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The Human Comedy: Selected Stories
An NYRB Classics Original
We think of Honoré de Balzac as the author of long and fully upholstered novels, stitched together into the magnificent visionary document called The Human Comedy. Yet along with the full-length fiction within The Human Comedy stand many shorter works, among the most brilliant and forceful of his fictions. Drawn always to the tradition of oral storytelling—to the human voice telling of experience—and to the kinds of reactions produced in the listeners to stories, Balzac repeatedly dramatizes both telling and listening, and the interactions of men and women around the story told. It’s in the short fiction that we get some of his most daring explorations of crime, sexuality, and artistic creation. As Marcel Proust noted, it is in these tales that we detect, under the surface, the mysterious circulation of blood and desire.
Included here are tales of artists, of the moneylender who controls the lives of others, of passion in the desert sands and in the drawing rooms of Parisian duchesses, episodes of madness and psychotherapy, the uncovering of fortunes derived from crime and from castration. And stories about the creation of story, the need to transmit experience. All are newly translated by three outstanding translators who restore the freshness of Balzac’s vivid and highly colored prose.
SARRASINE
GOBSECK
ADIEU
Z. MARCAS
A PASSION IN THE DESERT
THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS
THE RED INN
FACINO CANE
ANOTHER STUDY OF WOMANKIND
We think of Honoré de Balzac as the author of long and fully upholstered novels, stitched together into the magnificent visionary document called The Human Comedy. Yet along with the full-length fiction within The Human Comedy stand many shorter works, among the most brilliant and forceful of his fictions. Drawn always to the tradition of oral storytelling—to the human voice telling of experience—and to the kinds of reactions produced in the listeners to stories, Balzac repeatedly dramatizes both telling and listening, and the interactions of men and women around the story told. It’s in the short fiction that we get some of his most daring explorations of crime, sexuality, and artistic creation. As Marcel Proust noted, it is in these tales that we detect, under the surface, the mysterious circulation of blood and desire.
Included here are tales of artists, of the moneylender who controls the lives of others, of passion in the desert sands and in the drawing rooms of Parisian duchesses, episodes of madness and psychotherapy, the uncovering of fortunes derived from crime and from castration. And stories about the creation of story, the need to transmit experience. All are newly translated by three outstanding translators who restore the freshness of Balzac’s vivid and highly colored prose.
SARRASINE
GOBSECK
ADIEU
Z. MARCAS
A PASSION IN THE DESERT
THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS
THE RED INN
FACINO CANE
ANOTHER STUDY OF WOMANKIND
428 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1842
219 people are currently reading
2227 people want to read
About the author
Honoré de Balzac
9,540 books4,370 followersFrench writer Honoré de Balzac (born Honoré Balzac), a founder of the realist school of fiction, portrayed the panorama of society in a body of works, known collectively as
La comédie humaine
.
Honoré de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napoléon in 1815, his magnum opus, a sequence of almost a hundred novels and plays, entitled, presents life in the years.
Due to keen observation of fine detail and unfiltered representation, European literature regards Balzac. He features renowned multifaceted, even complex, morally ambiguous, full lesser characters. Character well imbues inanimate objects; the city of Paris, a backdrop, takes on many qualities. He influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles John Huffam Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Jack Kerouac as well as important philosophers, such as Friedrich Engels. Many works of Balzac, made into films, continue to inspire.
An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac adapted with trouble to the teaching style of his grammar. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. Balzac finished, and people then apprenticed him as a legal clerk, but after wearying of banal routine, he turned his back on law. He attempted a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician before and during his career. He failed in these efforts From his own experience, he reflects life difficulties and includes scenes.
Possibly due to his intense schedule and from health problems, Balzac suffered throughout his life. Financial and personal drama often strained his relationship with his family, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.
Honoré de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napoléon in 1815, his magnum opus, a sequence of almost a hundred novels and plays, entitled, presents life in the years.
Due to keen observation of fine detail and unfiltered representation, European literature regards Balzac. He features renowned multifaceted, even complex, morally ambiguous, full lesser characters. Character well imbues inanimate objects; the city of Paris, a backdrop, takes on many qualities. He influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles John Huffam Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Jack Kerouac as well as important philosophers, such as Friedrich Engels. Many works of Balzac, made into films, continue to inspire.
An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac adapted with trouble to the teaching style of his grammar. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. Balzac finished, and people then apprenticed him as a legal clerk, but after wearying of banal routine, he turned his back on law. He attempted a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician before and during his career. He failed in these efforts From his own experience, he reflects life difficulties and includes scenes.
Possibly due to his intense schedule and from health problems, Balzac suffered throughout his life. Financial and personal drama often strained his relationship with his family, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
July 10, 2019
“To open up what society and the novel of manners repress, to stage a kind of explosive upthrust of that which is ordinarily kept down, under control, is Balzac’s delight and his passion. He asks to be read in the spirit of adventure and daring.” – From Peter Brooks’s Introduction to this Honoré de Balzac collection of stories
Nine stories from the French master collected here, ranging in length from Facino Cane and A Passion in the Desert, each less than twenty pages, to the much longer Another Study of Womankind, Adieu and Gobseck. Also included is the novella, The Duchesse de Langeais. As a way of sharing a literary slice of Balzac's exuberant storytelling pie, I'll focus on a lesser known piece I found particularly dazzling: The Red Inn.
As Peter Brooks points out, Balzac was taken by the art and power of the oral storytelling tradition and how much of the great author’s shorter fiction zeroes in on the dynamics of storytelling, how one character’s relaying a story to listeners can have such explosive consequences. And The Red Inn serves as a prime example: we encounter a tale all about stories and storytelling; matter of fact, like those nesting Russian wooden stacking dolls, this story contains an embedded story and this embedded story leads to other equally dramatic embedded stories. All told, an entire string of stories that fire off like a series of dynamite sticks. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
It all begins with the narrator attending a merry dinner party hosted by a Paris banker where, following ample food and drink, one of the gentlemen in attendance, Hermann by name, a beefy robust blonde German businessman, is requested to tell a story. And Hermann is “like most Germans authors write about” – Ah! At every turn Balzac can’t resist the interplay of life mirroring fiction and fiction mirroring life.
