The Atheist’s Mass

La Comédie Humaine #25

by Honoré de Balzac

THIS 26 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Country Doctor; Quest of the Absolute and Other Novels, by Honore de Balzac.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, French Literature, France, Literature, 19th Century

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 1836

About the author

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.

Reviews

[BlackOxford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Morality of Friendship

When one despairs of humanity, yet experiences a friendship with another human being, how can one commemorate that friend’s life after his death? Certainly by ‘doing unto others.’ But merely passing on the gift of friendship feels an inadequate tribute to the memory of the originating friend in an unworthy society.

There is something spiritual in the relational connection itself which can’t be transmitted beyond itself. Something is ‘owed’ to the friendship. “Genius,” Balzac says, “always presupposes moral insight.” And since morality is about people not ideas, or beliefs, or principles it may be necessary to give these up in order to be authentically moral, particularly if one is an “invincible atheist.” Perhaps a spiritual offering is the only solution.

As an incidental footnote: I was for some time a member of St. Benet’s Hall, one of the Catholic colleges at Oxford University. There arose a rumour st some point, attested by several reliable folk, that Richard Dawkins was seen more than once entering the Hall on Sunday mornings for Mass. I discounted the story as an Oxford myth. After reading this Balzac story I’m not so sure. It might have been true.

[sAmAnE · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب شامل دو داستان است، دو داستان کوتاه ولی عمیق... داستان اول که با عنوان اصلی کتاب هم یکی است در مورد دکتری است که اعتقادات مذهبی ندارد ولی هر چهارسال یکبار به کلیسا می‌رود. او ملحدی سرسخت و بی دین است اما برای دستیارش این سوال پیش می‌آید و علت را از دکتر جویا می‌شود. دکتر برای دستیارش داستانی را از زندگی خود تعریف می‌کند.... بالزاک در این داستان در تلاش است مرز بین ایمان و انسانیت، قدردانی، وفاداری و امانتداری را نشان دهد. هر چند که او همیشه دغدغه‌ی این موضوعات را داشته و در آثارش هم بیشتر به جامعه، طبقات اجتماعی پرداخته است.

[Darwin8u · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I am like many pious men, men who appear to be profoundly religious but are quite atheistic as we are, you and I."
- Honoré de Balzac , "The Atheist's Mass"



Vol N° 41 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set. This book contains two of Honoré de Balzac's short stories.

Included were:

1. "The Atheist's Mass" - ★★★★★
2. "The Conscript" - ★★★★

"The Atheist's Mass" or "La Messe de l'athée" killed me; ate me up and devoured me. Perhaps, it was the prose. It could be. It was clean, quotable, philosophic, humanistic. It is the kind of writing I could read for days at a time. But it was more than that. Balzac, in this story, seemed to capture the compexity and the nuance of man. The story is considered to be part of Balzac's Scènes de la vie privée in La Comédie Humaine. "The Conscript" or "Le Réquisitionnaire" is a story about a French aristocrat, Mme de Dey, during the French Revolution (1793). She is balancing her social needs in Normandy while trying to protect her son's legacy.

Like several of the writers in this series, I knew Balzac by reputation. My wife has read several of his books. But I had never read a story or novel he had written. These two stories insure that I will dive a lot deeper into his books over the next several years.

[Steven Godin · Rating 2 out of 5]

An average short story by Honoré de Balzac written in 1836, that was later included in “The Human Comedy (La Comédie Humaine), this story has little in the way of plot but rather contains a variety of powerful messages, ranging from social aspects, to morals and religion.
Balzac allies with his two main characters, Doctors Horace Bianchon and Desplain, and delivers a refined insight into the integration of beliefs and knowledge in the context of humanity.
Using the report of young Dr. H. Bianchon, whose medical practice was supervised by the renowned Dr. Desplain, the story introduces a significant social and philosophical matter, that of atheism, as a result of scientific thinking, and its implications in direct human relationships in 19th Century France. Although the text is not what I expected, it fact for me it's pretty poor, it still manages to provide a complex perspective on the matter through the portrayal of two types of relationships, that between Bianchon and Desplain (both atheists) and the one between Desplain and Bourgeat, a religious water-carrier who helped Desplein start his medical career although he himself was poor and could not even afford to fulfil his own modest dreams.

What initially appears to be a hypocrisy alarm that needs to be verified turns out to be a example of humanity, respect, understanding of human nature and gratitude. It is about understanding and accepting individual differences, and at the same time allowing yourself to be who you are and staying true to your own mindset and beliefs. It is about humanity as one of the highest forms of virtue, one that surpasses any limitation of status or creed. It is also about privacy and intimacy. About generosity and propagation of kindness. I get all that, far enough, it carries an important message, but it's no more than that. As a story though it's easily forgettable, read so much better.

