French Connection

As I read Gustave Flaubert I focused on detail, on his descriptions primarily. His style is very unique, I think detail described in few words is a skill that develops with practice. We learned about le mot juste, a concept that involves using exact words for exact descriptions. We can recall, “Eight mahogany chairs stood in a row against the white wainscoting. An old piano, standing beneath a barometer, was covered with a pyramid of old books and boxes. On either side of the yellow marble mantelpiece, in Louis XV. style, stood a tapestry armchair. The
clock represented a temple of Vesta; and the whole room smelled musty,
as it was on a lower level than the garden.”(Chapter 1) His description is very casual and yet precise. Listing objects can be a technique to emphasize detail, a method that Flaubert uses constantly in A Simple Heart. He sues numerical reference, allusion and shapes as some of the main indicators throughout his descriptions. I feel his style is similar to that of Armand Guillaumin, a french impressionist. The strokes he sues are delicate, short and yet magnify the concept in his paintings.