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Flaubert's Parrot

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction
Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes

"Gustave imagined he was a wild beast — he loved to think of himself as a polar bear, distant, savage and solitary. I went along with this, I even called him a wild buffalo of the American prairie; but perhaps he was really just a parrot." Flaubert's Parrot, p.151

Which of two stuffed parrots was the inspiration for one of Flaubert's greatest stories? Why did the mast keep changing the color of Emma Bovary's eyes? And why should these minutiae matter so much to Geoffrey Braithwaite, the crankily erudite doctor who is the narrator of this tour de force of style and imagination?

In Flaubert's Parrot, Julian Barnes spins out a multiple mystery, an exuberant metafictional inquiry into the ways in which art mirrors life and then turns around to shape it; a look at the perverse autopsies that readers perform on books and lovers perform on their beloved; and a piercing glimpse at the nature of obsession and betrayal, both scholarly and romantic.

EDITIONS & TRANSLATIONS / INTERVIEWS / REVIEWS

EDITIONS & TRANSLATIONS

NOTE: When possible, editions are linked to entries in the online Julian Barnes Bibliography. These entries feature multiple images of the book and additional bibliographic details.
English Editions

Flaubert's Parrot. London: Jonathan Cape, 1984. [Uncorrected Proof, 1984]

Flaubert's Parrot. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985. [Uncorrected Proof, 1985; Reviewer's copy, 1985]

Flaubert's Parrot. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.
[Paperbound with setting and cover illustration as in the first American edition. Book Club edition.]

Flaubert's Parrot. London: Picador, 1985. Pp. 190. Other edition: Picador, 2002.

Flaubert's Parrot. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1985.

Flaubert's Parrot. New York: Vintage International, 1990.

Flaubert's Parrot. London: Bloomsbury Classics, 1992.

Flaubert's Parrot / Talking It Over. London: Quality Paperbacks Direct, 2000. Pp. 498 [Joint edition]

Flaubert's Parrot / A History of the World in 10½ Chapters. Hamburg: Petersens, 2001. [Joint edition]

Flaubert's Parrot / A History of the World in 10½ Chapters. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. [Joint edition]

Flaubert's Parrot. Vintage Books, 2009; Other editions: Vintage Books, 2009 ["Vintage Barnes" jacket cover]; Vintage Books, 2012.

Audio Editions

Flaubert's Parrot. AudioGO Ltd, 2011: Read by Richard Morant  
[Unabridged, 7 hours, 10 minutes]

Flaubert's Parrot. Random House Audio, 2010: Read by Julian Barnes  
[Abridged, 2 hours, 59 minutes]

Translated Editions

Arabic - ببّغاء فلوبير. Rewayat, 2019. Translated by Translated by جوليان بارنز (Bandar Al-Harbi).

Bulgarian - Papagalat na Flober. Sofia: Narodna Kultura, 1990. Translated by Dimitrina Kondeva; Other edition:  Obsidian, 2012.

Catalan - El lloro de Flaubert. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1995. Translated by Núria Ribera. Other edition: Edicions 62, 2010.

Chinese - Fuloubai de ying wu. Taibei Shi: Mai tian chu ban, 2004. Translated by Yang Nanqian and Li Jiachun yi. Other editions: 福楼拜的鹦鹉. Nanjing: 译林出版社 | Yilin Press, 2010; 译林出版社 | Yilin Press, 2016Yilin Press, 2021.

Czech - Flaubertuv papoušek. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1996. Translated by Miloš Urban. Other edition:  Odeon, 2016.

Danish - Flauberts papegøje. København: Tiderne Skifter, 1987. Translated by Lisbeth Hertel. Other editions: København: Samlerens Bogklub, 1987; Tiderne Skifter, 2012.

Dutch - Flauberts papegaai. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij de Arbeiderspers, 1985. Translated by Else Hoog. Other edition: Uitgeverij de Arbeiderspers, 1985. [paperback]; Uitgeverij de Arbeiderspers, 1991; Atlas, 2008; Olympus, 2012; L.J. Veen Klassiek, 2021.

