Madame Bovary

Title: Madame Bovary
Author: Gustave Flaubert
Published: 1857

I read it, and was not altogether impressed. Honestly, it made me wonder why it's a classic, so after finishing the book I read a little bit about it to find out. It's a classic because if its realism. That makes sense.

It was very real, despite the main character's desire to live a romantic life. She wanted everything to be like the novels she was reading, but instead, her husband was dull, her baby drooled on her, her adultery quickly lost its charm, and bills came due.

Her death was as unromantic as it could get. It was painful, long lasting, agonizing, and messy. Even her postmortem experience missed the mark for her; all dressed up in her wedding gown and made to look beautiful, her head is lifted a bit and some black liquid spews out of her mouth, staining her beautiful array.

Real life is messy, and disappointing. So now that I know what it was supposed to be about, looking back it was a good book and made some good points. I wouldn't read it again, though.