I'm hiding the body of this review, as it's technically a big ole spoiler party. However, due to art critic Dave Hickey's obscenely flattering review of this novella in his essay collection Air Guitar, I was aware of every major spoiler that I reveal here before reading it, and still read the whole thing anyway, since it's not so much the plot as it is the prose that lifts this somewhat thin story off the page and makes it float about all shimmery and glorious. Anyway, your choice. Just proceed with caution.(view spoiler)[This being my first real exposure to Flaubert, I had not fully prepared myself for the reading experience that was to come: me continuously clenching my fists, squirming in my seat, and muttering things to myself like “pull yourself together, woman! *smack-smack*” and “psssh, okay then, Gustave von Trier, gaaaawd!" To put it “simply” (wakawakawaka) this is the story of a servant who lives out her life being treated like a devoted yet abused puppy, channeling her quest for love through various unrequited (and constantly regressing) sources one by one until finally "ascending to the heavens” through near-lustful love transformed into idolatrous reverence for a maggot-infested parrot corpse. Yep. “Though the world just keeps shitting on her, a simpleton manages to find all the love she needs in Christ...through what is essentially road kill” about sums up the broad strokes of the plot. But, wait a second, cowboys and cowgirls! Don’t walk away just yet…for Monsieur Flaubert, le diable est dans les détails!!!Felicité is born into a life of tragedy. Her childhood is filled with sorrow, loss, poverty, and death. She is left to care for herself from an early age, and quickly finds herself working farming and servant jobs. She sleeps in a similar fashion to hogs. She is dirty, uneducated, and infinitely kind. She eventually finds a stable career working in the home of a widow and her two young children. From the beginning, all the symbolism throughout the story depicts Felicité as an animal, from her wide-eyed, deer-in-headlights wonder when first experiencing “town” at age eighteen, to her first and only experience with romantic love which leaves her tearfully groveling around in the mud, sobbing and snorting and flailing about like a pig seeking shelter from the heat. The Madame to whom she is servant has Felicité carry the children around on her back like a mule. In one instance, she even saves the Madame from an angry bull by standing aggressively between she and it, and instinctively throwing sand in the charging beast's face. She is no park ranger; the insinuation is that her character is so base that she just knows what to do in this situation due to her “animal nature.” Her capacity for love of those she encounters is infinite yet tortured, as everyone she ever cares deeply about either abandons her or dies, or abandons her and then dies. When romance goes wrong, she channels her love to the girl-child of the Madame. She essentially uses this girl as her vicarious connection to Christ, for whom she clearly does not see herself as “clean” enough. Through the child, Virginia, Felicité relives her misspent childhood, and embraces things such as religious ecstasy, wholesomeness, education, and purity which a woman who spent much of her life sleeping on dirt is unaware, and therefore thinks herself incapable of fully experiencing on her own terms. Flaubert most clearly expresses this handicap in the scene concerning the girl’s catechism: "When it was Virginia’s turn Felicité bent forward to see her, and with the imagination which true tenderness bestows, it seemed to her that she herself was this child. Virginia’s face became her own, her dress clothed her; her heart beat in her breast; at the moment when she opened her mouth, shutting her eyes, she almost fainted. Next day, early, she presented herself in the vestry so that the priest might give her communion. She received it devoutly, but did not taste the same delights."You have probably gathered that this relationship isn't going to work out. Moving on then, let's fall in love with our nephew! He actually is kind and seems to genuinely care about Felicité, but he also abandons her to meet his own starving stray cat-worthy fate in the Americas. Ope, that didn’t work out either, did it? Well, frequently given advice to those in various stages of the mourning process is to get a pet. How about a parrot? Yes. There are several eerie scenes that spring from her misplaced devotion to this new pet, such as cuddling it, cooing at it, and letting it chew on and lick her lips in an arguably make-outey way. When it eventually passes away, she has it stuffed and gazes lovingly at it day and night, and the story continues on in a very Hitchcock’s Psycho sort of way, minus the whole “murdering travelers” element. As the poorly preserved parrot body deteriorates, so, too, does Felicité; then they both go to heaven or something.Okay, so is this a tale