Finnish - Flaubertin Papukaija. Porvoo - Helsinki - Juva: WSOY, 1987. Translated by Kristiina Drews.

French - Le perroquet de Flaubert. Paris: Nouveau Cabinet Cosmopolite Stock, 1986. Translated by Jean Guiloineau. Other editions: Éditions Stock (Le Livre du Poche), 1986; Stock, 1987; Bibliothéque Cosmopolite Stock, 1991; Stock, 2000; Romans. Edited by Vanessa Guignery. Quarto Gallimard, 2021.

Georgian - ფლობერის თუთიყუში. Tbilisi: Diogene, 2013. Translated by ნინო ქაჯაიამ (Nino Kajaia).

German - Flauberts Papagei. Zürich: Haffmans Verlag, 1987. Translated by Michael Walter. Other editions:  Haffmans Verlag, 1989; Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1993; Haffmans, 1993; btb, 2004; Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2012.

Greek - O Papagalos tou Phlomper. Athens: Aquarius, 1988. Translated by Alexandra Kontaxakae. Other edition: Athens: Metaixmio, 2002; Metaixmio, 2003; Metaixmio, 2017.

Hebrew - Tel-Aviv: Zmora Bitan, 1987; Other edition: Zmora-Bitan, 2005.

Hungarian - Flaubert papagája. Budapest: Magveto, 1989. Translated by Czine Erzsébet.

Italian - Il pappagallo di Flaubert. Milano: Rizzoli, 1987. Translated by Riccardo Mainardi; Einaudi, 2015. Translated by Susanna Basso.

Japanese - Furoberu no omu. Tokyo: Hakusui-Sha Limited, 1989. Translated by Shozo Saito. Other edition: 白水社 [Hakusuisha], 1993.

Korean - 플로베르의 앵무새. Seoul: Dong Yeun Publishing, 1995.

Lithuanian - Flobero papūga. Vilnius: baltos lankos, 2011. Translated by Nijolė Regina Chijenienė.

Norwegian - Flauberts papegøye. Oslo: Ex Libris Forlag A/S, 1987. Translated by Kjell Olaf Jensen. Other editions: Damm, 2003; Damm, 2013.

Persian - طوطی فلوبر. Tehran: Cheshmeh, 2016. Translated by Erfan Mojib. Other edition: Mahi, 2018. Translated by Ellam Nazari.

Polish - Papuga Flauberta. Warszawa: Czytelnik, 1992. Translated by Adam Szymanowski; Świat Książki, 2019.

Portuguese - O Papagaio de Flaubert. Lisboa: Círculo de Leitores (Quetzal Editores), 1988. Translated by Ana Maria Amador. Other editions: Lisboa: Quetzal Editores (Círculo de Leitores), 1988 (paperback); Rio de Janeiro: Editora Rocco, 1988. Translated by Manoel Paulo Ferreira; Lisboa: Quetzal Editores, 2010. Translated by Ana Maria Amador with revisions by Carlos Pinheiro; Quetzal Editores, 2019.

Romania - Papagalul lui flaubert. Bucuresti: Nemira, 2014. Translated by Virgil Stanciu. Other editions: Bucuresti: Nemira, 2006. Translated by Virgil Stanciu; Bucuresti: Editura Univers, 1997. Essay by Stanciu titled, "Julian Barnes: Un Eurofantast?" pp. 183-191.

Russian - Popugaj Flobera. Moskva: AST, 2002. Other editions: ACT, 2005;  Eksmo, 2012.

Serbo-Croatian - Flaubertova papiga. Zagreb: Znanje, 1990. Translated by Zlatko Crnkovic.

Slovene - Flaubertova papiga. Maribor: Obzorja, 1988. Translated by Luka Novak.