Anyway, everyone settles in to listen to Hermann’s story; meanwhile the narrator takes notice of one of the guests sitting directly across the table, a plump, rather ordinary looking man whose face has suddenly turned ashen, even cadaver-like. In a whisper, he notes this transformation to the attractive young lady sitting next to him. She, in turn, tells him, in brief, the story of this man’s life, how he became a real estate millionaire and has a beautiful daughter he initially repudiated but took back into his household after his beloved son lost his life in a duel.
Our unnamed narrator turns his attention back to Hermann, who at the moment is filling his nose with snuff before launching into his tale. At this juncture the narrator explains what we are reading from this point forward is his translation and artful adaptation of Hermann’s story – he even gives the tale a title: THE IDEA AND THE FACT.
Oh, my, the metafictional plot thickens; such a curious twist for several reasons: 1) the rendering of Hermann’s tale is punctuated with various audience responses, especially the nonverbal reactions of that plump, cadaverous millionaire, Monsieur Taillefer; 2) in all probability, Monsieur Taillefer is a main character in Hermann’s tale; 3) toward the end of The Red Inn, via his relationship with Taillefer's beautiful daughter, the narrator discovers he himself participates indirectly in the ongoing story of the real estate millionaire. Sound complex? Relationships within the various stories mix together but in his role as master storyteller, Honoré de Balzac does a superlative job in clarifying all the intertwining fictional threads so a reader will not get lost.
And here is the set up for Hermann’s tale in broad outline: two twenty-year-old assistant surgeons serving in the French army take their evening logging at an inn across the border in Germany, an inn painted red and called “The Red Inn.” The innkeeper gives the two young gentlemen, Prosper and his mate, Hermann can’t immediately recall his name, his last room.
But then another latecomer arrives, a German factory owner by the name of Walhenfer also in need of a room. The surgeons are more than happy to share their room with him. Before all three head off to bed, having together emptied a fair number of bottles of wine, Walhenfer makes the mistake of letting it be known he is carrying a small fortune of gold and diamonds in his valise. The following morning Prosper is aroused from his sleep and surrounded by French soldiers who promptly carry him off to prison – for the factory owner has been murdered, his throat sliced by a surgical instrument, and all his gold and diamonds have vanished.
Reading Balzac’s tale, I was pulled in every bit as much as the dinner guests at the Paris banker’s party - I planned to read The Red Inn over the course of several days but once I started I couldn’t stop. Such is the magic of storytelling. And as this story develops readers are compelled to join the narrator in confronting a number of moral questions: What responsibilities does he have if he knows someone is a criminal or if he knows wealth has been gained by criminal means? Should he report any knowledge he has to the authorities, even if this means others, even those close to him, will be adversely affected? And what exactly should he do if he inherits such a fortune?
Again, The Red Inn is but one of nine classic tales included in this New York Review Books (NYRB) edition. Also, not to be missed, is the astute, scholarly introductory essay on Balzac's short fiction by Peter Brooks.
By my eye, this detail from a Richard Dadd painting captures the spirit of storytelling magic. And, as this collection makes abundantly clear, Honoré de Balzac was a supreme storytelling magician.
May 11, 2016
I know, I know. 91 works and all the attention I’m giving the entirety of The Human Comedy, magnum opus of Honore de Balzac, is one 400-page selection?
Yeah, well, suck my clit. My to-read list looms like Mount Doom as it is. I’m not adding another 91.
Maybe someday I’ll read more of the Human Comedy. Maybe. But right now, me and Honore are doing it quick and dirty.
Like most one night stands, I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Hence the 3-star rating. I loved some of the stories and hated others. Here’s the breakdown:
Facino Cane: 1 star
Another Study of Womankind: ...0 star? Can I 0 star this one?
The Red Inn: 1 star
Sarrasine: 2 star
A Passion in the Desert: 5 star
Adieu: 4 star
Z Marcas: 2 star
Gobseck: 1 star
The Duchesse de Langeais: 5 star
Passion in the Desert & Duchesse de Langeais were phenomenal and had me thinking about them hours afterwards. Adieu was fairly good as well. The rest… not so much.
I love long-winded reflection or description as long as it either:
1)Has a point, or
2)Is innately beautiful.
Most of this book was neither. It was just… words. Just words on a page. Just plodding, pointless, unadorned description. Going nowhere.
In comparison, take authors like Milan Kundera or Henry James or DH Lawrence or Virginia Woolf. They don’t love action or even dialogue. Most of their books are just introspection or description. But they’re all favourites of mine because they do it well.
Balzac, with the 3 exceptions mentioned above, doesn’t really. I was neither intellectually nor emotionally stimulated by most of these stories.
I don’t know if most of the complete Human Comedy saga is more like Desert & Duchesse or more like the rest of the stories. I guess I’ll have to read the real deal someday to find out.
...but based on this sampling, I’m mysteriously not going to get around to that for a long, long time.
Yeah, well, suck my clit. My to-read list looms like Mount Doom as it is. I’m not adding another 91.
Maybe someday I’ll read more of the Human Comedy. Maybe. But right now, me and Honore are doing it quick and dirty.
Like most one night stands, I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Hence the 3-star rating. I loved some of the stories and hated others. Here’s the breakdown:
Facino Cane: 1 star
Another Study of Womankind: ...0 star? Can I 0 star this one?
The Red Inn: 1 star
Sarrasine: 2 star
A Passion in the Desert: 5 star
Adieu: 4 star
Z Marcas: 2 star
Gobseck: 1 star
The Duchesse de Langeais: 5 star
Passion in the Desert & Duchesse de Langeais were phenomenal and had me thinking about them hours afterwards. Adieu was fairly good as well. The rest… not so much.
