Flaubert-Sand. The Correspondence of Gustave Flaubert & George Sand

Alphonse Jacobs

ISBN 10: 186046436X / ISBN 13: 9781860464362

Published by The Harvill Press, London, 1999

About this Item

Translated from the French by Francis Steegmuller and Barbara Bray. With a foreword by Francis Steegmuller. Based on the edition by Alphonse Jacobs with additional notes by Francis Steegmuller.428 pages.

Seller Inventory # 010816

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Flaubert-Sand. The Correspondence of Gustave Flaubert & George Sand
• Publisher: The Harvill Press, London
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 186046436X
• ISBN 13: 9781860464362
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

About this title

Synopsis

In 1862 Gustave Flaubert published Salammb , his novel of ancient Carthage. It met with a largely unenthusiastic response from the critics. One of the few who admired it was George Sand, then at the height of her popularity as a novelist and playwright, and she wrote a review championing the book. Flaubert wrote to thank her and thus began a correspondence and a friendship that were to last until Sand's death in 1876. In this correspondence, 'one of the great literary exchanges,' as Julian Barnes has called it, two writers of genius set down their thoughts on an enormous variety of subjects, from their views on the craft of fiction and on the Paris theatre to their reactions to public events such as the Franco-Prussian War and the conflict between monarchists and republicans. In their letters Flaubert and Sand created a masterpiece as compelling as any of their novels.

Review

ŬSteegmuller'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"

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 "Washington Post Book World "

[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 "

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 "New York Times "

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 "