Spanish - El loro de Flaubert. Barcelona: Editorial Anagrama, 1986. Translated by Antonio Mauri. Other edition: Editorial Anagrama/Compactos, 1997; Compactos Anagrama, 1994; Anagrama, 2009Editorial La Página, 2012; Editorial Anagrama, 2015; Biblioteca Anagrama, 2019.

Swedish - Flauberts Papegoja. Stockholm: Forum Publishers, 1986. Translated by Ingvar Skogsberg; Forum, 2018.

Turkish - Flaubert'in Papagani. Istanbul: Can Yayinlari, 1989. Translated by Savkar Altinel. Other edition: Istanbul: Ayrinti Yayinlari, 2001. Translated by Serdar Rifat Kirkoglu.

INTERVIEWS

July 2003 - Flaubert's Parrot - Harriet Gilbert, BBC World Book Club

2002 - Julian Barnes in Conversation (PDF) - Vanessa Guignery, Cercles 4 p.255-269
[Interview conducted by Vanessa Guignery during a Flaubert's Parrot conference in Rouen, November 2001. Available in .pdf format.]

11/14/2001 - Julian Barnes's Flaubert's Parrot - Sorbonne, Paris
[The full transcript of the interview, together with an introduction and a bibliography on Flaubert's Parrot, was published in English by Études britanniques contemporaines: Gallix François and Vanessa Guignery. "Julian Barnes at the Sorbonne. 14th November 2001" Études britanniques contemporaines (21) Dec/2001 p.107-32]

03/07/2001 - Julian Barnes and Jay McInerney - NYTimes Online
[Interview recorded at the New York Public Library in conjunction with the U.S. publication of Love, etc.]

12/05/1999 - Julian Barnes - James Naughtie, Bookclub BBC Radio 4
[James Naughtie and a group of readers talk to writer Julian Barnes about his fascination with the 19th century French novelist Gustave Flaubert.]

04/16/1986 - Julian Barnes n'en a pas fini avec Flaubert - Jean-Pierre Salgas, La Quinzaine littéraire (463) p.13
[French interview upon the publication of Le perroquet de Flaubert.]

REVIEWS

Fall 1999 - Interred Textuality: The Good Soldier and Flaubert's Parrot - Neil Brooks, Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction (41.1) p.45-51. (ISSN: 0011-1619)

1999 - The Author: Postmodernism's Stock Character - IN Paul Franssen and Ton Hoenselaars, eds. Aleid Fokkema, The Author as Character: Representing Historical Writers in Western Literature. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1999. p.39-51.

1997 - Untitled Essay on Flaubert's Parrot - Greg Hurrell, Wincent's Web Page
[From the site: "Wincent (a pseudonym) is a student currently undertaking studies at Flinders University, South Australia, towards a bachelor's degree in Education. Wincent has established this web site for the publication of written works (assessment and research pieces) produced in the course of his studies."]

1997 - Towards a Description of Atypical Narratives: A Study of the Underlying Organisation of Flaubert's Parrot - Tania Shephear, Language and Discourse (5) p.71-95. (ISSN: 1351-0878)

1997 - Gegenwartsromane im Englischunterricht? Julian Barnes und der neue historische Roman - Harald Raykowski, Neusprachliche Mitteilungen aus Wissenschaft und Praxis (50.2) p.93-97. (ISSN: 0028-3983)

1993 - Not Altogether a Tomb -- Julian Barnes: Flaubert's Parrot - William Bell, Imitating Art: Essays in Biography Ed. David Ellis. London: Pluto Press, 1993. p.149-173

07/1990 - Parrot as Paradigms: Infinite Deferral of Meaning in Flaubert's Parrot - James B. Scott, ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature (21.3) p.57-68 (ISSN: 0004-1327)

04/1987 - Notas acerca de un loro famoso - Ramon Suarez, Revista Chilena de Literatura (29) p.151-155 (ISSN: 0048-7651)

07/22/1985 - A Pair of Parrots - John Updike, New Yorker (61.22) p.86-90

04/25/1985 - Obsessed With Obsession - Frank Kermode, New York Review of Books (32) p.15-16

04/05/1985 - A Flaubertian Flight of Fantasy - Frances Taliaferro, Wall Street Journal p.15

03/10/1985 - Obsessed With the Hermit of Croisset - Peter Brooks, New York Times Book Review (90) p.7,9

1985 - Unpublished Review of Flaubert's Parrot - Mick Sinclair, Jamming!
[Note: This review was never published. Provided by Mick Sinclair.]