I love long-winded reflection or description as long as it either:
1)Has a point, or
2)Is innately beautiful.
Most of this book was neither. It was just… words. Just words on a page. Just plodding, pointless, unadorned description. Going nowhere.
In comparison, take authors like Milan Kundera or Henry James or DH Lawrence or Virginia Woolf. They don’t love action or even dialogue. Most of their books are just introspection or description. But they’re all favourites of mine because they do it well.
Balzac, with the 3 exceptions mentioned above, doesn’t really. I was neither intellectually nor emotionally stimulated by most of these stories.
I don’t know if most of the complete Human Comedy saga is more like Desert & Duchesse or more like the rest of the stories. I guess I’ll have to read the real deal someday to find out.
...but based on this sampling, I’m mysteriously not going to get around to that for a long, long time.
November 17, 2020
Reading Balzac is akin to watching old films from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Any time I sit down to watch a movie like "Casablanca" or "The Maltese Falcon," I face an adjustment period: the acting feels different, varying between seemingly stilted dialogue or outright melodrama. The plots sometimes have abrupt twists. Characters are drawn differently. And, of course, there is the omnipresent specter of racism, misogyny, and other such ghouls that lurk just behind many of these classics.
But once your eyes adjust, you can often detect the brilliance--even innovation--that underlies such films. All works of art eventually appear dated; those of our own day will be no different. The outward expressions of any art form change with the eras and even the most cutting edge (perhaps *especially* the most cutting edge) art seems outmoded. Works whose renown depends solely on formalistic innovation are often the first to end up in the dustbin. What does not change, if it inhabits an artwork, is the human feeling expressed within. Human emotions may be illustrated differently across time, but their roots do not change because they are a part of our species--whether we lived in the 19th century or live today. Here we can find the lasting genius of Balzac.
Although the writing is sometimes dated, veering into melodrama or bizarre twists of fate, the best of these stories retain an emotional weight. In some ways, the 19th Century was less shy than our own in its expressions of sentiment. Authors did not need to couch their characters' emotional lives in irony or the type of post-modern coyness that some contemporary literature is guilty of indulging to excess. Characters openly weep in situations that our cynical age finds laughable--they are likewise as quick to anger or melancholy or other raw emotional expression. This can be jarring for the modern reader, much like the acting in old films, but it can also be quite refreshing after you become acclimated to it.
Although they vary in quality, Balzac captures a panoply of human emotion throughout these stories. There is always a strong sensuality, that inimitably French love of food and drink, storytelling and sex--the latter of which is thinly veiled but omnipresent. We witness, with Balzac, the decadence of the mid-19th century French aristocracy, which seems to be frittering away its remaining days after the guillotine blows of the "Revolution of '89" and just ahead of the financial scythes of the rising bourgeoisie. Most of the tales in this collection take place amidst this backdrop, which frames the odd and self-indulgent choices made by so many characters. True to his intention, Balzac paints a vivid portrait of a society perched on the precipice, soon to leap (once again) into the unknown abyss. Since Balzac died in 1850, it fells to later writers from Zola to Maupassant to Proust pick up the story where he left off.
Balzac would have made a phenomenal screenwriter; it is no coincidence that so many of his stories have been adapted to film or television. In some ways they might actually work better in that medium, which was of course unavailable to him. I can envision the HBO miniseries that Balzac would have created to portray our own elite decadence and blindness to the societal sea changes looming just over the horizon. Perhaps our age needs a renewed Human Comedy.
But once your eyes adjust, you can often detect the brilliance--even innovation--that underlies such films. All works of art eventually appear dated; those of our own day will be no different. The outward expressions of any art form change with the eras and even the most cutting edge (perhaps *especially* the most cutting edge) art seems outmoded. Works whose renown depends solely on formalistic innovation are often the first to end up in the dustbin. What does not change, if it inhabits an artwork, is the human feeling expressed within. Human emotions may be illustrated differently across time, but their roots do not change because they are a part of our species--whether we lived in the 19th century or live today. Here we can find the lasting genius of Balzac.
Although the writing is sometimes dated, veering into melodrama or bizarre twists of fate, the best of these stories retain an emotional weight. In some ways, the 19th Century was less shy than our own in its expressions of sentiment. Authors did not need to couch their characters' emotional lives in irony or the type of post-modern coyness that some contemporary literature is guilty of indulging to excess. Characters openly weep in situations that our cynical age finds laughable--they are likewise as quick to anger or melancholy or other raw emotional expression. This can be jarring for the modern reader, much like the acting in old films, but it can also be quite refreshing after you become acclimated to it.
Although they vary in quality, Balzac captures a panoply of human emotion throughout these stories. There is always a strong sensuality, that inimitably French love of food and drink, storytelling and sex--the latter of which is thinly veiled but omnipresent. We witness, with Balzac, the decadence of the mid-19th century French aristocracy, which seems to be frittering away its remaining days after the guillotine blows of the "Revolution of '89" and just ahead of the financial scythes of the rising bourgeoisie. Most of the tales in this collection take place amidst this backdrop, which frames the odd and self-indulgent choices made by so many characters. True to his intention, Balzac paints a vivid portrait of a society perched on the precipice, soon to leap (once again) into the unknown abyss. Since Balzac died in 1850, it fells to later writers from Zola to Maupassant to Proust pick up the story where he left off.
Balzac would have made a phenomenal screenwriter; it is no coincidence that so many of his stories have been adapted to film or television. In some ways they might actually work better in that medium, which was of course unavailable to him. I can envision the HBO miniseries that Balzac would have created to portray our own elite decadence and blindness to the societal sea changes looming just over the horizon. Perhaps our age needs a renewed Human Comedy.
May 1, 2022
I found the last story about the duchess/ nun to be the best of the included stories. But I wanted to reach into the pages and smack a particular male character. He screwed everything up and I think it was out of envy or he’s just a butthole.
