Andrew Brown (12)

From the first sentence, I was captivated by this biography: 'The city of Rouen is dominated by its cathedral, and in particular by the black lattice-like structure rocketing up in to the sky from the nave, like a demented firework.' Andrew Brown manages to encapsulate the life of the great writer with wit, imagination, and superb writing. He describes his life span in an entertaining manner, obviously giving the reader the essential facts, interspersed with fascinating vignettes that illuminate the personality of Flaubert, and his particular writing style and philosophy. He loved ideas, was obsessively methodical in his research, passionate, sexually voracious, syphilitic. Highly recommended as a way to get a taste for the man and his methods, and then go on to more substantial biographies.

(Thanks to Hesperus Press, both for the review copy, and for the Brief Lives series, which is a wonderful thing.)… (mer)

I suspect that this book is intended for the seasoned Flaubert connoisseur. It is written in poetic, exhilarative prose that reads more like an attempt at literary acrobatics than straightforward biography. The person reading for a generalist overview will find themselves confused. I think that Brown has extraordinary talents, but am unsure if he managed to convey his information in any linear fashion. Indeed, many assumptions as to reader's knowledge were made. I read this book as a poetic celebration of Flaubert the man and his art, rather than a 'birth to death' account of life events and output.

A beautiful writer, but perhaps not for the reader wanting a straightforward biography of Flaubert. I enjoyed his writing style immensely but remain confused about his mandate in this series.

Thanks to the publishers for making this book available to me as an advanced copy.… (mer)

In my opinion this is an interesting book for students and lovers of literature, a less attractive one to readers who are approaching Flaubert's life with the expectations of readers of biographies.
There is no introductory news on Flaubert (eg when and where he lived) and in general the author takes for granted the knowledge of the whole Flaubert's work. Not exactley what I expect of a biography.
Anyway the book is enjoyable and enlightening on many aspects of Flaubert, the man and the writer. It can be easily read thanks to the concise and fast rythm of writing; the organization into short thematic chapters helps too.… (mer)