Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was a French novelist, short-story
writer, and playwright. Born in Rouen to a distinguished surgeon,
Flaubert moved in 1841 to study law in Paris, where he first became
involved with the city's literary scene. Flaubert"s use of
psychological realism in his masterpieces, Madame Bovary and L'
ducation sentimentale, earned him a reputation as one of the most
influential novelists of the nineteenth century.
Francis Steegmuller (1906-1994) was the author of many works about
French culture and its great literary figures, as well as a
translator of Gustave Flaubert's letters. He won the National Book
Award for his biography of Jean Cocteau, and he was a Chevalier of
the Legion of Honor.
"There was Flaubert the romantic and Flaubert the realist. We know
the latter as the author of Madame Bovary, that unflinching work of
social scrutiny. But the former is on full display in the writer’s
salacious, sarcastic, funny and at times brilliant
correspondence....Steegmuller was an eminent scholar of French
literature, and in his hands the letters emerge not only as an
excellent primary-source biography of one of the great artists of
the 19th century but as a great 19th-century work in themselves."
—Max Norman, The Wall Street Journal
“It’s impossible to think of any other writer who proved such a
large influence on two seemingly antithetical schools of
fiction—both the 'realistic novel' and the 'romance'...it may be
the final irony of his existence that readers who grow up today
knowing his name rarely have the patience and attention to enjoy
his work as much as it deserves.” —Scott Bradfield, The New
Republic
“The Letters...covers all of Flaubert’s life, from the first
letters to school chum Chevalier through correspondence with Ivan
Turgenev and Guy de Maupassant written only days before Flaubert’s
death in May, 1880, with explanatory passages and appendices from
Steegmuller...if, instead of conclusions, though, sustenance for
intellectual and artistic life are sought, Flaubert’s letters will
never fail to nourish with a beautiful image or well-balanced
phrase, especially if on the topic of art itself.” —Eric
Vanderwall, On the Seawall
"When I...read the Letters—brilliantly linked and edited by
Steegmuller so that they still make Flaubert's best biography—I
found them untouched by time, written as if from the next postal
district only yesterday." —Julian Barnes
"That Flaubert, as a writer and as the kind of writer he was, was
born rather than made is plainly indicated by the first few letters
in Francis Steegmuller’s excellent new selection. . . . All
Flaubert is in these first five pages of letters, in embryo." —D.J.
Enright, London Review of Books
"Steegmuller . . . is again a deft, witty and indefatigable
commentator, stitching Flaubert’s correspondence together with all
the background information we need in order to appreciate it. Among
his many fine asides, Mr. Steegmuller tells us that Proust disliked
the style of Flaubert’s letters even more than that of his novels;
that Gide kept his volumes of them beside his bed like a bible."
—Anatole Broyard, The New York Times
"These letters have the same fascination and compelling narrative
drive as those in the first volume. . . . We have, in the guise of
letters, what comes close to being a full-fledged biography."
—Howard
Moss, The Washington Post Book World
"Steegmuller’s connecting narrative and his annotations make this
second volume as rich and attaching as the first. And, for once,
Flaubert is seen alive and enacting himself." —V. S. Pritchett, The
Atlantic
"[Steegmuller’s] ear is so keenly attuned to the modulations of
this correspondence and his craft is so accomplished that the
English text is, as it were, transparent and trans-vocal. It is the
voice of Flaubert we hear or, more precisely, the oral qualities of
his epistolary style. Steegmuller plays Flaubert for us the way a
musician plays the music of a master." —Victor Brombert, American
Scholar
"Deserves to be reread and cherished by all admirers of the finest
and most fastidious of French novelists. . . . The love-letters to
Louise Colet are so packed with subtle observation and profound
psychological insight that, despite their spontaneity, they are
works of supreme literary art. Francis Steegmuller’s translations
of these and of the letters from the Orient are beyond praise—as
vivid in English as in the original French. His critical and
historical text is extremely illuminating throughout, and I have
been amazed and enthralled by this splendid contribution to our
knowledge of a literary colossus, so completely objective in his
other writings. Here we may see the total man . . . without his
impassive mask." —Harold Acton
"An enchanting book, one that combines so happily the art of the
biographer and the art of the translator—and Francis Steegmuller is
a master of both. Once one starts reading Flaubert’s love letters,
it’s difficult to stop." —Leon Edel
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