Solitaire by Hassouna Mosbahi

Author:Hassouna Mosbahi
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780815655503
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Published: 2022-03-22T00:00:00+00:00

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Sensing that writing would be his destiny, Flaubert also chose solitude so he would not be distracted from writing by life’s pleasures, history’s upheavals, painful or happy experiences, love affairs, traveling or travel adventures, friendships, family or conjugal duties, or any other eventuality. Until death struck him down while he was writing a new chapter of Bouvard et Pécuchet, solitude remained his favorite world. He dreamt, danced, sang, created, and wrestled with words there—as if struggling with predatory beasts. The choice of solitude came early for Flaubert. When he was in his twenties, he wrote, “Tomorrow I will be alone . . . I will not visit anyone . . . I’m a bear.” Even when he married, Flaubert continued to cling to solitude like an Oriental sultan clinging to power: “I live alone, completely alone. I embrace solitude even more.” My parents have died, and my friends “have given up on me or changed.”

Dogs were his only companions in his endless solitude. He treated them like dear friends and his brethren in good and bad days. They were present when he lunched or dined and accompanied him on his rambles when he needed a break from writing. He may have discussed with them topics that preoccupied him. He talked about his dogs with admiration and affection in letters he sent to his lovers and friends. In a letter to his close friend Louis Bouilhet, he wrote:

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