No doubt a wonderful translation that to my mind must do the same thing for Flaubert that Pevear and Volokhonsky did for Tolstoy, Chekhov and Dostoevsky. Lydia Davis's Introduction is also not to be missed, but perhaps unlike many if not most first-time readers of this novel, I knew little of the plot besides concerning an adulterous woman, and soon into the Introduction I discovered it was rife with "plot spoilers" I didn't want to know before reading the book. So for like minded readers, I would recommend reading the Introduction as an "Afterwards" after first reading the novel. A further advantage of this approach will be the discovery of how many unique and significant aspects of Flaubert's writing style and related events in the novel one may have noticed during reading that are discussed and revealed in this excellent Introduction, rather than having been tipped off beforehand. (I was pleased with what I had picked up, happy to learn more I hadn't.) For scholars and/or readers who have read previous translations and want to re-visit this work, I also highly recommend this Davis's along with her very insightful Introduction.
