Bouvard and Ptcuchet

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style, best exemplified by his endless search for "le mot juste" ("the precise word"). In September 1849, Flaubert completed the first version of a novel, The Temptation of Saint Anthony. Drawing on his childhood experiences, Flaubert next wrote L'Éducation Sentimentale (Sentimental Education), an effort that took seven years. It was his last complete novel, published in 1869. He devoted much of his time to an ongoing project, Les Deux Cloportes (The Two Woodlice), which later became Bouvard et Pécuchet (1881) breaking from the obsessive project only to write the Three Tales in 1877. This book comprised three stories: Un Coeur Simple (A Simple Heart), La Légende de Saint-Julien l'Hospitalier (The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaller), and Hérodias (Herodias). As a writer, Flaubert was nearly equal parts romantic, realist, and pure stylist. Hence, members of various schools, especially realists and formalists, have traced their origins to his work.