The LRB Podcast

Julian Barnes: Flaubert at 200

May 3, 2022
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ANECDOTE

First Reading In A Summerhouse

  • Julian Barnes read Madame Bovary at 15 in his grandparents' light-blue summer house.
  • That first dutiful reading left him willing to return to Flaubert later.
INSIGHT

Alphabetical Exhaustion

  • Julian Barnes notes Flaubert provokes obsessive devotion, citing Ambrise Perin's alphabetical word list.
  • The list prints every occurrence of each word, producing many pages yet offering little contextual value.
INSIGHT

Faulty Memory About 'Adultery'

  • Julian Barnes admitted he misremembered Flaubert's use of adultère and had imagined rare usage.
  • Perin's concordance shows adultère appears repeatedly and always with sexual meaning.
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