Bouvard and Pécuchet (A Satirical Novel) (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. From the prolific French writer, known for his debut novel Madame Bovary and for his short stories such as Three Tales, November and A Simple HeartBy Gustave Flaubert
Length14h
About this audiobook
Bouvard and Pécuchet is Flaubert's unfinished comic masterpiece, a vast satire of nineteenth-century knowledge and bourgeois confidence. Its two Parisian copyists, suddenly liberated by an inheritance, retire to the countryside and attempt, one discipline after another—agriculture, chemistry, medicine, history, education, politics, religion—to master the world through books. Written in Flaubert's precise, ironic prose, the novel transforms encyclopedic learning into farce, exposing the clichés, contradictions, and pretensions of modern intellectual culture. Gustave Flaubert, already renowned for Madame Bovary and Sentimental Education, spent his final years obsessively researching this work, compiling notes on scientific manuals, philosophical systems, pedagogical theories, and received ideas. His lifelong hatred of stupidity—especially respectable, well-documented stupidity—finds here its most ambitious form. Bouvard and Pécuchet reflects Flaubert's skepticism toward progress, positivism, and the social authority of knowledge, while also revealing his fascination with the very systems he mocks. This novel is recommended to readers interested in literary satire, the history of ideas, and the comic failures of human certainty. Demanding yet delightfully absurd, it rewards those who appreciate intellectual comedy, stylistic rigor, and fiction that questions whether knowledge enlightens us—or merely gives error more elaborate disguises.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.8 (4.6K)
Includes Goodreads
GenreHumor, Literary Classics
Length14 hrs
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 11, 2015
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Synopsis
4Historical Context
5Author Biography
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter I. Kindred Souls.
7Chapter II. Experiments in Agriculture.
8Chapter III. Amateur Chemists.
9Chapter IV. Researches in Archæology.
10Chapter V. Romance and the Drama.
11Chapter VI. Revolt of the People.
12Chapter VII. “Unlucky in Love.”
13Chapter VIII. New Diversions.
14Chapter IX. Sons of the Church.
15Chapter X. Lessons in Art and Science.
16Conference
17Analysis
18Reflection
19Memorable Quotes
Die Schule der EmpfindsamkeitGustave Flaubert18h 48m3.9 (60.4K)$1 · $0.00
MADAME BOVARYGustave Flaubert14h 41m3.9 (434.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
Madame BovaryGustave Flaubert15m3.9 (439.9K)$14 · $0.00
Salambó (texto completo, con índice activo)Gustave Flaubert12h 12m$9.99 · $0.00
Böse Mädchen der LiteraturGustave Flaubert, Dora Duncker, Charles-Louis Philippe, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Restif de la Bretonne, Heinrich Vollrat Schumacher, Euripides, Honoré de Balzac, Heinrich Mann, Lena Christ, William Makepeace Thackeray, Emily Brontë, John Cleland, Marquis de Sade, Lew Tolstoi252h 18m4.4 (15)$1 · $0.00
Erinnerungen eines Verrückten (Autobiografischer Roman) (Kommentiert)Gustave Flaubert3h 15m3.8 (4.1K)$1 · $0.00
Sentimental Education - An Autobiographical Novel (Complete Edition) (Annotated)Gustave Flaubert21h 56m4.3 (12)$2 · $0.00
Gesammelte Werke: Romane + Erzählungen + Memoiren + Reiseberichte (Kommentiert)Gustave Flaubert63h 58m4.4 (10)$1.50 · $0.00
Madame Bovary - Interactive Bilingual Edition (English / French) (Annotated)Gustave Flaubert28h 46m4.4 (12)$2 · $0.00
Salambo - Karthagische Prinzessin (Kommentiert)Gustave Flaubert14h 58m4.3 (126)$1 · $0.00
Gesammelte Romane (Kommentiert)Gustave Flaubert48h 2m$1 · $0.00
The Correspondence of George Sand and Gustave Flaubert (Annotated)Gustave Flaubert, George Sand13h 24m$3 · $0.00
Gesammelte Werke: Romane + Erzählungen + Memoiren + Briefe (Kommentiert)Gustave Flaubert64h 2m4.4 (13)$1 · $0.00
The Temptation of Saint Anthony - A Historical Novel (Complete Edition) (Annotated)Gustave Flaubert6h 52m3.9 (4.6K)$2 · $0.00
