Bouvard & Pécuchet (Summarized Edition)

Bouvard & Pécuchet follows two Parisian copy clerks who, after a windfall, retire to Normandy to master all knowledge. Each new enthusiasm—agronomy, chemistry, aesthetics, pedagogy, politics—appears in pitch-perfect pastiche of manuals and treatises. Experiments misfire, doctrines clash, zeal sours, and the pair finally choose copying over comprehension. With chilly impersonal prose and virtuoso v...