“An overwhelming curiosity makes me ask myself what their lives might be like. I want to know what they do, where they're from, their names, what they're thinking about at that moment, what they regret, what they hope for, their past loves, their current dreams ... and if they happen to be women (especially the young ones) then the urge becomes intense.How quickly would you want to see her naked, admit it, and naked through to her heart. How you try to learn where she comes from, where she's going, why she's here and not elsewhere!While letting your eyes wander all over her, you imagine love affairs for her, you ascribe her deep feelings. You think of the bedroom she must have, and a thousand things besides ... right down to the battered slippers into which she must slip her feet when she gets out of bed.”

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About Gustave Flaubert

French novelist, 19th century

Gustave Flaubert was a French novelist of the 19th century. He is best known for Madame Bovary, first published in 1857, and for the letters gathered in his Correspondence. He was widely regarded as a leading figure in literary realism in France and beyond, and as a writer who cared intensely about style and aesthetics. His work and correspondence helped define his reputation, and Guy de Maupassant was among the writers he mentored.

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Books by Gustave Flaubert

Madame Bovary

2011

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Salammbô

2007

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Trois contes

1877

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L'Éducation sentimentale

1941

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Bouvard et Pécuchet

2007

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