IDENTITY
Bouvard et Pécuchet
Literature
Work Summary
A satirical novel about two Parisian copy clerks who retire to the countryside and successively attempt to master agriculture, science, history, literature, education and other fields through books. Their repeated failures turn the novel into a comic investigation of received knowledge, intellectual fashion and the contradictions of nineteenth-century culture.
Evidence Summary
Van Gogh says the memory of Candide and Bouvard et Pécuchet often sustains him in difficult hours.
Directly stated personal response to the two named books.
CONTEXT
Author / Source
Gustave Flaubert
Work
Bouvard et Pécuchet
Years / Period
28 Apr–2 May 1889
Van Gogh Relation
Discussed / Commented On
EVIDENCE
Key Quotation
the memory of that often sustains me
CONNECTIONS
Evidence Trail
28 Apr–2 May 1889 — Letter 764
Remembered / discussed
the memory of that often sustains me
Response: Van Gogh says the memory of Candide and Bouvard et Pécuchet often sustains him in difficult hours.
Connection: Directly stated personal response to the two named books.
Related Research Nodes
Study Subject
Themes
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