<p>Is Madame Bovary a somewhat dark book? I’ve heard Faulkner compared to Flaubert but haven’t read anything by the latter to know in what way they are compared</p>
<p>^Madame Bovary is pretty pessimistic as a whole, but I think “dark” is excessive. Flaubert was just a half-empty kind of guy. Okay, so maybe more than half empty.</p>
<p>^^Agreed concerning Slaughter-House Five.</p>
<p>Last book I finished was A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs. No where near as good as Running with Scissors, but it still has that fast-paced quality that’s nice in a memoir.</p>
<p>Madame Bovary is pretty depressing, but I wouldn’t say it was that bad 
Over all, her character was what made the story what it was. I mean, I had no idea she was going to commit suicide the moment she did…it actually caught me by surprise. Although, the way she did it kind of reflects upon how dark Flaubert might have been.</p>
<p>JoshByron, you might want to give 100 years another go. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s assigned reading for next year and everyone in the previous year loved it. </p>
<p>I finished Outcasts United earlier today. I liked the way St. Johns was able to weave soccer into a story of immigrants and how touching it was to see that sports were a santucary for these children, which I can connect to on a personal level.</p>
<p>^That book was amazing! It was such a great read.</p>
<p>@JoshByron, you really thought 100 Years of Solitude was bad? :(</p>
<p>@Somestudent2, Sophie’s World was a deeper book than I thought (when I saw the cover and got it recommended).</p>
<p>lol JoshByron, looks like I don’t have to read Madame Bovary now :b</p>
<p>I was probably more likely to read Chateaubriand anyway</p>
<p>@hanana, Yeah, it didn’t turn out to be the “light summer reading” I was expecting, to say the least.</p>
<p>And I’m hoping I forget that little tidbit about Madame Bovary after 800 some pages of Anna Karenina, haha. The worst is when you read the introduction to a classic – such as happened with me and Crime and Punishment – and it just throws a major plot point into the open (unfortunately, one less obvious than the “punishment”). I no longer trust introductions.</p>
<p>Sh¡t My Dad Says</p>
<p>funny as hell, and relevant to boot. a quote from the book is actually my current fb status ["sometimes life leaves a hundred dollar bill on your dresser, and you don’t realize until later that it’s because it ƒucked you."]</p>
<p>^ oh my god. I started a thread about that but then realized I probably shouldn’t have so I changed it to be PC</p>
<p>^lol. my mom bought it and then i read it in an hour or two before she got to it. excellent book.</p>
<p>I went to the twitter feed and it was hilarious</p>
<p>Dora the Explorer and the Magic Mountain.</p>
<p>Hard book to read, though I loved the metaphors and the deep characterization throughout the novel. :)</p>
<p>Oh crap - sorry for spoiling the ending :)</p>
<p>@hanana - I’ve heard it’s an excellent book…but, after 18 pages into the book I just couldn’t stand it anymore…I think I’ll give it another try though :)</p>
<p>haha I was jking :P</p>
<p>Just finished A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. Very good, very funny, very fast. It’s summer. I also recommend the other Moore book I’ve read, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal.</p>
<p>The Last Lecture. This book really changed how I view things.</p>
<p>^amazing book [well, i saw the lecture on youtube, but still].</p>
<p>Oh yeah, that book is crazy cool. I have a free copy from the school and my mom actually read it too (which is a big deal since my mom never reads books).</p>
<p>The book is really sweet, just how he talks about his wife and children. Nearly made me cry.</p>
<p>@JoshByron, just don’t take everything ‘too seriously’. Gabriel Garcia Marquez said himself all those reviewers did that, but he didn’t intend on it to be like that. I hope you like it, it took me a while to get into it.</p>