January 26, 2015
Balzac is a master story teller. He weaves incredibly story within story within story.(That wasn't a typo). From the great tide of the French revolution came this superb writer who has influenced every writer since. Because of Balzac, just this collection of 9 stories, I boned up on my French history. In between stories I read up on French history, the revolution, Napoleon, and the enlightenment. It wasn't skimming, I really spent hours learning and re-learning french history. Why? Because with his words Balzac produced in me a feeling of aliveness, as if I were really there in those times. This is the true job of an author no? To catapult you into a world and immerse you fully in its sublimity, to awake in you deep stirrings of feeling, so that when you close its pages for the final time and return to your world, you are left for a moment dazed, like you just traveled through time and space.
I honestly have experienced nothing like reading Balzac. With this book, he has usurped Dostoevsky's spot on my list of favorite authors. Dostoevsky, for all his greatness, only hints at the genius that is Balzac. It now reads 1. Mishima 2. Balzac. The subtlety of their prose being the only difference between Mishima and Balzac.
The three stories from this collection that I most recommend are "Another Study of Womankind", "Sarrasine", and "The Duchess De Langeais"
I kissed this book when I finished it...make of that what you will.
I honestly have experienced nothing like reading Balzac. With this book, he has usurped Dostoevsky's spot on my list of favorite authors. Dostoevsky, for all his greatness, only hints at the genius that is Balzac. It now reads 1. Mishima 2. Balzac. The subtlety of their prose being the only difference between Mishima and Balzac.
The three stories from this collection that I most recommend are "Another Study of Womankind", "Sarrasine", and "The Duchess De Langeais"
I kissed this book when I finished it...make of that what you will.
January 11, 2023
A blind man with a trans-European epic for a life; a duchess with a mysterious will concerning her property for the 50 years after her death; the unique trials of an Italian castrato in love; a French soldier alone in the Egyptian desert, who falls in love with a leopard; a countess suffering the trauma of Napoleon’s failed invasion of Russia, in the midst of which she suffered a harrowing loss; an usurer’s destructive force on an entire family; and a love so powerful but so subsumed and made mad by ruses that it turns into a series of abnegations, vendettas, and catastrophes.
These are the stories recounted in this book, through some of the most scintillating, powerful, pioneering, and, yes, funny prose you will ever read. Balzac started (and perhaps finished) the modern story. All of Chekhov is a paean to him, as all of Bolaño is. And this is as good as the form gets: an essential master class on the vividness and insight with which plot—along with its working descriptions—can be deployed in revealing one unique psyche after another. Along with all the forces that shape history, because, according to Balzac, these come from the diverse minds of every member of a society: a radical vision. Here is fiction too as romantic tale, socio-political essay, history, table talk, and renegade confession: perhaps all the forms it will ever need to take.
And these visions by someone with as voracious an appetite for storytelling as the father of the 19th century novel himself, living on his fiction, writing all night, drinking way too much coffee, but giving us everything and holding nothing back.
These are the stories recounted in this book, through some of the most scintillating, powerful, pioneering, and, yes, funny prose you will ever read. Balzac started (and perhaps finished) the modern story. All of Chekhov is a paean to him, as all of Bolaño is. And this is as good as the form gets: an essential master class on the vividness and insight with which plot—along with its working descriptions—can be deployed in revealing one unique psyche after another. Along with all the forces that shape history, because, according to Balzac, these come from the diverse minds of every member of a society: a radical vision. Here is fiction too as romantic tale, socio-political essay, history, table talk, and renegade confession: perhaps all the forms it will ever need to take.
And these visions by someone with as voracious an appetite for storytelling as the father of the 19th century novel himself, living on his fiction, writing all night, drinking way too much coffee, but giving us everything and holding nothing back.
July 1, 2025
The Recruit by Honore de Balzac – the glorious author of Pere Goriot https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/10/... one of the Top 100 Books of All Time
9 out of 10
I have two macaws, which you can see on my Facebook page, the blog – the link is up there, though that one is for a written note, and the boys are visible in the videos that can be found on the same spot, if anybody is interested – and one of them is called…Balzac, while the other was named Puccini, with the hope that they will talk and sing
However, I call and shout at Balzac every day, and that is because of the admiration for the fabulous author – his La Comedie Humaine https://realini.blogspot.com/2019/04/... is a massive chef d’oeuvre, with thousands of pages to delight, enchant the readers, for months
Alas, it is not always with respect that I say Balzac, but this is because my bird is mischievous, to say the least, whenever he sees a shadow, a sparrow, he starts screaming like there is no tomorrow, and these animals communicate across miles of jungle, so you can see how my brain is suffering frequent commotions…
Come to think of it, it is not my fault that this note (and the others) is not relevant, inspired, and it looks like it will meander off topic, so you should leave this page, it is all because of the circumstances, I always write with these fellows in the background, and now, Puccini is agitated, going to take a swim, in the cage
They are free to get out, the door is open, in fact, we would normally be out in the garden, where there is a big aviary, only it rained a lot today, the sun has just come out, but there is a wind, the place is in shadow by now, and besides, ‘I am a river to my people’ https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/...
The last is a line from Lawrence of Arabia, one of the best five movies ever made, and it is said by Anthony Quinn, who is a sheik in the film, and Lawrence aka majestic Peter O’Toole is asking about Aqaba, using a ruse to entice the leader to come along with his troops, and thus ‘I am a river to my people’
Which is meant to indicate munificence, magnanimity, when the fact was that the interests were more complex, it was also a desire for gold, money, to take loot, but dignity, honor is foremost, and I use that to boast that I am also generous, and I stay indoors, with all that sunshine, to satisfy the ‘readers’, anxious to see what I say about The Recruit
When not trying to be funny, I know that this is futile, and it is in the standard closing, where the quote about the mountains that have knocked each other and produced a lousy mouse is inserted, because all this scribbling does not really get out more than just a silly game, an exercise for the mind, for writing helps
The tale of The Recruit takes place in 1793, thus we are in the period after the beginning of The French Revolution of 1789, with all the fabulous benefits and changes, progress, liberty, equality and fraternity, the famous slogan, but unfortunately, it was not all Wine and Roses https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/...
