5/27/2023 0 Comments Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes![]() ![]() ![]() Julian Barnes’s francophilia pulls him in two directions in this novel. It will not be for everyone, but I enjoyed every minute of it and will likely re-read it in the future. I have only read a couple of Flaubert’s works so I do not think it is necessary to be well-versed in his writings to appreciate this book. It is a humorously written clever work of creative brilliance that deals with both obsession and the drive to gain meaning from tragedies in one’s life. It is about writing as an artform, and what a writer’s art reveals about the author, and similarly, what a critic’s viewpoint reveals about the critic. This book is a combination of biography (of both Flaubert and the narrator), critique of literary criticism, and self-disclosure. Braithwaite is searching for meaning in a recent significant event in the narrator’s life. He would love to publish his own work about Flaubert, and fancies himself an amateur scholar.Ī look below the surface is needed to fully appreciate this masterly crafted book. Narrator Geoffrey Braithwaite is a retired doctor with a passion for Flaubert’s writings. Two museums claim to own this bird, which served as a muse to Flaubert. ![]() The storyline of this book centers on deciphering the mystery of which stuffed parrot actually sat on Flaubert’s desk while he wrote his books. ![]()
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