[Navid Taghavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

کمترین مزیت فقر برای دوستانش، خوابی لطیف مملو از رویاهای زیباست

[[ J o ] · Rating 1 out of 5]

I disliked this not for what it told, or spoke of, or what morals it may have wanted to express but for the fact that it was boring and slow and, well, just bad. Translations are not often so terrible as this.

[AiK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Эта история не может не тронуть, когда врач, атеист по убеждениям, заказывает четыре раза в год обедни для своего покойного друга. Бедный Буржа не просил о них, но это та единственная благодарность, которую Деплен считал достойной, и которую хотел бы Буржа. Деплен в благодарность за то, что Буржа все свои накопления отдал ему, чтобы он смог отучиться и встать на ноги, купил ему и лошадь, и бочку, лечил его, когда тот заболел. Но атеист Деплен понимал – это все не то, недостаточно, это просто возвращение долга, но не благодарность. Это глубоко трогательно, когда люди проявляют доброту. Еще более трогательно, когда люди благодарны. Благодарны не на словах, а на деле. Благодарны и после смерти. Благодарны без просьб.

[Théo d'Or]

Balzac undoubtedly loved the beautiful life. On the day of the death of one of his very rich uncles, who left him a substantial inheritance, Balzac announced the news as follows : " Today, at 5 o'clock in the morning, my uncle and I passed into a better world ".
I can't help but admire his clarvoyance.

[Omid Milanifard · Rating 4 out of 5]

دو داستان کوتاه از بالزاک، اولی ماجرای جراحی خداناباور که به دلایلی به صورت مقیدانه مراسم عشای ربانی را چهار بار در سال اجرا می کند و در تشریح این پارادکس، بالزاک به زیبایی برتری اخلاق را بر فلسفه های زندگی بشری به رخ می کشد.
داستان دوم برشی از زندگی یک بیوه اشراف زاده و فرزندش در دوران انقلاب فرانسه را به تصویر کشیده و تمرکز آن بر روابط عاطفی انسانها و به خصوص حس همدردی است.

[Michelle Curie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honoré de Balzac was a French writer who composed La Comédie humaine, a collection of interlinked novels and stories that together present life as it was in France during the post-Napoleonic era. This Little Black Classic features two short stories taken from his magnum opus: The Atheist's Mass and The Conscript.



While the first tells the story of a masterful doctor and known atheist, who is seen attending a mass four times a year. As the story unfolds, we learn of compassion, tenderness and respect for the faith of others. The second gives us insight into the life of a mother who is waiting for her son to return from war.

Both are powerful stories with a moral. I fell for de Balzac's writing immediately: his words are slow burning, he takes time to introduce his characters, but because of that he enables them to come alive. There's a lot telling and comparatively little showing in here, but we're provided a stunning portrait of times different to ours today.

In 2015 Penguin introduced the Little Black Classics series to celebrate Penguin's 80th birthday. Including little stories from "around the world and across many centuries" as the publisher describes, I have been intrigued to read those for a long time, before finally having started. I hope to sooner or later read and review all of them!

[Irmak ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“So, you see, my dear fellow, if I do not believe in God, I believe still less in man.”

don't have much to say, this was a really good and quick read.

[Smitchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started reading the Atheist's Mass I got about half-way through and was thinking "Oh great, another book written to tell us how all atheists secretly want / revert to religion" and then I finished it, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was in fact about an atheist who, in spite of their own personal beliefs, gave the only thing the could to honor the memory of someone who helped them.
It was in fact a story about an atheist being a normal, rational and honorable human being. Yay! To be represented in literature as we actually are is a wonderful thing.
the second story in this little book was a little insight into living during the Terror of the french revolution.

[Skip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Balzac and other geniuses.

I began my evening watching, John Le Carre's, BBC production of , TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY. After that I watched the masterful Itzhak Perlman perform Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major. And I finished of the night reading Balzac's, THE ATHEIST'S MASS. What an exclamation point to an elevated night. One of the great things about Balzac is that he always leaves you with yourself, or myself in my case.

[Rikke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading Penguin Black Classics – because I never know what I'm going to find.

This turned out to be two short stories; one about faith and one about family ties during the French Revolution. Both filled with wonderful insight and wit.

While the stories themselves perhaps don't make unforgettable reading experiences, the book has done its job as an appetizer and made me hungry for more. Which is the point with these tiny volumes after all.

[Catherine Vamianaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two short stories. The first one was about two atheist doctors.All about hunger poverty love devotion. I liked the point he makes by saying 'A surgeon's fame is like an actor's. It exists only so long as he is alive and his talent can no longer be appreciated once he has gone'. The second story is about the love of Madame de Rey for her only son.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Balzac wastes little time giving us background for this story that is shorter than most. It could easily be read in one sitting. I am a slow reader and started it one evening and quickly finished it the next day.

