Book Review: Three Tales by Gustave Flaubert

You would think that by having a BA in French, I would know that Gustave Flaubert authored more than one book. And yes, I did read Madame Bovary for one of my literature courses during college. However, I wasn't much of a fan of the novel so I never bothered to learn about any other books or stories he may have written. Then, last Saturday while browsing the books at the library, I discovered a thin volume containing three tales written by Flaubert, and decided to give it a try. (Of course, it did help that the book stretched bafrely past the 100-page mark.)

A Simple Heart tells the story of Félicité, a young woman who begins work as a house servant after her chance for true love evaporated in the blink of an eye. It didn't really strike me as a story but more of a portrait of the young woman, finding comfort in what little she has, striving to always do good by the family for whom she works thought they seem to pay little attention to her wants and needs, and always maintaining her faith when others would start to falter.

In The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitalier, the young Julien is pre-destined to become a saint from birth, based upon visions witnessed by both his parents, and the two treat him as such, delicately, making sure he has the proper education and spiritual nourishment. Yet after an innocent run-in with a mouse during church, he becomes quite a little demon when it comes to the treatment of animals. His cruelty increases day by day, until one afternoon while on a hunt, he slaughters an entire valley of deer but is cursed by the one remaining stag and his life changes forever.

The stark and bloody imagery seemed a bit contrary to what I would expect from the someone destined to be a saint. I had a difficult time accepting his sainthood when it finally arrived.

Herodias is a re-telling of the beheading of John the Baptist by Herod at the request of Salomé. I found this tale very confusing thanks to too many characters and encountered much difficulty trying to keep the story straight in my head. And oddly enough, the title character, Herodias, was hardly seen as was her daughter Salomé.

Three Tales was an interesting read. And I use "interesting" like my Mother, who uses the word for anything she doesn't particularly enjoy but doesn't want to offend anyone.

Three Tales
by Gustave Flaubert
Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199555864
softcover, 117 pgs.

borrowed from Long Beach Public Library

Image from Fantastic Fiction UK.