The Realists: Eight Portraits: Stendhal, Balzac, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Galdos, Henry James, Proust

by C.P. Snow

In this series of portraits of Stendhal, Balzac, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Galdos, James, and Proust, Snow assesses the influences of personality and experiences on their choice of subjects and literary style

Genres: Literature, Criticism, Literary Criticism

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Known British scientist Charles Percy Snow, baron Snow of Leicester, wrote especially his 11-volume series Strangers and Brothers (1940-1970).

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._P._Snow

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like F. L. Lucas's In Search of Good Sense, which I reviewed a few days ago. This is a book of short biographies, interspersed with analysis, of eight19th century realists: Honore de Balzac, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Benito Perez Galdos, Henry James, Marcel Proust, Stendhal, and Leo Tolstoy.

What I find interesting is that C.P. Snow is not a bad realistic novelist himself, and most of his mini-biographies are quite readable, particularly the ones of Balzac, Dostoyesky, and Henry James. I have read multiple works by each of the writers named in The Realists: Portraits of Eight Novelists: Stendhal, Balzac, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Galdos, Henry James, Proust, so my aim in reading the book was to decide whether to re-read any of their works, or select new titles.

Like all books of this sort (and I include the Lucas), more is to be found in the details than in the introductions or conclusions.

[Paul H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shallow, but charmingly so. My main takeaway is that Tolstoy was a dick (seriously), which makes his novels all the more surprising.

[Mahdi Khalil Nejad · Rating 5 out of 5]

بسیار کتاب عالی است
بشدت توصیه میشه

چیزهایی از نویسندگان بزرگ میگه که هاج و واج می‌مونید

عنوان مثال: پروست فاحشه خانه همجنسگرایان داشته که فقط می‌رفته به تماشا می‌نشسته
:| :\ :|
تالستوی از نظر زنش بوی بز می‌داده و انگاری واقعا هم بوی بز میداده

[Priya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent write-ups of the "better known" realists, and with a prose that makes the reading quite enjoyable.