Three Tales by Gustave Flaubert
Published 1877 · 47,109 words · about 4 hours at an average pace · Short Stories, Literary Fiction
How hard is Three Tales to read?
Three Tales scores 74 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it very challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 68 out of 100
- Flaubert employs a rich and precise vocabulary, featuring specialized terms from various domains like medieval warfare (e.g., 'portcullis,' 'cuirass,' 'halberd'), ancient history ('Tetrarch,' 'lictors,' 'fasces,' 'ophicleides'), and natural history ('ormers,' 'gerfalcons,' 'jerboa'). While not as dense with archaic words as Moby-Dick, the text frequently introduces less common nouns and descriptive adjectives, requiring a solid vocabulary or occasional dictionary consultation. The analytical introduction also uses sophisticated literary criticism terms like 'hypotaxis' and 'jeu d'esprit'.
- Sentence structure: 72 out of 100
- The prose features long, meticulously constructed sentences with multiple clauses and extensive subordination, particularly in descriptive passages and the analytical introduction. Flaubert often layers details and actions within a single sentence, demanding sustained attention from the reader, though it avoids the extreme hypotaxis of a Henry James or the unpunctuated stream of Ulysses. For instance, descriptions of Julian's hunting or the banquet hall in 'Herodias' showcase this intricate sentence structure, making it more demanding than The Great Gatsby but less overwhelming than Absalom, Absalom!.
- Abstraction: 75 out of 100
- While the tales present narratives, they are deeply imbued with symbolic, psychological, and philosophical abstraction, particularly in 'Saint Julian' and 'Herodias.' The introduction explicitly discusses Flaubert's exploration of 'lower depths' of the mind, Oedipal themes, and the survival of the sacred in a secular idiom. The stories themselves delve into complex internal states, religious visions, and the allegorical nature of human experience, placing it closer to Brothers Karamazov in its philosophical depth than to purely concrete narratives.
- Information density: 78 out of 100
- The text is dense with detailed descriptions, historical context, and symbolic layers, requiring significant reader attention to fully absorb. Flaubert packs each scene with specific visual, auditory, and thematic information, from the architectural details of a castle to the intricate political and religious dynamics of ancient Judaea. This rich layering of concepts and allusions, especially evident in 'Herodias' and the analytical introduction, makes it more demanding than Lolita or Austerlitz, approaching the complexity of 2666 in its scope and detail.
- Narrative indirection: 78 out of 100
- Flaubert employs an "impersonal" narrative style, requiring readers to infer meaning from characters' actions and limited perspectives rather than explicit authorial commentary. In "A Simple Heart," Félicité's inner life and final vision are presented without judgment, forcing the reader to construct their own understanding of her devotion and its pathos. "Herodias" is described as "uncommonly elliptical," focusing on Herod Antipas's anxious, ignorant mind, compelling readers to piece together the broader historical and thematic implications.
- Symbolic density: 82 out of 100
- The tales are rich in motifs and allegorical layers, conveying meaning beyond literal events, often showing "how the sacred survives, oddly disguised." In "A Simple Heart," the parrot Loulou transforms into a profound symbol of the Holy Spirit for Félicité, embodying her simple faith. "The Legend of Saint Julian Hospitator" is a sustained allegory of sin, penance, and redemption, with the leper serving as a Christ figure, inviting deep theological and psychological interpretation.
- Ironic distance: 80 out of 100
- Flaubert maintains a significant gap between the text's surface and the author's implied meaning, creating delicate tension. The introduction notes Flaubert's "amusingly devious" denial of irony in "A Simple Heart," where Félicité's simple-minded devotion is presented with a straight face, yet invites the reader to grapple with its inherent absurdity and pathos. The "solemn authorial mischief" of the final line in "Saint Julian" explicitly questions the narrative's source, establishing a critical distance from the miraculous.
- Resolution withholding: 75 out of 100
- The stories consistently resist definitive closure, leaving central meanings ambiguous and open to interpretation. Félicité's death in "A Simple Heart" culminates in a vision of a giant parrot/Holy Spirit, leaving the reader to decide if it is a sublime spiritual experience or a pathetic delusion. In "Herodias," the momentous decapitation of Jokanaan concludes with the prosaic detail of his head being carried because it was "very heavy," deliberately undermining traditional narrative resolution.
- Structural complexity: 60 out of 100
- While largely linear within individual narratives, the collection introduces complexity through meta-narrative elements and a notable formal experiment. The introduction provides critical context that shapes the reader's approach to the tales, and "The Legend of Saint Julian Hospitator" concludes with a direct authorial intrusion, breaking the fourth wall to comment on the story's source and challenge its veracity. This self-referential gesture adds a layer of formal sophistication beyond simple chronology.
How Three Tales is regarded
Three Tales holds a literary regard score of 87 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.