A Gustave Flaubert Encyclopedia (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780313307447)

Gustave Flaubert is probably the most famous novelist of nineteenth-century France, and his best known work, Madame Bovary, is read in numerous comparative literature and French courses. His fiction set the standard to which other authors turned to learn their craft, and his cult of art and his unrelenting search for stylistic perfection inspired many later writers, such as Maupassant, Proust, Conrad, Faulkner, and Joyce. His denunciation of materialistic, corrupt society; his fascination with altered states of consciousness; his oscillation between metaphysical longings and a radical nihilism; and his deep-seated mistrust of the adequacy of words themselves anticipate the works of contemporary authors. This reference is a convenient guide to his life and writings.

Included in this volume are several hundred alphabetically arranged entries on Flaubert's individual works and major characters; historical persons and events that shaped his life; the themes that run throughout his writings; the critical approaches employed by scholars studying his works; and related topics of interest. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and most close with a brief bibliography. All of his major works are treated at length, and the volume mentions nearly every unpublished project of his that has a title. The book concludes with a selected, general bibliography of major studies.

Author: Laurence M. Porter
ISBN-10: 031330744X
ISBN-13: 9780313307447
Publisher: Greenwood
Language: English
Published: 03/30/2001
Pages: 392
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.58lbs
Size: 9.46h x 6.34w x 1.22d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 09/01/2001 pg. 150
Reference and Research Bk News 08/01/2001 pg. 230
Choice 11/01/2001 pg. 480