Gustave Flaubert

Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert

Publisher Marketing: We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a "new fellow," not wearing the school uniform, and a school servant carrying a large desk. Those who had been asleep woke up, and every one rose as if just surprised at his work. The head-master made a sign to us to sit down. Then, turning to the class-master, he said to him in a low voice- "Monsieur Roger, here is a pupil whom I recommend to your care; he'll be in the second. If his work and conduct are satisfactory, he will go into one of the upper classes, as becomes his age." The "new fellow," standing in the corner behind the door so that he could hardly be seen, was a country lad of about fifteen, and taller than any of us. His hair was cut square on his forehead like a village chorister's; he looked reliable, but very ill at ease. Although he was not broad-shouldered, his short school jacket of green cloth with black buttons must have been tight about the arm-holes, and showed at the opening of the cuffs red wrists accustomed to being bare. His legs, in blue stockings, looked out from beneath yellow trousers, drawn tight by braces, He wore stout, ill-cleaned, hob-nailed boots. We began repeating the lesson. He listened with all his ears, as attentive as if at a sermon, not daring even to cross his legs or lean on his elbow; and when at two o'clock the bell rang, the master was obliged to tell him to fall into line with the rest of us. When we came back to work, we were in the habit of throwing our caps on the ground so as to have our hands more free; we used from the door to toss them under the form, so that they hit against the wall and made a lot of dust: it was "the thing." But, whether he had not noticed the trick, or did not dare to attempt it, the "new fellow," was still holding his cap on his knees even after prayers were over. It was one of those head-gears of composite order, in which we can find traces of the bearskin, shako, billycock hat, sealskin cap, and cotton night-cap; one of those poor things, in fine, whose dumb ugliness has depths of expression, like an imbecile's face. Oval, stiffened with whalebone, it began with three round knobs; then came in succession lozenges of velvet and rabbit-skin separated by a red band; after that a sort of bag that ended in a cardboard polygon covered with complicated braiding, from which hung, at the end of a long thin cord, small twisted gold threads in the manner of a tassel. The cap was new; its peak shone. "Rise," said the master. He stood up; his cap fell. The whole class began to laugh. He stooped to pick it up. A neighbor knocked it down again with his elbow; he picked it up once more. Review Citations: Atlantic Monthly 10/01/2004 pg. 175 (EAN 9781419131912, Paperback) Ingram Advance 05/01/2005 pg. 113 (EAN 9780192840394, Paperback) Booklist 11/15/1999 pg. 601 (EAN 9780679600138, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 312 (EAN 9780679420316, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 227 (EAN 9780679420316, Hardcover) New York Times Book Review 05/18/2014 pg. 14 (EAN 9781843798477, Compact Disc) Entertainment Weekly 07/05/2013 pg. 101 (EAN 9780486292571, Paperback) New York Times Book Review 10/14/2010 pg. 26 (EAN 9780670022076, Hardcover) New York Times Book Review 10/03/2010 pg. 14 (EAN 9780670022076, Hardcover) New York Times Book Review 10/10/2010 pg. 26 (EAN 9780670022076, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2011 pg. 28 (EAN 9780670022076, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2014 pg. 287 (EAN 9780670022076, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Flaubert, Gustave Gustave Flaubert (1821-80) is considered to be one of the most important French novelists of the nineteenth century. He's most well known for his novel Madame Bovary, and for his desire to write "a book about nothing," a novel in which all external elements, especially the presence of the author, have been eliminated, leaving nothing but style itself. Often considered a member of the naturalist school, Flaubert despised categorizations of this sort, and in novels like Bouvard and Pecuchet demonstrates the inaptness of this label. In addition to these two novels, he is also the author of A Sentimental Education, Salambo, Three Tales, and The Temptation of Saint Anthony.