Flaubert's Parrot

Author Name: Julian Barnes

Gustave Flaubert borrowed an Amazon parrot and placed it on his writing desk for a short time, then returned it. This parrot appeared in his book "Three Tales," where he established a strange relationship between the parrot and a desperate woman, bordering on sanctity. Now, all these years later, a retired doctor and widower, Geoffrey Braithwaite, a Flaubert devotee, comes to ask: Where is that green Amazon parrot with a golden neck and pink wingtips? On his trip to see the stuffed parrots in museums dedicated to Flaubert's works, Geoffrey finds two parrots that puzzle him, as well as many other objects and information that astonish the reader, raising questions so profound that they may change his views and outlook on writing and reading: Did Flaubert discover realism immediately after his return from his visit to Egypt, "the East"? What was the secret of his hatred of criticism and critics? Was he a man of literary salons or did he seclude himself in his country house? What is loyalty and what is betrayal? Who is Flaubert, and who really is Madame Bovary? This novel established Julian Barnes's name in the literary arena as one of the most powerful practitioners of postmodern narrative forms. While Flaubert interrogates us through his letters, he also broadcasts the voice of his unmarried lover. He searches for evidence like a researcher, while narrating and nurturing imagination as a truly brilliant narrator and an authentic experimenter in writing.

We learn with Thiong'o the value of knowledge, which colonialism withheld from the Kenyan people. He tells us about the emergence of formal education and independent, rebellious schools in Kenya. His dream, which he promised his mother he would spare no effort to achieve, was to learn. But how can a child cling to his dream amidst the shadows of World War II and his family crises? This childhood memoir serves as Thiong'o's testimony in defense of his right to dream, at least, despite all the difficulties, and of his mother's significant role in his life, which has led him to become one of Africa's greatest writers worldwide.