I’m reading this book by Viv Groskop called Au Revoir Tristesse and it amuses me.

The author, a Francophile who has spent years learning the language, living in France and reading their classics in French (an inspiring goal for me if I ever get to that point), summarises the lessons learned that each of these books provide us.

It’s the chapter on “True happiness may involve a lot of hypocrisy: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert or Beware of people who dump you by leaving a note in a basket of apricots” which I enjoyed immensely.

I’ve never read Madame Bovary. Indeed last night, I was at the City & Young bookstore at my local shopping centre standing in front of the classics bookshelves and i saw them there. They had a few in stock however, I didn’t buy a copy. In hindsight, maybe I should have after I had read this chapter this morning. 🤣

What struck me more about this chapter was not the story of Madame Bovary but it’s quirky perfectionist hypochondriac, tied-to-his-mother’s-apron strings author Gustave Flaubert.

I read into his background and I think I may be more interested in reading his biography than Madame Bovary. Certainly someone who forces his friends to listen to his narrating his writing over four days not allowing them to provide any feedback is one worthy of more attention.

I chuckled at how she wrote about his personality and character so looked into some of his quotes that rang true for today’s society.

Stupidity is something unshakable; nothing attacks it without breaking itself against it; it is of the nature of granite, hard and resistant.

The whole dream of democracy is to raise the proletarian to the level of stupidity attained by the bourgeois.

As a rule we disbelieve all the facts and theories for which we have no use.

The more humanity advances, the more it is degraded.

Of all possible debauches, traveling is the greatest that I know; that’s the one they invented when they got tired of all the others.

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Never touch your idols: the gilding will stick to your fingers

The public wants work which flatters its illusions