Flaubert, Geoffrey Wall
Flaubert, Geoffrey Wall
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Flaubert
A Life

Author: Geoffrey Wall

Narrator: John Lee

Unabridged: 13 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook (DRM Protected)

Published: 10/05/2009

Synopsis

A blond giant of a man with green eyes and a resonant actor’s voice, Gustave Flaubert was perhaps the finest French writer of the nineteenth century. He lived quietly in the provinces with his widowed mother, composing his novels at the rate of five words an hour. He detested his respectable neighbors, and they, in turn, helped to ensure his infamy as a writer of immoral books. Geoffrey Wall’s stylish and compelling new biography weaves together Flaubert’s provincial life with his escapes to Paris, where he participated in all the important literary and social milieus, and his passionate travels put him in company with courtesans, actresses, acrobats, gypsies, and simpletons of every stripe. Wall is especially good at showing how Flaubert’s outwardly calm, inwardly turbulent life inspired the complex settings and unforgettable characters of his imperishable novels.

About Geoffrey Wall

Geoffrey Wall has translated Madame Bovary and other works of Flaubert. A teacher at the University of York, he lives in York with his wife and four children.

About John Lee

John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays.

Reviews

Goodreads review by MJ on August 06, 2015

Flaubert’s life is not always a fascinating thing to behold . . . raised in comfort, flouted the father to pursue literature, travelled and slept with whores, embarked on an anti-romance with Louise Colet, faffed around for ages before writing Madame Bovary, cosied into fame and notoriety, wrote a m......more

Goodreads review by Malcolm on March 04, 2025

Not that he was a prolific author, but I read 2 of Flaubert's novels - Madame Bovary & A Sentimental Education - in the late 80s & enjoyed them both. Judging by Wall's biog, however, I doubt I would have enjoyed his actual company. The frustrating part for me, as a working class kid who also grew up......more

Goodreads review by Carlos on July 31, 2023

Realmente una obra lograda; la presentación del material nos permite acercarnos a la vida de un hombre excepcional, descrita de forma erudita mas no pedante, sino accesible; conocer su relación con su madre, con su amante, con sus amistades (literarias o no), las injusticias para con sus libros (inc......more

Goodreads review by Sam on March 12, 2020

Flaubert was an extraordinarily unpleasant and even repellent person who wrote a masterpiece and, with the possible exception of one story, several other works that are still read only because their author once wrote Madame Bovary.......more

Goodreads review by Gringoire on November 10, 2014

Wonderfully interesting read.......more

Quotes

“The result of this nimble thinking, and even sharper writing, is one of the best biographies of this or any other year.” Sunday Telegraph (London)

“In this magnificently readable biography, Geoffrey Wall has pursued and pinned down his reclusive prey...This is a biography written from experience, and it has a vividness and immediacy that make it a pleasure to read.” Times Literary Supplement (London)

“Geoffrey Wall has acquitted himself superbly…His new life of Flaubert is as frankly entertaining as his subject demands—a tremendous achievement.” Guardian (Manchester)

“A fascinating biography that flows along as fast and smoothly as the Seine tumbling past Flaubert’s windows at Croisset.” Independent on Sunday (London)

“The clearest, most satisfyingly biographical account of Flaubert to date.” Independent (London)

“Flaubert is a beautifully balanced biography, written without prejudice but with a clear-eyed view of the strengths and weaknesses of an exceptional writer.” Anita Brookner, in The Spectator’s “Books of the Year,” 2001

“Gustave Flaubert was one of France’s greatest writers. Best-known for his first novel, Madame Bovary, Flaubert was a great stylist and a literary perfectionist. As is the case with many nineteenth-century authors, his life tells us a lot about his times. John Lee’s avuncular tone fits well in this fireside-type reading of Flaubert’s life story. Lee sounds interested in the details and keeps the listener interested as well. His pronunciation of French names won’t distract those who speak the language but won’t confuse listeners unfamiliar with French. Anyone interested in French literature, or the nineteenth century in general, will find this an enlightening listen.” AudioFile

“Flaubert was a complex and brilliant man whose writing came with great difficulty (one page per week) and who was shaped by the historical time in which he lived. Madame Bovary took five years to complete and was intended for ‘men only.’ John Lee…reads in an entertaining style with excellent French accents, engaging the listener with the minute and fascinating details of Flaubert’s life. Listener beware; none of the French is translated. If you haven’t read Madame Bovary, this will propel you to; if you’ve read it, this will propel you to read it again.” Soundcommentary.com

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