Flaubert's Parrot

May 14, 2025 8:42 PM

Author:Julian Barnes

Flaubert's Parrot

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction

Flaubert's Parrot deals with Flaubert, parrots, bears and railways; with our sense of the past and our sense of abroad; with France and England, life and art, sex and death, George Sand and Louise Colet, aesthetics and redcurrant jam; and with its enigmatic narrator, a retired English doctor, whose life and secrets are slowly revealed.

A compelling weave of fiction and imaginatively ordered fact, Flaubert's Parrot is by turns moving and entertaining, witty and scholarly, and a tour de force of seductive originality.

Reviews

Barnes manages to be erudite but extremely funny too… You never know what Barnes is going to do next and I admire that.’

—— Caroline Rees , Daily Express

Delightful and enriching... A book to revel in

—— Joseph Heller

A gem: an unashamed literary novel that is also unashamed to be readable, and broadly entertaining. Bravo!

—— John Irving

Endless food for thought, beautifully written... A tour de force

—— Germaine Greer

Unputdownable... A mesmeric original

—— Philip Larkin

A wry and graceful book... Unfailingly sharp and often very funny

—— Sunday Times

A wonderful dark comic first novel

—— Alice Hoffman

Previous Article：Stop What You’re Doing and Read…To Your Partner: Jane Eyre & Anna Karenina Next Article：Stop What You’re Doing and Read…After Dark: Ghost Stories & Dracula

Comments

Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.