On the contrary, there was a bloodbath, the king, queen, nobles have been executed, beheaded in fact, and innocent people suffered a terrible fate, based on suspicion, the excessive zeal, heinous character of many revolutionaries, the chaos, revenge, Danton is himself a victim of that mass revolt, the lust for violence
Robespierre https://realini.blogspot.com/2015/04/... is the hero and leader for some time, and there is an effort to fight back…this is where The Recruit comes into the picture, Madame de Dey lives in Normandy, and she is very worried, nay, desperate to save her only son
He is taking part in the royalist campaign to eject the hoi polloi, and restore the monarchy – as we know, a convulsive period would follow, Napoleon would first lead the revolutionary army, but then got trapped in the complex that has his name (supposedly, the ones that are short, or feel underprivileged would try to over compensate)
The opposite of that would be The Harding Effect, no, sorry, not the opposite, but related to tall people – they do not feel the need to push it, or not as a rule, it relates to how others see them – explained in the psychology classic Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/...
The Recruit is in fact not the son expected by his mother, Madame de Dey receives a message from the royalist, informing her that he had been captured, but expects to be home soon, and she tries to do the best she can for his anticipated arrival, getting a rabbit, in those awful circumstances, with all the Regime of Terror
She will use a lie, backed by the doctor, who also has royalist inclinations, saying that she was ill, and the skin of the animal can be used as a cure – that is what the physician recommended, allegedly, I mean he does say it helps, but he is just going along with nonsense, there is no scientific basis for that – the prosecutor is suspicious though
Nonetheless, the end is tragic – you have had a spoiler alert, and indeed, I do not expect a crowd to be reaching this far, most likely, there is no one to read this – and the mother is elated briefly, thinking the son has come, but it is just a Recruit, she dies that night, and the young man is shot dead, at about the same time…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
9 out of 10
I have two macaws, which you can see on my Facebook page, the blog – the link is up there, though that one is for a written note, and the boys are visible in the videos that can be found on the same spot, if anybody is interested – and one of them is called…Balzac, while the other was named Puccini, with the hope that they will talk and sing
However, I call and shout at Balzac every day, and that is because of the admiration for the fabulous author – his La Comedie Humaine https://realini.blogspot.com/2019/04/... is a massive chef d’oeuvre, with thousands of pages to delight, enchant the readers, for months
Alas, it is not always with respect that I say Balzac, but this is because my bird is mischievous, to say the least, whenever he sees a shadow, a sparrow, he starts screaming like there is no tomorrow, and these animals communicate across miles of jungle, so you can see how my brain is suffering frequent commotions…
Come to think of it, it is not my fault that this note (and the others) is not relevant, inspired, and it looks like it will meander off topic, so you should leave this page, it is all because of the circumstances, I always write with these fellows in the background, and now, Puccini is agitated, going to take a swim, in the cage
They are free to get out, the door is open, in fact, we would normally be out in the garden, where there is a big aviary, only it rained a lot today, the sun has just come out, but there is a wind, the place is in shadow by now, and besides, ‘I am a river to my people’ https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/...
The last is a line from Lawrence of Arabia, one of the best five movies ever made, and it is said by Anthony Quinn, who is a sheik in the film, and Lawrence aka majestic Peter O’Toole is asking about Aqaba, using a ruse to entice the leader to come along with his troops, and thus ‘I am a river to my people’
Which is meant to indicate munificence, magnanimity, when the fact was that the interests were more complex, it was also a desire for gold, money, to take loot, but dignity, honor is foremost, and I use that to boast that I am also generous, and I stay indoors, with all that sunshine, to satisfy the ‘readers’, anxious to see what I say about The Recruit
When not trying to be funny, I know that this is futile, and it is in the standard closing, where the quote about the mountains that have knocked each other and produced a lousy mouse is inserted, because all this scribbling does not really get out more than just a silly game, an exercise for the mind, for writing helps
The tale of The Recruit takes place in 1793, thus we are in the period after the beginning of The French Revolution of 1789, with all the fabulous benefits and changes, progress, liberty, equality and fraternity, the famous slogan, but unfortunately, it was not all Wine and Roses https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/...
On the contrary, there was a bloodbath, the king, queen, nobles have been executed, beheaded in fact, and innocent people suffered a terrible fate, based on suspicion, the excessive zeal, heinous character of many revolutionaries, the chaos, revenge, Danton is himself a victim of that mass revolt, the lust for violence
Robespierre https://realini.blogspot.com/2015/04/... is the hero and leader for some time, and there is an effort to fight back…this is where The Recruit comes into the picture, Madame de Dey lives in Normandy, and she is very worried, nay, desperate to save her only son
He is taking part in the royalist campaign to eject the hoi polloi, and restore the monarchy – as we know, a convulsive period would follow, Napoleon would first lead the revolutionary army, but then got trapped in the complex that has his name (supposedly, the ones that are short, or feel underprivileged would try to over compensate)
The opposite of that would be The Harding Effect, no, sorry, not the opposite, but related to tall people – they do not feel the need to push it, or not as a rule, it relates to how others see them – explained in the psychology classic Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/...
The Recruit is in fact not the son expected by his mother, Madame de Dey receives a message from the royalist, informing her that he had been captured, but expects to be home soon, and she tries to do the best she can for his anticipated arrival, getting a rabbit, in those awful circumstances, with all the Regime of Terror
She will use a lie, backed by the doctor, who also has royalist inclinations, saying that she was ill, and the skin of the animal can be used as a cure – that is what the physician recommended, allegedly, I mean he does say it helps, but he is just going along with nonsense, there is no scientific basis for that – the prosecutor is suspicious though
Nonetheless, the end is tragic – you have had a spoiler alert, and indeed, I do not expect a crowd to be reaching this far, most likely, there is no one to read this – and the mother is elated briefly, thinking the son has come, but it is just a Recruit, she dies that night, and the young man is shot dead, at about the same time…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
March 25, 2022
Crazy how much Balzac has influenced since his untimely death; most noticeably Dostoyevsky and Dickens, and in turn, everyone else that has come after them. Even Engels said that he learned more from Balzac than anyone else.
