Famous People Who Overcame Dyslexia
Gustave Flaubert
 Gustave
Flaubert (December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) is counted
among the greatest Western novelists. He was born in Rouen,
Seine-Maritime, in the Haute-Normandie Region of France.
Flaubert's curious modes of composition favored
and were emphasized by these peculiarities. He worked in sullen
solitude, sometimes occupying a week in the completion of
one page, never satisfied with what he had composed, violently
tormenting his brain for the best turn of a phrase, the most
absolutely final adjective. It cannot be said that his incessant
labors were not rewarded. His private letters show that he
was not one of those to whom easy and correct language is
naturally given; he gained his extraordinary perfection with
the unceasing sweat of his brow. One of the most severe of
academic critics admits that in all his works, and in every
page of his works, Flaubert may be considered a model of style.
That he was one of the greatest writers who
ever lived in France is now commonly admitted, and his greatness
principally depends upon the extraordinary vigour and exactitude
of his style. Less perhaps than any other writer, not of France,
but of modern Europe, Flaubert yields admission to the inexact,
the abstract, the vaguely inapt expression which is the bane
of ordinary methods of composition. He never allowed a cliché
to pass him, never indulgently or wearily went on, leaving
behind him a phrase which almost expressed his meaning. Being,
as he is, a mixture in almost equal parts of the romanticist
and the realist, the marvellous propriety of his style has
been helpful to later writers of both schools, of every school.
The absolute exactitude with which he adapts his expression
to his purpose is seen in all parts of his work, but particularly
in the portraits he draws of the figures in his principal
romances. The degree and manner in which, since his death,
the fame of Flaubert has extended, form an interesting chapter
of literary history.
The publication of Madame Bovary in 1857
had been followed by more scandal than admiration; it was
not understood at first that this novel was the beginning
of something new, the scrupulously truthful portraiture of
life. Gradually this aspect of his genius was accepted, and
began to crowd out all others. At the time of his death he
was famous as a realist, pure and simple. Under this aspect
Flaubert exercised an extraordinary influence over Émile
de Goncourt, Alphonse Daudet and Zola. But even after the
decline of the realistic school Flaubert did not lose prestige;
other facets of his genius caught the light. It has been perceived
that he was not merely realistic, but real; that his clairvoyance
was almost boundless; that he saw certain phenomena more clearly
than the best of observers had done. Flaubert is a writer
who must always appeal more to other authors than to the world
at large, because the art of writing, the indefatigable pursuit
of perfect expression, were always before him, and because
he hated the lax felicities of improvisation as a disloyalty
to the most sacred procedures of the literary artist.
He can be said to have made cynicism into
an art-form, as evinced by this observation from 1846:
To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good
health are the three requirements for happiness; though if
stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.
His Oeuvres Complètes (8 vols., 1885)
were printed from the original manuscripts, and included,
besides the works mentioned already, the two plays, Le Candidat
and Le Château des avurs. Another edition (10 vols.)
appeared in 1873–1885. Flaubert's correspondence with
George Sand was published in 1884 with an introduction by
Guy de Maupassant.
He has been admired or written about
by almost every major literary personality of the 20th century,
including philosophers such as Pierre Bourdieu. Georges Perec
named Sentimental Education as one of his favourite novels.
Additional Links:
Gustave
Flaubert - The Johns Hopkins University Press
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