Translated by T. W. Earp & G. W. Stonier with an introduction by G. W. Stonier. "Bouvard and Pécuchet" is a novel by Gustave Flaubert that satirises the pursuit of knowledge and the human capacity for intellectual folly. Two retired clerks, Bouvard and Pécuchet, are consumed by an insatiable thirst for understanding and self-improvement after inheriting a fortune. They move to the countryside and embark on a series of failed experiments, attempting to master various fields such as farming, science, history, and even the arts. Their relentless but ill-guided attempts to learn and succeed are often met with disaster, highlighting the futility of their quest and the limitations of human understanding. The novel, unfinished at Flaubert's death, serves as a commentary on the human tendency to embrace contradictory ideas and the superficiality of bourgeois intellectual pursuits.