Word: flaubert
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...discussions turned more scholarly recently when an article in al-Sharq al-Awsat, the Arabic international daily, complained about Penguin paperback books 70th anniversary publication of excerpts from Gustave Flaubert's letters from Egypt. The article's author, Susan Bashir, complained about the provocative new title, "The Desert and the Dancing Girls" and the cover's "half naked girls." Abu Aardvark echoed Bashir: "Is this what Penguin thinks the Arab world really is...empty deserts and exotic dancing girls?" Meanwhile, as the genre's 51 million readers pump gas this summer, will they be dreaming of oil sheikhs in exotic...
Some people feel as if they are living in a novel, but rarely does a novel feel as if it is living in a novel. Yet, such is the case with Posy Simmonds' "Gemma Bovery" (Pantheon, 106 pages, $20), a graphic novel that freely adapts Flaubert's classic "Madam Bovary" by updating the tragic narrative and making its near-namesake heroine quite aware of the parallels between her own "life" and that of "Madame Bovary." The resulting satire offers a fresh approach both to modern mores and to graphic literature...
Just as the power of Flaubert's original novel comes from the author's almost clinically objectivist approach, the humor of "Gemma" springs from Simmonds' dead-on observation. Thanks to the use of Gemma's diaries as part of the narrative, "Gemma Bovery" often feels like a caustic and richly deserved counterpoint to the irritating Bridget Jones franchise. Imagine Bridget on amphetamines and you have a fair idea of Gemma Bovery. The characterizations of Gemma as a rudderless yuppie, Charlie as the befuddled schlub, various French and English twits and even Joubert, the largely sympathetic baker/narrator are all razor sharp...
Pantheon, the publisher behind such serious-minded comic books as Persepolis, continues to lead the way. In February the house will release Posy Simmonds' GEMMA BOVARY, a graphic novel that updates the Flaubert classic, turning it into a satire on modern mores. In October the publisher will collect into a single volume the series Black Hole, Charles Burns' inky creepfest about a plague that infects teenagers during the 1970s. And the summer will see the release of The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar, a philosophically inclined French comic artist. Splashy comics from other publishers include Lost Girls (Top Shelf...
...those who don't play them regard them with virulent distaste. It's time that changed. Those of you in the latter group, if you have any curiosity about the future of your own culture, and if you haven't already put down this magazine in favor of Flaubert or croquet or whatever, take a look at three new video games that expand our notions of what a video game...