Sartre & Flaubert par Hazel E. Barnes

Sartre & Flaubert par Hazel E. Barnes

Is The Family Idiot a biography of Gustave Flaubert, an autobiography of Jean-Paul Sartre, a novel, a book about literature, a philosophical work? In this appraisal of Sartre's controversial three-volume study of Flaubert, a study whose formidable length has daunted many readers, Hazel E. Barnes explores the extent to which The Family Idiot is all these things. Barnes examines Sartre's psychological analysis of Flaubert's life, family relationships, and art, as well as his sociological survey of an era and his evaluation of Flaubert's role in literature.

"Hazel E. Barnes's Sartre and Flaubert provides expert guidance through the thousands of pages of L'Idiot de la famille. Even if this book were only a skillful paraphrase and critical distillation, it would perform a signal service. But it does much more. It is an authoritative, clear, cogent presentation of complex issues. Barnes has performed the tour de force of entering into Sartre's mental world, while remaining critically objective. She puts her finger unerringly on the originality of Sartre's contribution, but never indulges in hero-worship."-Victor Brombert, Times Literary Supplement

"[Barnes's] summary is very useful, for this last work of Sartre's is marked by an exasperating prolixity. Blindness forced him to abandon the final volume, which was to have been an analysis of Madame Bovary. Miss Barnes's study not only provides a quick preview of the whole work, but it gives for the first time anywhere an account of Sartre's notes for the final, unwritten volume."_Fredric Jameson, New York Times Book Review

Details

• Softcover
• Condition: Good, no notes or stamps, does not lose any pages
• ISBN: 9780226037219
• Publishing house: The University of Chicago Press