Aim to aspire to his work ethic and methods. I want to wake up at 1 in the morning and drink 8 coffees and have novels or scripts done by breakfast.
And to those who say he’s a bad writer, that he overwrites or uses terrible vocabulary: stop. Get help. I will agree that his structuring and endings needed help. Ended too quickly or not developed enough.
Aim to aspire to his work ethic and methods. I want to wake up at 1 in the morning and drink 8 coffees and have novels or scripts done by breakfast.
And to those who say he’s a bad writer, that he overwrites or uses terrible vocabulary: stop. Get help. I will agree that his structuring and endings needed help. Ended too quickly or not developed enough.
October 11, 2025
Best stories: Facino Cane, Passion in the Desert, Red Inn. Highly recommend the whole experience, this edition is a collection of great writing, not a single miss
June 7, 2017
This is an interesting collection of Balzac's short - sometimes very short - fiction. The introduction to the collection is available through the "Look Inside" feature at Amazon, which I read *after* I had read the collection. While I can't go so far as to say the Introduction definitely contains spoilers, I do think it is better read after reading them.
Oscar Wilde came close to the heart of the matter when he declared: "The nineteenth century, as we know it, is largely an invention of Balzac's." Balzac "invents" the new century by being the first writer to represent its emerging agglomerations, its nascent capitalist dynamics, its rampant cult of the individual personality. By seeing and dramatizing changes that he mainly deplored, he initiated his readers into understanding the shape of the century. "Balzac's great glory is that he pretended hardest," declared his faithful disciple Henry James: In the art of make-believe, Balzac was the master.I am compelled to include these sentences from that introduction because it describes so well what I like about Balzac. However, I am reluctant to recommend this collection as an introduction to Balzac. Sarrasine might be my favorite of these, followed closely by Gobseck, and in fact will most certainly reread these two. The others I will likely forget by the end of the week without something to prod my memory.
June 10, 2019
A Masterpiece of the human variety. No twists or turns that we wouldn't find outside of our own mundane existence, yet what truly separates Balzac's world from ours is his innate ability to make this mundane interaction of greed, love and deceit. Someone else here mentioned that it's like a one night stand and I agree. While I initially started reading this I felt disinterested in these people's lives, however as each story progressed and I began to understand the complexities of these peoples lives, of their time. I began to experience sonder, that transcendental understanding that these people are just like I and others are. Difficult to understand and easy to overlook. Some of these stories are better than others, I particularly recommend Gobseck if you are familiar with greed or perhaps La Duchesse de Langeais if the unfairness of love and life is getting you down. Regardless of what connects you with these stories, Balzac finds the strings and pulls them. Good luck and I hope you get as much enjoyment from this as I have.
P.S. - If you can point me to the rest of his Human Comedy Stories in English I'd be grateful.
P.S. - If you can point me to the rest of his Human Comedy Stories in English I'd be grateful.
December 12, 2013
Balzac is probably better known for his novels (Pere Goriot, Illusions Perdues, etc.) but I think the stories are a great place to start with Balzac if you've never read him before. It gives you a great feel for his style and passion, which I think once appreciated allow the reader to take more away from the longer works. NYRB Classics also publishes together THE UNKNOWN MASTERPIECE and GAMBARA, which I think is truly the best place to start with Balzac, but the stories collected here are also great. In descending order, I most like SARRASINE, followed by: GOBSECK, ADIEU, Z. MARCAS, A PASSION IN THE DESERT, THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS, THE RED INN, FACINO CANE and lastly ANOTHER STUDY OF WOMANKIND.
Balzac loved the arts, and everything related to them, with such a passion that it's difficult not to be here infected by it.
Balzac loved the arts, and everything related to them, with such a passion that it's difficult not to be here infected by it.
March 9, 2014
An interesting, varied and sometimes surprising collection of shorter stories from a writer who is often considered the greatest novelist of all time. There were some good plots and elegant prose in here—that is, if you can stomach all the lengthy philosophising, royalist political diatribes, and overbearing misogyny (seriously, yuck). This was sometimes difficult, particularly in the longer stories, like the last one (the introduction wasn't wrong in suggesting that Balzac is better when he reigns himself in). The only ones I can really say I liked were 'Sarrasine' (just so delightfully surprising) and 'The Red Inn' (which had sort of a gothic-romance feel about it). I don't feel compelled to read any more by him, however.
March 31, 2016
Balzac's characters overflow with vigor and vitality, even if they're self-indulgent and half crazy. He's a male Jane Austen that "goes to 11," Spinal Tap style. You have to be alright reading antiquated language and learning a bit about 19th century Paris to really understand Balzac but if you do, this collection makes an outstanding primer to his work. I had read a couple novels previously ("Cousin Bette" and "The Wild Ass's Skin") and enjoyed them enough to try this collection from New York Review of Books. If NYRB has put out a book I don't like, I haven't found it yet. This was the most enjoyable Balzac reading experience and translation I've read yet.
August 7, 2017
Balzac Summer - continues. A series of long short stories - the Duchess of Langeais is effectively a novella -- that engage the familiar Balzacian themes of family, money, greed, etc etc. As always they intertwine characters and situations with other chapters in the Human Comedy. These are more gothic, and even grotesque, than most of Balzac's writings which tend to be realistic. The one on the soldier marooned in the desert with a panther can even be said to be an early form of magic realism! For me the political story of Z Marcas and the chronicle of Grosbek the usurer were the best - the latter is an incredible allegory of capitalist accumulation and its rot.
