It's a third novel. I'm reading his first novel right now and he's a pretty darn decent writer. Similar to Murakami in many ways. I'm looking forward to Cloud Atlas, but I don't think the summary does it justice.

From the summary, it sounds like it might be trying too hard to be "literary."

But it might just be a terrible summary.

I thought it was one of the most perfectly crafted novels I have ever read. It's origins are interesting- Flaubert wrote it after being challenged by a friend, who accused him of being too steeped in Romanticism to write a realistic story. Madame Bovary is considered to be one of the finest examples of the realistic genre ever. (It was banned for a time, and he was brought up on obscenity charges as well).

I got an A on my college paper as well, GC.:D

My edition claims that with this book, Flaubert invented the novel. Hmmm.

Actually, I belive it's Fielding who is credited with that, but I could be wrong. Flaubert is considered to have invented the first true novel of the Realism movement, which also includes the works of Tolstoy, Dickens, etc.

I voted for Mdm. Bovary for several reasons.

* I have never red Flaubert
* I probably wouldn't pick up thius book pn my own and isn't that what a book club is all about - reading something you wouldn't normally read and expanding your horizions?
* I've read Wind Up Bird, Howard's End and am currently reading Devil....
* We own I, Lucifer and I will get to it eventually
* The other 2 don't have reason enough to make a list. ;)

So, there you have it.

Aphra Behn has been credited with inventing the novel, too.

I guess it's a ready-made dissertation topic: Find a prose text of more than 50 pages and argue that it was the first novel ever written. Bonus points if it was written earlier than all the other stuff on which people have written "this marks the invention of the novel" dissertations.

MF is correct, but the definition of novel varies greatly from one expert to the next. Aphra's is considered to be the first wholly original work of prose fiction in English, but Le Mort d'Arthur predates it by several hundred years. Since it is derived from legend, it is not considered to be original, but it is presented in what is now considered to be the novel form.

The odd thing is that Behn presents the material as real. It generates much "could this have really happened?" discussion--I think the ultimate answer is no, not exactly as it's told at least, but really, it doesn't matter.

It's a great story/novel/work/whatever.

Sheesh, I'm derailing threads right and left today.

When does the poll close? OR, is this just a primary/meta-poll? Will there be a final showdown between the top 2?

Ok, so it appears we have a tie. What now?