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Madame Bovary
- Narrated by: Ronald Pickup
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
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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).
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What listeners say about Madame Bovary
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Overall
- Peter
- 22-11-12
First class performance
Ronald Pickup gives an absolutely first class performance - clear engaging reading, wonderful characterisation of the dialogue, and authentic french pronounciation when necessary. A real pleasure to listen to. And the book itself - it's hard to like, let alone admire, any of the characters, and the unfolding of Emma's married life is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. But it's so gripping, and the characters are so real, so fully human. Their individual psychologies are so honestly written and so resonant for a 21st century reader that it was always something of surprise (as a first time reader of Madame Bovary) to recall that it was written more than 150 years ago. Highly recommended.
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19 people found this helpful
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- Melissa McDermid
- 29-09-15
Not the Emma I knew.
Read this book a few times, my take on Emma was totally different, the narrator made her out to be a simpering fool. In fact every woman was spoken in a wholly offensive way. Wish I hadn't heard it.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Christina
- 02-04-11
Cr?me de la cr?me :)
An animated and charming narration which sweeps you way back to the novel's nineteenth century contextual setting, vividly evoked from beginning to end.
Ronald Pickup is a talented storyteller and a pleasure to listen to!
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10 people found this helpful
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- JulieB
- 28-12-15
Fantastic narration
What did you like most about Madame Bovary?
I really enjoyed the story, however, it was brought to life by the amazing narration of Ronald Pickup. He is the best narrator that I have listened to on Audible.
What does Ronald Pickup bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
He brings the characters to life and adds drama to each section
Any additional comments?
Thank you Ronald Pickup!
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9 people found this helpful
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- Trevor
- 12-12-14
Classic novel brilliantly read
It is difficult today to understand why Madame Bovary should have caused such outrage in 1850s Paris (Flaubert was prosecuted for offending public morals) but one must remember that with greatly increased literacy rates, especially amongst women and the working classes, the authorities were concerned that popular literature should be idealistic and morally uplifting. It was perhaps as much for the realism of his writing as for the wanton behaviour of his heroine that Flaubert attracted such opprobrium in official circles.
Flaubert was a supreme stylist (a fact that I suspect may be even more apparent in the original French) and Ronald Pickup, an actor I have long admired, catches the mood of the book perfectly. His reading of the famous carriage scene, which still has considerable erotic charge, is especially good.
Although the plot may, to modern eyes, appear rather melodramatic, Pickup's excellent narration makes this an enjoyable way of catching up with a classic novel.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Peta
- 15-04-13
A great study guide
I have used this audio to assist in the study of this novel. The reading is clear and the narrative comes to life through the character expressions used by the reader. The pace is good and although there are no explanations for unknown words, phrases or any historical context like there would be in a book, it is till worth buying for the enjoyable experience of not having to struggle to read the French words, even after translation!
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5 people found this helpful
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- Mr. R. E. Towers
- 12-05-20
A beautiful piece of art and social history
This book was published in 1857 so forgive me if I spoil the ending. This is a beautiful piece of art and social history. Emma Bovary was the daughter of a farmer, educated at a convent during a time when marriage was about property, families and a dowry rather than romance. However, Emma had ideas above herself and filled her head with romantic novels. She marries a country doctor and is quickly bored with the mundanity of her husband and her life. She tries to live her dreams and fantasies with a fling that fades when she plans to elope. She embarks on a second adulterous affair and this too ends but only after she has built up debts on clothes and frippery which force her into bankruptcy and her husband's possessions being taken away. Emma kills herself with arsenic poisoning in an awful, lengthy episode which spares no detail.
This is a landmark novel, often said to be the first reality novel. It resulted in Flaubert being prosecuted by the French state for being 'an affront to decent comportment and religious morality'. The book was accused of encouraging adultery and liberating women to do as they please. It also stood accused of making adultery seem attractive to women. The novel and the trial reeked of hypocrisy as adultery for men, with both mistresses and prostitutes, was well known and tolerated. It can also be argued that Emma's misery and death serve as warning rather than encouragement. Flaubert was acquitted and the book became a best seller. The novel explores the interaction of the French state, monarchy and church and characters represent the battle between enlightenment (the apothecary) and religion and superstition (the preist). All this takes place during the industrial revolution and the imminent collapse of the Second Empire. For her part, Emma is manipulated by men throughout her life, is part victim and part accomplice, she pays little regard to her child. Readers familiar with the treachery of romantic love will foresee the ending but this is a monumental novel. Ronald Pickup read all characters brilliantly.
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4 people found this helpful
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- nndv,jsd,s\d
- 10-08-19
The finest experience on Audible?
This is simply masterful; an utterly compelling experience on every level. Bravo to all concerned!
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4 people found this helpful
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- Samantha S
- 20-08-20
Couldn't abandon it, couldn't wait for it to end.
This is a celebrated classic, just not for me. The saving grace was Ronald Pickup's performance, without which, I wouldn't have been able to persevere.
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3 people found this helpful
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- JAFFA
- 14-01-18
Wonderfully read
I’ve always intended to get through Madame Bovary since I failed to do so in French - but dreaded it. Ronald Pickup makes it a fantastic experience, singing out Zola’s epic narrative so vividly and expressively as to squeeze out every note and nuance. I can’t be the only person who wants to slap Madame Bovary every few pages, and in this respect I take away a star for “story”, but if you want to master this classic and put the notch on your belt, I can wholeheartedly recommend it. Pickup makes it as good a “read” as it possibly could be.
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3 people found this helpful