July 6, 2015
The second half of this collection (comprised of the last three stories/novellas: Z. Marcas, Gobseck, and The Duchesse de Langeais) alone serve to showcase Balzac's flair for penetrating social analyses. With his ability to dramatize the perceived deadlocks of French society, it's easy to see by Engels valued Balzac so highly. But I would second what an earlier reviewer mentioned: the misogyny on display in this collection is frequently hard to take - this coming from a hardened veteran of classic literature. "Gobseck," however, is required reading.
August 9, 2015
Thoroughly enjoyed this selection of works from the French classic. The hype is real-Balzac's delivery of plot and character parallels that of Dostoevsky. One really grasps a sense of the character's conscience, and that in turn becomes a central part of each of Balzac's stories. The pieces are anecdotal (a lot of stories within stories), but that only serves to help the reader lose himself deeper within the beauty of Balzac's tales. No doubt I will seek out further Balzac literature after having read The Human Comedy.
February 22, 2014
Surprisingly modern, especially in his attitudes towards sex and money - desire, in all its Freudian-Marxist forms. One thing the nineteenth century certainly did not lack for was passionate declarations of self, without the whole frouhaha of embarassed self-abasement and baroque post-realist ellision that pass as comedy of manners to-day.
February 7, 2016
A collection of stories and essays. Classic.
Read
December 2, 2017Balzac à la hauteur de la hype!
May 20, 2018
Gobseck was my favorite
August 3, 2022
The stories in this collection generally begin with a gathering of people--whether a grand soiree, a chance encounter of travelers, or other sort--and proceed with a description of the venue and its attendees with vivid attention to detail, the social milieu, qualities of certain individuals, and class distinctions, and then proceeds to conversations among the attendees, including commentary on the gathering and other attendees, and then, finally, often after a good many pages, one person launches into a tale of a different place and time involving other people, and that tale builds, incrementally and slowly and inexorably, into something unexpected and gripping. When the denouement arrives, it usually does so by divulging the relationship of the characters of the storyteller and the story within the story, and how the one has ended and the other goes on.
This type of story, which can hardly be called short, shouldn't work, because it takes . . . so . . . much . . . time getting to the point. But it does work, at least for me, because Balzac prepares a feast for his readers, something to bite into, savor on the tongue, digest slowly and fully, and then push back their chairs and sigh, full and content. Reading the stories is an immersive experience, and a history lesson, one in which the reader becomes an inhabitant of early 19th century France, a place you'll feel you've lived in once you've closed the covers of the book.
My only disappointment with these stories is in their treatment of women as second-class citizens, especially in the derogatory remarks of some of the male characters and storytellers, and yet I think, without being able to cite specific details, that a distinction can be made between Balzac the writer and his storyteller/characters, because I ended my reading with the belief that all of the characters--the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, and the men and women--were beloved by Balzac and he had great empathy for them. The fact that he focuses on all of them so closely is the best evidence against concluding that he is dismissive of any of them.
All in all, a wonderful read.
This type of story, which can hardly be called short, shouldn't work, because it takes . . . so . . . much . . . time getting to the point. But it does work, at least for me, because Balzac prepares a feast for his readers, something to bite into, savor on the tongue, digest slowly and fully, and then push back their chairs and sigh, full and content. Reading the stories is an immersive experience, and a history lesson, one in which the reader becomes an inhabitant of early 19th century France, a place you'll feel you've lived in once you've closed the covers of the book.
My only disappointment with these stories is in their treatment of women as second-class citizens, especially in the derogatory remarks of some of the male characters and storytellers, and yet I think, without being able to cite specific details, that a distinction can be made between Balzac the writer and his storyteller/characters, because I ended my reading with the belief that all of the characters--the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, and the men and women--were beloved by Balzac and he had great empathy for them. The fact that he focuses on all of them so closely is the best evidence against concluding that he is dismissive of any of them.
All in all, a wonderful read.
September 9, 2018
This is a collection of short stories and one novella from the one of the greats of French literature. This format suite Balzac well. Most of the stories are stories within stories. A narrator is chosen to retell a past event to a captive audience. The stories are mostly romantic in nature and Balzac tells of longing, unrequited love, ill-fated relationships and more. Mostly the stories end tragically and often a death of a loved one is the final outcome of these stories. Beyond the romance, Balzac who was born in 1799, lived through a tumultuous period in France. The rise and fall of Napoleon, the Bourbon restoration and massive upheaval politically and military are subjects of Balzac's reflections. Soldiers and war feature prominently in the stories, especially the 1812 Napoleonic campaigns in Austria and Russia.
Through these short stories, Balzac provides a glimpse of life in France in many dimensions. Military, political, social, and romantic adventures are backdrops from which Balzac can comment on the state of affairs of the period. He is influenced by the likes of Byron and Shakespeare. One novella is dedicated to Franz Liszt. He is a patron of the arts and tells his stories with passion and skill. This is a great collection to get to know one of the great French writers and a man who influenced the likes of Proust, Dostoevsky and Wilde.
Through these short stories, Balzac provides a glimpse of life in France in many dimensions. Military, political, social, and romantic adventures are backdrops from which Balzac can comment on the state of affairs of the period. He is influenced by the likes of Byron and Shakespeare. One novella is dedicated to Franz Liszt. He is a patron of the arts and tells his stories with passion and skill. This is a great collection to get to know one of the great French writers and a man who influenced the likes of Proust, Dostoevsky and Wilde.
April 10, 2022
Bazac was a genius, a man who wrote prodigiously over a 20 year period, and perceived the darkest desires and motivations of human kind. He lived large, sought an even bigger life, and died young. This is supposed to serve as an introduction to that body of work, with short stories and two novellas. In some ways it delivers on this promise and in other ways it does not.
On the up side, the works contain characters from every corner of society and all walks of life—-lords and ladies, businessmen and military men, poor clerks, unforgiving moneylenders, aspiring politicians, artists, actresses, swindlers, misers, parasites, sexual adventurers, crackpots, and more. This is definitely true to Balzac's form in his multivolume magnum opus, demonstrating that we are all on some level, exactly the same. His insights provided the inspiration and guided author's who were inspired by him, from Marcel Proust, to Henry James, to Dostoyevsky. After reading a bit more of Balzac than is contained within this novel, you can see his imprint on the writers who revered him. He is an incomparable storyteller’s fascination with the power of storytelling and I suspect if you read his entire opus, you would understand the human condition.
