose the Aesthetics of Sincerity, or even the aesthetics of the ugly, when depicting human psychology on the page. But really, comparing Emma’s flat cardboard cutout to the visceral, earth-shattering interiority of Plath’s Esther? I didn’t expect that from you! ;) There is a grand difference between a character being 'shallow' and a character being 'hollow.' You’re right, there might be many Emmas all over the place, but do they deserve to be the protagonists of our stories? If every Emma made it into a book, the literary world would be as dull as watching paint dry. Fine writers listen to the world but rarely copy what they hear. Like marble carved by a Michelangelo, language is raw material chiseled by an author. They shouldn’t just copy life; they should express it. Flaubert and Flauberts simply aren't my thing, though I respect that so many admire them. Fortunately, we have so many other things in common that a little book like this could never ruin our precious literary friendship. 🤍💙
Kol haKavod! Omg, I read the book title and realised who that was, and then your wonderful review!
I read the book many many years ago, for a high-school class project. I do not have fond memories, I guess I was too young to have a proper opinion on books.
Not sure I'll read it again.
I will CERTAINLY read your reviews and comments (Yalla & Mahtab), amazing stuff!
Menachem wrote: "I read the book many many years ago, for a high-school class project. I do not have fond memories, I guess I was too young to have a proper opinion on books.
Not sure I'll read it again.
I will CER..."
Thank you so much for your kind words, Menachem! I’m afraid Yalla and I can get a bit loud and passionate when we start discussing literature, so I truly appreciate your patience with our naughty banter.
And thank you for everything you do for the community here, especially with the Hebrew editions. You're definitely the king of librarians. It is an honor to have you reading our reviews and comments!
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Jul 09, 2026 08:29PM
I hit the 'like' button because your prose is magnificent, and I am really glad you enjoyed it so much... but oy, Yalla, I cannot stand Flaubert's omniscient smugness, pompous pontification, and—to quote a great philosopher—"scrappy crappy" narrative. Honestly, I think the only thing poor Emma is actually carrying on her narrow shoulders is a total lack of agency and the inability to think because an overconfident male writer with no real knowledge of women decided to create her as flat as a piece of cardboard and then called it 'female psychology.' I'm quite confident you wouldn't have written women like that had you been an author... or we would have real problems. 😂
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GR Mahtab... are we fighting again? Not everyone are deep. Many are flat and shallow. I do believe that the disintegration here is on par with Zola and Tolstoy and even with female writers as Ferrante and Plath. This is my second reading and I actually find Emma so much more enchanting now. Her pain, her loneliness, her apathy, her desire for love feel honest and real. Her addiction to glitter regardless of the cost is very much en vogue still. I see so many Emmas, male and female, all over the place. I also love the style. The minimal dialogue and emphasis on the narration and mind reading. The metaphors and similes are just incredible. Cold plaster as damp linen. Ill made wines that taste of resin. The windows of the village were all on fire beneath the slanting rays of the sun sinking behind the field... I find Flaubert amazing
Yalla wrote: "GR Mahtab... are we fighting again? Not everyone are deep. Many are flat and shallow. I do believe that the disintegration here is on par with Zola and Tolstoy and even with female writers as Ferra..."Again? When was the last time we fought?! You already saw the dark side of the moon under your own review a few days ago, and this isn’t even close to that. So no, I don’t fight. Never. At least not with you. It’s just a very friendly duel over a 19th-century glamorous idiot. I respect your taste, but I cannot appreciate flowery language when the scaffolding beneath it is so shaky that it might collapse on the reader’s head at any moment. I’d rather choose the Aesthetics of Sincerity, or even the aesthetics of the ugly, when depicting human psychology on the page. But really, comparing Emma’s flat cardboard cutout to the visceral, earth-shattering interiority of Plath’s Esther? I didn’t expect that from you! ;) There is a grand difference between a character being 'shallow' and a character being 'hollow.' You’re right, there might be many Emmas all over the place, but do they deserve to be the protagonists of our stories? If every Emma made it into a book, the literary world would be as dull as watching paint dry. Fine writers listen to the world but rarely copy what they hear. Like marble carved by a Michelangelo, language is raw material chiseled by an author. They shouldn’t just copy life; they should express it. Flaubert and Flauberts simply aren't my thing, though I respect that so many admire them. Fortunately, we have so many other things in common that a little book like this could never ruin our precious literary friendship. 🤍💙
Kol haKavod! Omg, I read the book title and realised who that was, and then your wonderful review!
I read the book many many years ago, for a high-school class project. I do not have fond memories, I guess I was too young to have a proper opinion on books.Not sure I'll read it again.
I will CERTAINLY read your reviews and comments (Yalla & Mahtab), amazing stuff!
Menachem wrote: "I read the book many many years ago, for a high-school class project. I do not have fond memories, I guess I was too young to have a proper opinion on books.Not sure I'll read it again.
I will CER..."
Thank you so much for your kind words, Menachem! I’m afraid Yalla and I can get a bit loud and passionate when we start discussing literature, so I truly appreciate your patience with our naughty banter.
And thank you for everything you do for the community here, especially with the Hebrew editions. You're definitely the king of librarians. It is an honor to have you reading our reviews and comments!