The Collected Letters of George Sand and Gustave Flaubert (Annotated)Gustave Flaubert, George Sand13h 33m4.3 (411)$2 · $0.00
Madame Bovary (Classic Unabridged Edition) (Annotated)Gustave Flaubert14h 45m4.0 (2.8K)$2 · $0.00
Die Erziehung der Gefühle (Kommentiert)Gustave Flaubert20h 47m4.0 (193)$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Gustave Flaubert: Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Memoirs and Letters (Annotated)Gustave Flaubert192h 51m4.2 (78)$2 · $0.00
Madame Bovary (texto completo, con índice activo) (Anotado)Gustave Flaubert14h 50m4.4 (18)$1.99 · $0.00
Un coeur simple (Annoté)Gustave Flaubert2h 51m$1.99 · $0.00
Lost In TranslationAudrey Davis9h 15m4.4 (235)Free
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m4.6 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Life of DaiDai Henwood, Jaquie Brown8h 2m4.6 (790)$26 · $0.00
Welcome to PawneeJim O'Heir6h 24m4.5 (5.3K)$24 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett13h 36m4.5 (163.8K)$33 · $0.00
Woman UninterruptedBrodie Kane7h 1m4.6 (562)$24 · $0.00
1984 & Animal Farm (Annotated)George Orwell15h 54m4.5 (220.8K)$3.99 · $0.00
Kingsblood Royal (Annotated)Sinclair Lewis14h 42m4.6 (264)$2 · $0.00
This Is Going to HurtAdam Kay5h 47m4.4 (444.7K)$24 · $0.00
You Will Get Through This NightDaniel Howell6h 56m4.4 (11.8K)$24 · $0.00
Northanger Abbey (Annotated)Jane Austen10h 7m4.5 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m4.4 (63.6K)$46 · $0.00
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS & SCREWTAPE PROPOSES A TOAST (Annotated)C. S. Lewis5h 6m4.4 (471K)$2 · $0.00
BufferingHannah Hart5h 55m4.4 (12.4K)$24 · $0.00
The Office BFFsJenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey8h 26m4.3 (45.4K)$26 · $0.00
The Collected Stories of Dorothy ParkerDorothy Parker8h 36m4.3 (13.6K)$1 · $0.00
LambChristopher Moore15h 22m4.3 (211.3K)$33 · $0.00
#IMomSoHardKristin Hensley, Jen Smedley7h 19m4.3 (7.3K)$24 · $0.00
Mixed PlateJo Koy8h 18m4.3 (7.1K)$26 · $0.00
Over the TopJonathan Van Ness5h 50m4.3 (87.3K)$24 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m4.7 (8.9K)$46 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
The Complete Histories / History Plays of William Shakespeare (Annotated)William Shakespeare29h 42m4.6 (2.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Twelfth Night (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography (Annotated)William Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 50m4.6 (1.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust16h 8m4.5 (10.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
Lessons in TruthH. Emilie3h 50m4.6 (1.4K)$4.70 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
You may also like
Bouvard & Pécuchet (French Classics Series)Gustave Flaubert12h 24m3.9 (5.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy (Annotated)Laurence Sterne5h 53m3.9 (23K)$2 · $0.00
FosseSam Wasson21h 23m4.2 (2.6K)$46 · $0.00
FlushVirginia Woolf4h 58m3.9 (22.8K)$2 · $0.00
A Room of One's OwnVirginia Woolf5h 24m4.3 (318K)$12 · $0.00
Kant in 90 MinutesPaul Strathern1h 23m3.6 (2K)$7
A Room of One's OwnVirginia Woolf3h 53m4.3 (344.1K)$1.20 · $0.00
A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy (Annotated)Laurence Sterne4h 12m3.9 (40.8K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Festival of InsignificanceMilan Kundera2h 33m3.5 (25.8K)$18 · $0.00
A ROOM OF ONE'S OWNVirginia Woolf3h 53m4.3 (324.2K)$1 · $0.00
Mark Twain's Letters (1876-1885)Mark Twain3h 15m3.6 (16)$1 · $0.00
The Comical Pilgrim; or, Travels of a Cynick PhilosopherAnonymous2h 49m$2 · $0.00
So You're Going Bald!Julius Sharpe6h 38m3.9 (39)$24 · $0.00
Conservatize MeJohn Moe5h 31m3.4 (359)$24 · $0.00
The Greatest Works of Sinclair LewisSinclair Lewis90h 50m4.5 (33)$2 · $0.00
Collected Memoirs, Letters and Literary Essays of Wilkie Collins (Annotated)Wilkie Collins39h 57m$1.99 · $0.00
Anatole FranceWalter Lionel George2h 14m$2 · $0.00
Imperfectly ProperPeter Donovan6h 28m$2 · $0.00
BackLauren Michele Jackson5h 50m$24 · $0.00
BOUVARD & PÉCUCHET (Annotated)Gustave Flaubert14h 1m4.1 (123)$2 · $0.00