11/03/1984 - Pretty Polly - Mary Hope, Spectator (253) p.26-27

10/17/1984 - In Fine Feather - Melvyn Bragg, Punch (287) p.22-23

French Translation

2002 - French Agrégation 2002 - Vanessa Guignery, Université de Paris IV - Sorbonne
In addition to the resources listed here, Vanessa Guignery (Université de Paris IV - Sorbonne) has compiled a bibliography as a resource for French Agrégation 2002.]

1999 - 'My Wife ... Died': une mort en pointillé dans Flaubert's Parrot de J. Barnes - Vanessa Guignery, Etudes Britanniques Contemporaines (17)

Jan/Mar 1997 - Palimpseste et pastiche generique chez Julian Barnes - Vanessa Guignery, Etudes Anglaises (50.1) p.40-52. (ISSN: 0014-195X)

1994 - 'Gourstave Flaubear': L'Intertextualite contrastive comme procede metafictionnel dans Flaubert's Parrot de Julian Barnes - Michel Petit, Historicite et metafiction dans le roman contemporain des Iles Britanniques Ed. Max Duperray. Aix en Provence: Univ. de Provence. p.121-37

12/06/1986 - Plateau Madeleine Chapsal - C'est à lire TF1 (Television interview.)

05/16/1986 - Julian Barnes n'en a pas fini avec Flaubert - Jean Pierre Salgas, La Quinzaine Litteraire (463) p.10-13 (ISSN: 0048-6493)

05/02/1986 - Quand les héros sont des animaux - Apostrophes Antenne 2 (Television interview.)

05/01/1986 - Un Anglais, Flaubert et les perroquets - Bernard Geniès, Quinzaine Litteraire p.7-8

04/25/1986 - Flaubert mode d'emploi - Jean-Louis Ezine, Nouvel Observateur p.114-15

04/18/1986 - Barnes plume le perroquet - Angelo Rinaldi, L'Express p.156-57

Italian Translation

2008 - "Madame Bovary c'est lui!". Gustave Flaubert, Julian Barnes e l'eterna monotonia della passione - Silvia Albertazzi, Francofonia: Studi e ricerche sulle letterature di lingua francese (54) p.127-139

11/26/2004 - REALITY, HISTORY AND SIMULACRA: 3 NOVELS OF JULIAN BARNES - Sara Ricci, UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI DI MACERATA

01/2002 - Il pappagallo di Flaubert - Alfio Squillaci, La Frusta

05/1995 - I codici infranti: Inclusivita, riscrittura e metanarrativita in Flaubert's Parrot di Julian Barnes - Laura Giovannelli, Strumenti Critici (10.2) p.271-86 ISSN: 0039-2618

Additional Publications

2002 - Flaubert's Parrot de Julian Barnes: "un symbole du logos?" - Vanessa Guignery, Rouen: Publications de l'université de Rouen, 2002. (PUR n° 311) (24 x 16 cm) 138p. ISBN: 2-87775-321-2 (17€, plus shipping)

2001 - Julian Barnes. L'art du mélange. - Vanessa Guignery, Bordeaux: Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 2001. (136 p.) ISBN 2-86781-281-X. (12€)

2001 - Flaubert's Parrot de Julian Barnes. - Vanessa Guignery, Paris: Nathan université/Armand Colin, 2001. (140 p.) ISBN 2-200-26198-5. (15€)

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