of the transformative powers of loving the lord? Is Felicité's endless goodness in the face of misery a Job-like tale attesting to the righteous healing powers of religion? I would say not. Though I am not in any way schooled in the religious inclinations of Flaubert, I would make the argument that while he is promoting her brand of boundless kindness, he also wants you to examine the tragic tale of her life through the lens of pity. After all, she is a dunce of sorts, and her lack of education is sorta what leads her to religion in the first place. There is most certainly an underlying message about religion, though it is not so much harsh criticism or avid support, but rather an examination of the common question "is ignorance bliss?" Felicité is clearly blinded by her devotion first to the child, and then to her replacement parrot icon. As seen in the little girl serving as mediator between Felicité and her creator, Felicité always felt like she was incapable of connecting or communicating directly with her savior. Through the parrot, she feels more at peace with this notion, as her expression of religious love (and love in general) has been relocated to an animal such as herself. It’s really…pathetic, actually. And it is presented as horribly pathetic. Would Felicité have been happier if she had really weighed these matters, risking potentially finding herself concluding that a god who would only communicate with her through a stuffed bird was kind of a dick, anyway? Or was she better off living in ignorance, her simplicity being the reason for her humble kindness and endless devotion to others? It seems to me like she was never exactly rocking out on the whole "living life” thing, even with her second-hand-Christ. Maybe Flaubert is arguing that this is a problem that so many face, masking their potential for a broader view of reality and more tangible means of peace and happiness by hiding behind the protective curtain of religion, even if it is to their own detriment? To be clear, I’m not trying to tell you how to feel about religion (although I can acknowledge that my personal views are pretty clear here.) I am only making the argument that perhaps Flaubert is making the argument that many, many people use this somewhat easy answer as a way to shield themselves from their own particular (and often quite harsh) realities, from the many frustrations found while seeking ways outside of scripture to pinpoint the meaning of existence, and from the means to actively improve their lives rather than just riding things out until the blissful finale. Or not. Maybe he just loves him some Jesus. Thoughts?Oh, and for the purposes of your ponderings, here’s the only known image of that simple heart we all now know as Felicité: (hide spoiler)]
A Simple Heart by Gustave FlaubertAn Excellent Role ModelGustave Flaubert is one of the greatest writers of mankind. He is included on the list of the best 100 books ever, compiled by a group of scholars and writers, which you can find on The Guardian site, even if I think the paper, had not come up with the idea, but is doing a good job popularizing it. The book on that list is Madame Bovary.I am in the process of reading The Summing Up by Somerset Maugham, who writes in it in very laudatory terms about another famous book of Flaubert- L’Education Sentimentale.Flaubert chose his words very carefully and had the reputation of taking great pains over every word. There is another book I have started, for this is how I read- not concentrated on one book, from start to end, but beginning a good number of books and reading through more in the course of a day- even depending on the device which helps me go through them. With technology winning in every field, I have some books in the iPad, a few I read as audio books and then some are on the Samsung Note, and the last group are in the shape of, well…books.Un Coeur Simple came in audio book format and it benefits from the wonderful contribution of Fabrice Luchini, an adorable French actor, whom I have seen most recently in the superb Dans La Maison.Fabrice Luchini has a unique approach- he reads with rather long breaks between words which is unusual; I for one never heard that before. True, we’re dealing with a recording of a public reading, I am not sure where it took place, but there is a confession at the end, where Fabrice Luchini confesses to the audience that he got carried away emotionally, which he says is not good for the interpretation of an actor.And he is right- Diderot has written about this and he pledges that an actor has to have a cold, level headed and detached approach to his part. Contrary to common belief, he or she must not get carried away, “living the part” as it is said:-tMan, that actor really knows how to do it! He identifies with the role, he IS the bad guy.Let us leave it at that, for I will end up talking about another work than the one here.A Simple Heart is about a …simple woman, what else??But