The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

Welcome to the final stage of our reading journey of Sentimental Education.
Thank you to all of you who accompanied me on a sometimes tedious, sometimes frustrating and at times very dramatic journey.

These last two chapters tie up most of the loose ends of in the story.
Frederic spends his life in trivial pleasures and drifts through life, not making a difference but not hurting anyone either.
He has one last encounter with Mme Arnoux in which they talk about old times and her life after she fled the country with Arnoux. They part as friends.
In the final chapter, we get updates on most of the characters who appeared throughout the book, including Louise, who ran away with a singer.

In the final scene of the book, Deslauriers and Moreau, two old friends, discuss the past and whether they've fulfilled their hopes and dreams. Neither reached their goal: Deslauriers because he had too much logic; Frederic because he had too much sentiment.
They also remember their first visit, in 1837, to La Turque, the prostitute, in Nogent, and laugh at the memory, since nothing happened.

Please feel free to comment on any aspects of the book.

There were moments when Frederic was his own worst enemy, which made it a frustrating read.
The descriptions of the dinner at the Dambreuse household, the descriptions of Arnoux' businesses, etc were tedious at times.
The chapter depicting the revolution was exciting.
The walks with Louise at Nogent and the blissful week at Frederic spent with Rosanette at Fontainebleau were idyllic.

Are there any scenes that will remain in your memory?
Is there anything that you found really frustrating?

Well, I am glad that I read Sentimental Education having only ever read Flaubert’s Madame Bovary in the past. Although both books have been read in translation, my overall feelings about Flaubert as a novelist are mixed.

I wasn’t totally convinced that ‘Madame Bovary’ was a masterpiece nor did I think ‘Sentimental Education’ was a totally effective portrayal of a young man learning to cope with the trials and tribulations of life.

Some of the elements of the book were effectively written and produced genuinely funny/ genuinely tragic scenes- eg Frederic at the Café Anglais and the descriptions of the devastation of Paris when Frederic got involved in the first revolution.

Less convincing was Frederic’s involvement with the women in the story. To be truly sentimental about them and yet at certain times treat them all like dirt on his shoe (or at least be recklessly careless about his sentimentality) felt exaggerated at best and at worst incoherent.

His selfish attitude never seemed to change and in my mind made him unworthy of the attentions of any of them.

It only made that final meeting between Madame Arnoux and himself almost pathetic ( and in my mind unnecessary.) He did not deserve the love of that woman in any shape or form. I was expecting some sort of apology from him but it never came. He was still silently mocking her at this point, being ‘disgusted’ by her white hair and at the same time whispering sweet nothings about his undying love. Disgraceful.

Also, what was the point of Louise running off with a lover? Hadn’t Deslauriers received enough smacks in the face from those closest to him without his wife turning on him too?

Maybe Flaubert’s point was that life will kick you down whether you decide to act badly or even if you try to act for the best.

The last two chapters seemed to bring Frederic’s and Deslauriers’ lives to a conclusion rather abruptly, and for me (and probably for them as well) without a great deal of satisfaction.

Like in the novel Madame Bovary, the lesson Frederick learns is that Romanticism is a very poor guide to amatory or political success. As one of the founders of the Realist school, Flaubert depicts what really happens to crazy romantics in real life. Unlike Emma, Frederick enjoys the money and social position to avoid a tragic fate. And I was delighted that Roseanne does not end up like La Dame aux Camillas.

Flaubert wanted to describe the morals of his age. The impression I got were that morals were in short supply.

I've two novels by Flaubert, this one and Madame Bovary.
I don't know what to make of him-he writes so well but his characters and their stories leave me with mixed feelings.
I read one of his short stories way back when in a university French course, Un coeur simple/A Simple Heart and absolutely loathed it. That's one story I won't be rereading.

Does his writing lack emotion? Maybe he's too detached from all his characters?

Trev wrote: "He did not deserve the love of that woman in any shape or form. I was expecting some sort of apology from him but it never came. He was still silently mocking her at this point, being ‘disgusted’ by her white hair and at the same time whispering sweet nothings about his undying love"

If there is any character to admire in Sentimental Education it would be Madame Arnoux. Like other women, she at long last came to love Frederic, which rather surprised me, without becoming someone other than who she was. She fell in love with the man Frederic pretended to be. No doubt about it, Fredric knew how to wheedle his way into women's hearts; that was perhaps the only thing he undertook seriously. He was shallow, lazy, and selfish at his core.

Alongside Sentimental Education I read Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther which was written about a century earlier. (view spoiler)[The theme is the same as in Sentimental Education: a young man's obsessive love for an unattainable woman. Flaubert was familiar with the novel; indeed he referred to Werther twice in Sentimental Education. In both novels, at the end the woman loved realizes she loves her obsessed lover in her own way, yet she is committed to another path. Unlike Frederic, Werther is entirely loyal and sincere, He is awash in emotion and when he realizes he can never be with his love, he despairs and kills himself. Frederic on the other hand, moves on with his nondescript life. (hide spoiler)]

Good point, Gary. I studied Werther in university and the general opinion of his actions was that he was very immature.