On the up side, the works contain characters from every corner of society and all walks of life—-lords and ladies, businessmen and military men, poor clerks, unforgiving moneylenders, aspiring politicians, artists, actresses, swindlers, misers, parasites, sexual adventurers, crackpots, and more. This is definitely true to Balzac's form in his multivolume magnum opus, demonstrating that we are all on some level, exactly the same. His insights provided the inspiration and guided author's who were inspired by him, from Marcel Proust, to Henry James, to Dostoyevsky. After reading a bit more of Balzac than is contained within this novel, you can see his imprint on the writers who revered him. He is an incomparable storyteller’s fascination with the power of storytelling and I suspect if you read his entire opus, you would understand the human condition.
October 2, 2017
Better than I expected. Balzac is brilliant at portraying emotions; even if in a rather prolonged fashion. The random political and social commentary sprinkled about the stories doesn't always seem entirely relevant (perhaps I need more historical education to be able to see its importance), but I found it interesting in itself.
And the actual stories are rather exciting. They all twist and turn in the most unexpected places, but then they also sag, usually in the beginning, while the author tries to frame the bigger story in some salon and whatnot.
Also, I still don't understand why Montriveaus visiting the duchess late at night, alone, was ok, but her going to his place was suddenly a compromise and a scandal. Similarly, apparently heartfelt conversation and all the hand-kissing is somehow not infidelity and is also ok. Them 19th century people are so weird.
And the actual stories are rather exciting. They all twist and turn in the most unexpected places, but then they also sag, usually in the beginning, while the author tries to frame the bigger story in some salon and whatnot.
Also, I still don't understand why Montriveaus visiting the duchess late at night, alone, was ok, but her going to his place was suddenly a compromise and a scandal. Similarly, apparently heartfelt conversation and all the hand-kissing is somehow not infidelity and is also ok. Them 19th century people are so weird.
August 7, 2018
I can't think of anyone who writes as well as Balzac. His stories click along like the proverbial well-oiled machine. The narratives are not always the most interesting, but his character development, atmosphere, and how each paragraph and chapter flows all impress. Credit certainly is owed to the translators of this English edition.
That said, not all of the stories in this collection are quite as interesting. In particular, the final story, The Duchess of Langeais, droned on at too great length to support my interest.
This is another book I'm reading because of DFW's mention of it in his novel The Pale King. It's interesting to consider these authors and works as what I assume were major influences to his own technique.
That said, not all of the stories in this collection are quite as interesting. In particular, the final story, The Duchess of Langeais, droned on at too great length to support my interest.
This is another book I'm reading because of DFW's mention of it in his novel The Pale King. It's interesting to consider these authors and works as what I assume were major influences to his own technique.
February 2, 2019
There comes a time when literature finds so indelibly marked the grooves of its path by a social moment that the conflation of the one—social turbulence—with the other—ink saturated composition—can be forgiven. We writing the literature of our own lives must read back through letters of former moments in grand curiosity: where the cessation of reality? Where the entrance beginning of fabulation?
Perhaps more keenly the work than of any other writer mine eyes over which have passed Balzac, in this manner, is master. For who else invites the world onto the page and a reader inside its midst to deeply mingle? La vie est Balzac et Balzac, la vie. The writer has made life writing or, perhaps, writing, life. In Balzac through every vein of language life’s vigor, passion, and zest tinted course. One may not claim fulness of life until Balzac the fevered force has, tasted, been absorbed.
Perhaps more keenly the work than of any other writer mine eyes over which have passed Balzac, in this manner, is master. For who else invites the world onto the page and a reader inside its midst to deeply mingle? La vie est Balzac et Balzac, la vie. The writer has made life writing or, perhaps, writing, life. In Balzac through every vein of language life’s vigor, passion, and zest tinted course. One may not claim fulness of life until Balzac the fevered force has, tasted, been absorbed.
May 22, 2024
There are writers and artists who break new ground and upend the rules of the game. Other artists and writers follow their lead, the cultural evolution progresses, new winners are crowned, and new and old losers are forgotten. I was persuaded to read Balzac, as such a literary pioneer. I have done so, and I get it. His earthy wit and clarity are appealing - he pushes refined thought into gutsier territory. But the insights of 1830, and the conversational norms of 1830, created a growing tension in my brain. Less frippery, get on with it!, I wanted to urge these narrators. I told a friend about my impatience with the book, and she said, why continue then?! She's from Europe, so I took that as permission to bid adieu.
March 7, 2023
"Comedy"
This book is a collection of classic stories that offer a glimpse into the life and culture of 19th-century France.
The book is known for its realistic portrayal of the social and political issues of the time, as well as for its literary significance.
Balzac's writing style is rich and detailed, which makes for an engaging read.
While the stories may not be action-packed, they do offer insight into the human condition and the struggles that people faced during that era.
Overall, this is a significant work of literature that is worth reading for its cultural and historical value.
3.5/5
This book is a collection of classic stories that offer a glimpse into the life and culture of 19th-century France.
The book is known for its realistic portrayal of the social and political issues of the time, as well as for its literary significance.
Balzac's writing style is rich and detailed, which makes for an engaging read.
While the stories may not be action-packed, they do offer insight into the human condition and the struggles that people faced during that era.
Overall, this is a significant work of literature that is worth reading for its cultural and historical value.
3.5/5
January 24, 2020
The two issues I had with this collection were the selections (some very weak -- almost filler, in the case of “Another Study of Womankind”) and the translations, which occasionally did not improve on previous older translations -- not because these translations were particularly bad, but because the previous translations were adequate enough. I’m glad I encountered Balzac in other longer works before picking up this book because if I had started here, I may not have been motivated to dig deeper into his body of work.
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