the skill of a master is evident, in the way we learn about, to a certain degree, an uneventful life of a plain woman, with modest ambitions, a lame position of servant and the small joys of an insignificant human being.Sometimes it is not that …simple.I have just finished a tale by the same Somerset Maugham, wherein a man achieves Nirvana, from even a lower position than being a servant, for he was an executioner, in An Official Position.Félicité is the name of our heroine and she is not without qualities. In fact she proves to be wise, with a good Emotional Intelligence, perspective and street smarts, in at least a few occasions.One which also proved her valor and resilience would have made others run and it involves a dangerous situation with a group of bulls.Then, Félicité is a lover of birds and she gets herself a parrot, to which she is attached beyond the usual limits.As an owner of two gorgeous macaws, I feel an affinity with this Simple Heart, if for no other reason than the birds we both cherish.Her life is not easy, as a matter of fact she is hit by quite a few tragedies that I will not disclose, but only mention that her bravery and stamina are showed throughout the book, making her to appear much, much more than A Simple Heart. Indeed, with hindsight, the name of the story appears somewhat ironic:Yes, Félicité is a woman with modest means, education and position in society.But the way she copes with adversity and trauma constitues a lesson.And what started as a Simple woman becomes a Role Model.You can download Legally this book from the Gutenberg project site. They even give you the option to choose between epub and kindle formats.And you find thousands of great books, whose copyright has expired after 70 years or so. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26812
What do You think about A Simple Heart (1996)?
A short novella published as a Penguin Little Black Classic. Translated from French, first published in 1877.This is a simple story outlining the life of an uneducated and somewhat naive servant woman Felicite, working for a wealthy woman, Madame Aubain for over fifty years. The story covers Felicite's early life, jilted by her only love, the growing of Madame Aubain's two children, the re-discovery of Felicite's sister and the nephew she never know about.She shared an unusual relationship with her employer and the children, whereby she felt genuinely appreciated and a part of the family, and although there were reminders of her position from time to time, she was quick for forgive and forget. A parrot gifted to her employer by a neighbour who was moving abroad, which was quickly passed on to Felicite becomes a focus in her life.Filled with small times of cheer, and proportionately more times of misery and misfortune, the story is well crafted, and keeps pace. The translation reads nicely, but of course I have no idea of the source material.This is my first reading of Flaubert's fiction (I have read The desert and the dancing girls which was great travel observation writing), and I have a few of his other books kicking around, so I really must get onto one in the near future.
—Daren
I'm fascinated with Flaubert at the moment. I read Madame Bovary for the first time a few weeks ago, and followed on with A Simple Heart. I was planning on reading Julian Barnes' Flaubert's Parrot, then learnt that this book was the inspiration, so had to read it first. I love the glimpse into 19th century life that Flaubert gives. I've only really read 19th century English works before, and Flaubert is certainly miles away from that. I'm not sure that I have come to understand the opening sentence though ""Madame Aubin's servant Felicite was the envy of the ladies of Pont-l Eveque for half a century."" Really? A servant? Who has a series of disapointments (as we all do though really) is the envy of the ladies of Pont-l Eveque? Unless the translation is misleading and she is the envy of the other servants. Still, it's an engaging story, well told.
—Louise (A Strong Belief in Wicker)
A very painful read. Flaubert offers a pitiless, detailed story about the life of a servant in a middle class home. I kept hoping for a happy ending, a cathartic moment, redemption by love. In the end, it appears that the main character spends her entire life giving away love and receiving none in return. Her child-like faith is strong, but Flaubert makes it seem ridiculous, a worm-infested parrot in the heavens. I've never read such a quietly subversive story. It is elegantly anti-bourgeouis without ever picking up economic diatribes or polemics. Flaubert makes the reader ache for the main character, her lack of education, her undeveloped instinct for art and beauty, her longing to travel to new continents, her resignation to her lot in life. He builds in a smoldering contempt for the people who live off her labor and have no respect for her as a fellow human.This is a pitiless story that stays with you.
—Maria
