Madame Bovary

By: Gustave Flaubert, Gerard Hopkins - translator

Narrated by: Ronald Pickup

Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

Before marrying, Emma Bovary believed she would enter a life of luxury and passion like the sentimental stories she'd read in her novels and magazines. Now married to an ordinary country doctor her life is not the romantic ideal she imagined and seeks an escape through having extra-marital affairs. This devastating spiral into deceit and despair leads to catastrophic consequences.

Emma Bovary continues to be enjoyed to this day because of its profound humanity, still as fresh today as when it was first written. But when first released in instalments in the Revue de Paris, the French government accused Flaubert of obscenity. However, the trial that followed and Flaubert's acquittal, only served to increase interest in the story when released as a book, leading to it becoming a best seller in 1857.

Considered Flaubert's masterpiece, the audiobook is an important piece of literary realism and one of the most influential literary works in history. It remains unsurpassed in its unveiling of character and society with its wonderfully subtle understanding of human emotions.

Translated by Gerard Hopkins.

Narrator Biography

Ronald Pickup has been in over 150 films and television series. His films include The Time of Their Lives, The Have-Nots, Schadenfreude, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Prince of Persia, Sands of Time, and Greyfriars Bobby. His television includes The Crown, Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey, Atlantis, Coronation Street, Pram Face, Parade's End, Lewis, Midsomer Murders, Holby City, Foyle's War, Cambridge Spies, and Orwell on Jura (nominated Best Actor BAFTA).

Ronald Pickup's theatrical credits include Heartbreak House (Chichester Festival Theatre), Waiting For Godot (Haymarket Theatre, West End), Uncle Vanya (The Rose Theatre, Kingston), Look Back in Anger (Theatre Royal, Bath), Proof (Donmar Warehouse), and Amy's View (National Theatre and NY- nominated Best Supporting Actor Olivier).

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Somewhere in the universe, Flaubert is smiling...

...to hear the sound of Ronald Pickup's deft Bovary character interpretations, whose cadence, rhythm, and intonation are nothing short of masterful. My only regret is that no other Flaubert offerings are entrusted to him. This one is a must-listen!

MUCH BETTER THE SECOND TIME AROUND

Surely there is no more exciting and pursued emotion than “being in love.” Flaubert’s classic MADAM BOVARY reminds us how fleeting and dangerous this emotion can be, especially after lovers become satiated and then bored with too much familiarity. To his credit, considering his time period, he also shows us, that prostitution is an equal opportunity behavior for both sexes and arranged marriages do not always result in learning to love.

From the beginning we know that the marriage of Emma and Charles is doomed from the first. Emma’s convent education had exposed her to the fine arts and books about handsome knights on shining white horses pursuing beautiful ladies while Charles’ education, arranged by his mother, was limited to memorizing his way through the required tests for a medical license. His mother had arranged his marriage to an older widow and Emma had returned home to her father’s farm when she left the convent. Charles was captivated by a beautiful young woman and Emma was looking for a way out of the dull boredom of farm life. And, so after the death of his wife, they were wed.

Boredom can be a great motivator for the immature. Emma seeks to relieve the boredom by pursuing the excitement of “falling in love” and of spending money. Sound familiar? Charles loves his beautiful young wife. Both end up in tragedy.

Flaubert is an outstanding writer. His descriptive prose is a pleasure to hear. His book is better appreciated by mature readers than by high school seniors and college sophomores. It is a fine listen with a very good narrator. Enjoy!

This is the best narrator ever.

Sometimes the pronunciation makes it hard to grasp even character names. But the narration dramatical performance is top notch. Anyone can notice this narrator is an actor and a pretty good one at that.

Interesting

Scandalous for the time. A good read. Flaubert paints an enticing tale. Will look for more from this time period.

Refreshing for Somthing Written so Long Ago

Honestly, when I first started this book I thought this book was going to be a waste of my time. Now that I have reached the end of it, I realize that this book teaches a valuable lesson and that I might even listen to it again.

Humanity and cause and effect of poor decisons driven by desires

A true portrayal of man and woman picturing importance of character and values and what transpires when these qualities are lacking

Descent into despair

Narration is excellent. Story is like watching a train wreck and if you can still have empathy for Emma and Charles Bovary, you are a better soul than me!

Possibly the greatest novel of the 19th century.

Moving tale by the great French novelist, beautifully read. No lover of literature should miss this.

Poor narration - just read it

The book is a masterpiece. Much better to read it. Maybe other recorded versions are better. The narrator ruins it. He is over eager, seemingly ignores punctuation, slows down and speeds up indiscriminately to the point that one can’t follow him, and his voice gives inflection and emphasis to lines and passages meant to be neither inflected nor emphasized.

Fantastic Narrator

I don't always prefer audiobooks, but I prefer the classics on audiobook, I feel like good narration helps bring you back to that time and suspend disbelief. This is a perfect example.

This is a great story, with great characters, but that aside, this narrator really brings it out. If you're like me where a narrator makes or breaks an audiobook, you won't be disappointed with this one. I was surprised to see that he has a short list of audiobooks to his name.