Flaubert in the Ruins of Paris: The Story of a Friendship, a Novel, and a Terrible Year by Peter Brooks (review)

passage très commenté (et pas uniquement par Leo Spitzer) d’Albertine dévorant des glaces dans La prisonnière pour faire un lien avec le futurisme italien. Par ailleurs, certains articles adoptent une démarche plus immanente. Les contributions de Rushworth et de Fülöp nous rappellent entre autres l’intérêt grandissant que suscite l’étude des phénomènes sonores (l’accent, le rythme, l’intonation) dans la Recherche. Carter repère dans la métaphore de l’arbre vivant, Gray dans le fétichisme de Swann, et Aubert dans les descriptions de paysages des éléments non seulement thématiques mais structurants de la narration. La critique proustienne, en particulier celle des poststructuralistes, est elle-même prise pour objet et réévaluée à la lumière des avancées de ces dernières années (Baldwin, Simon), tandis que les manipulations multiples auxquelles Proust s’est livré pour assurer le succès du lancement de son livre en 1913 nous rappellent combien l’auteur de la Recherche tenait à ce que ses lecteurs soient avertis à l’avance du caractère novateur de son œuvre (Gamble). Finalement, le dernier article apporte une note ludique en prédisant que la Recherche deviendra à l’avenir une source d’inspiration pour les scientifiques en mal d’inventivité (Steel). Écrit en anglais ou en français, et accompagné d’abondantes bibliographies, ce recueil tire sa richesse précisément du dynamisme et de la diversité de ses approches. En ce sens, et bien qu’il dépasse souvent les limites du premier volume de la Recherche, Swann at 100/Swann à 100 ans mérite une place de choix dans la production critique liée au centenaire. Smith College (MA) Martine Gantrel Society and Culture edited by Zakaria Fatih Brooks, Peter. Flaubert in the Ruins of Paris: The Story of a Friendship, a Novel, and a Terrible Year. New York: Basic, 2017. ISBN 978-0-465-09602-2. Pp. 241. The broad reach of this highly readable work is evidenced by the combined title and subtitle, as they reference the domains of history, literary analysis, and biography. The starting point is Flaubert’s L’éducation sentimentale, through which Brooks studies the relationship between literature, history, and politics during the period of the Franco-Prussian War and the Commune, or L’année terrible (July 1870–May 1871), as Hugo called it. During Flaubert’s first visit to Paris after the war, he remarked to a friend that the devastation they saw there would not have occurred had his compatriots read his latest novel. This is a central focus of Brooks’s study, as he questions this claim of the prophetic nature of the novel and studies the role of history in it. Flaubert’s first literary success gained him entrance into high society as well as literary circles, where he met George Sand, who became a lifelong friend and his closest 236 FRENCH REVIEW 91.2 Reviews 237 confidante. Despite their differences in writing style and political opinion, Flaubert wrote regularly to Sand while composing L’éducation sentimentale. Quotes from these letters provide insight into Flaubert’s novel.After summarizing Flaubert’s early career, Brooks gives a history of the “Terrible Year,” clearly explicating this confusing period. The letters exchanged between Sand and Flaubert provide precious documentation of their reactions to events as they unfolded, and allow us to understand their frustrations and anxieties. Brooks helps us understand the close relationship between the two novelists, highlighting their differing responses—Sand expresses faith in the ultimate goodness of humanity, while Flaubert fulminates against the stupidity and barbarity of his compatriots. In the chapter,“A Tour of the Ruins,”we find a fascinating account of the aftermath of the Commune and the destruction in Paris. Here, Brooks discusses the new art of photography, providing riveting early images of the events. The second half of Brooks’s book focuses on literary analysis, offering a new reading of L’éducation sentimentale in order to test Flaubert’s claim that the reading of his novel could have prevented the devastation of the war. Brooks explains how Flaubert’s indirect style made it difficult for contemporary...