The Letters of Gustave Flaubert: 1830-1857

About this book

Gustave Flaubert wrote to his mistress Louise Colet: An author in his book must be like God in the universe present everywhere and visible nowhere. In his books Flaubert sought to observe that principle; but in his many impassioned letters he allowed his feelings to overflow revealing himself in all of his human complexity. Sensuous witty exalted ironic grave analytical the letters illustrate the artists lifeand they trumpet his artistic opinionsin an outpouring of uninhibited eloquence. An acknowledged master of translation Francis Steegmuller has given us by far the most generous and varied selection of Flauberts letters in English. He presents these with an engrossing narrative that places them in the context of the writers life and times. We follow Flaubert through his unhappy years at law school through his tumultuous affair with Louise Colet; we share his days and nights amid the temples and brothels of Egypt then on to Palestine Turkey Greece and Rome. And the letters chronicle one of the central events in literary historythe conception and composition of what has been called the first modern novel Madame Bovary. Steegmullers selection concludes with Flauberts standing trial for immoral writing Madame Bovarys immediate popular success and Baudelaires celebration of its psychological and literary power. Throughout this exposition in Flauberts own words of his views on life literature and the passions readers of his novels will be powerfully reminded of the fertility of his genius and delighted by his poetic enthusiasm. Let us sing to Apollo as in ancient days he wrote to Louise Colet and breathe deeply of the fresh cold air of Parnassus; let us strum our guitars and clash our cymbals and whirl like dervishes in the eternal hubbub of forms and ideas! Flauberts letters are documents of life and art; lovers of literature and of the literary adventure can rejoice in this edition.