Publisher's Synopsis
Gustave Flaubert (1821 - 1880) was a French writer who is considered to be among the greatest novelists in Western literature. This book contains his five greatest novels, in a single volume: Madame Bovary is the wife of a benevolent doctor, but longs for the excitement she reads of in romantic novels. Her life falls woefully short of these high emotions. So she throws herself into high living and adulterous affairs. A powerful novel and a reminder to all of us to find the secret of contentment. Salammbo tells the story of the Mercenary War between Carthage and the Barbarians in the third century BC. It is a cinematic novel with an astounding level of detail, both of the affluence of Carthage and the savagery of the battles. Flaubert fills the mind with unforgettable images. Sentimental Education is the story of a young man who is selfish and witless, and his friends and lovers are each immersed in their illusions and equally selfish and stupid. Flaubert's prose is flawless. The Temptation of St. Antony is a surreal novel, almost written like a dramatized play. It is more fantasy than fiction and within the poetic licence we find the person of Saint Antoine elucidated. We encounter his temptations and through his dark night of the soul, he discovers divine grace. Bouvard And Pécuchet is Flaubert's unfinished classic. It is a satire about two retired copyrighting clerks who dedicate themselves to pursuit of knowledge. The comedy is in the way they get things so badly wrong, they have no critical thinking abilities and they move from subject to subject without mastering anything.
