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The Atheist's Mass

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Mass Market Paperback

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About the author

Honoré de Balzac

9,565 books4,385 followers
French 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.

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Grace McGuinness.
193 reviews3 followers
July 7, 2025
The quotes are so good. The writing amazes me. Reads like a five star. I couldn’t fully grasp the story, so it’s not because I need a re-read. Hundred percent recommend though.
Profile Image for Esther.
77 reviews1 follower
June 20, 2025
"You are in death while you are in life: when you are no more in life you are after death. Or if you prefer it thus: after life you are dead, but during life you are dying: and death touches the dying more harshly than the dead, in more lively a fashion and more essentially"
Profile Image for Frank Peters.
1,032 reviews60 followers
September 15, 2024
This book includes two short stories set in pre-modern France. I found the author to be engaging and am impressed with the writing and the stories.
Profile Image for hannah.
360 reviews25 followers
May 20, 2025
two intriguing short stories about faith and sacrifice. i now want to read more by de balzac.
215 reviews46 followers
December 19, 2025
A speed read that I didn’t intake much will need to return
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

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