Although most descriptions I see say this is an introduction to Bianchon, it is really the story of the surgeon Desplein. Desplein, an atheist, is observed entering Saint Sulpice. Bianchon cannot believe his eyes, but after several years of wondering why this should happen, he sits with Desplein and listens to his explanation. Balzac's endings tend to be sad with more than a tinge of irony. This story is just plain sad and it pricked my emotions more than he usually does. It is quite good, but I think it is not typical.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title story was quite enjoyable. There is something about this story that pulled me in, maybe it is because as I read more of these older classics there is more that I can compare it with perhaps. The second story was reasonable enough but lacked the warmth that seemed to pervade the first.

Overall it might be worth visiting de Balzac for some more stories.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has two short stories about faith and sacrificial love. The first is about a surgeon who is an atheist, yet goes to mass four times a year and the reasons why he chooses to live what, some may see, a life of conflicting ideologies. It was touching tale and I really enjoyed it. The second was about a mother during the French Revolution. It was alright but nothing memorable, and for me, let the book down.

[royaevereads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two absolutely fantastic short stories. I enjoyed the first (the title story) ever so slightly more than the second as it really struck a chord with me. Both were simple stories that had an important message - poverty, generosity, tolerance and love were all touched on at some point. More detail in my wrap up on my channel at the end of the month :)

[Pedro Almeida Jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a beautiful story. In such a short space, my expectations changed many times. I was expecting a whole different story, but in the end it was a pleasant surprise. Balzac really proved to be a writer of the highest level; I will make sure to read Goriot.

[Regitze Xenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting more of a religious or religion-critical type of story given the title and while the first story, that has given the name of this book, was just that, the second story was completely different. They were good, but no more than that.

[Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Both short stories were ok but I didn't find them engaging or particularly well-written.

[Ionuț Anastasiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Principalul punct forte al povestirii de față este descrierea relației de tip maestru-discipol dintre cei doi doctori - "Marele" Desplein și Horace Bianchon - pentru care ateismul este un fel de nouă religie. Așa că este de înțeles șocul pe care îl resimte Bianchon atunci când descoperă că maestrul său participă cu smerenie la o mesă pe care el însuși a comandat-o și nu de ieri de azi, ci de douăzeci de ani, de patru ori în fiecare an: "Îmi veţi spune, scumpe maestre – întrebă Bianchon pe Desplein când ieşiră din biserică – care este pricina acestei cucernicii? Până acum v-am surprins, tocmai pe dumneavoastră, de trei ori la liturghie! Îmi veţi desluşi oare această taină şi veţi lămuri flagranta nepotrivire dintre părerile şi purtarea dumneavoastră? În Dumnezeu nu credeţi şi la biserică totuşi mergeţi! Scumpe maestre, sunteţi ţinut să-mi răspundeţi". Pentru a afla răspunsul la această enigmă, cititorul trebuie să citească povestirea lui Balzac.
În final, mai trebuie doar remarcat faptul că biserica la care merge Desplein de patru ori pe an este Saint-Sulpice, una dintre cele mai interesante din Paris datorită faptului că aici există gnomonul, un instrument astronomic de măsurare a poziției soarelui.
Deși Balzac nu face referire la gnomon în această povestire, Saint-Sulpice va deveni faimoasă în întreaga lume datorită faptului că aici se desfășoară o bună parte din acțiunea bestseller-ului cu titlu stupid și conținut pe măsură al lui Dan Brown, Codul lui da Vinci, care face din Saint-Sulpice și din gnomon unul dintre sediile Frăției care e depozitara tuturor secretelor lumii noastre, dar pe care Dan Brown însuși a reușit să le descopere. Lectură plăcută!

[Armin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Der Titel dieses Rührstücks klingt spektakulärer als der Inhalt. Bianchon ertappt seinen Lehrmeisterin Despleins beim Besuch einer Messe, dabei ist der führende Mediziner seiner Zeit zu sehr Naturwissenschaftler und auch Religionskritiker, um den Lehren der Kirche von der Auferstehung noch Glauben zu schenken. Doch ohne den Glauben eines Wasserträgers an seine Berufung als Arzt hätte der junge Despleins kein Examen ablegen können, sondern wäre ohne die Hilfe seines Mitbewohners vorher verhungert. Der Wasserträger war auch sonst sehr fromm, von daher die Geste freundschaftlichen Angedenkens mit jährlich vier Messen.

[Alberto Valdés Tola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relato largo de Balzac; cargado de un humanismo filosófico que raya en lo emocional… va sobre un joven estudiante de medicina que es auxiliado por un desconocido que es creyente. En este sentido, el cuento explora temas como la pobreza, la religión, el sacrificio, la amistad, la bondad, la gratitud, la solidaridad y la superación.

El estilo narrativo de Balzac es dinámico y de momentos espacioso, nunca se desorienta en trivialidades y, menos aún, en descripciones innecesarias. Aquí, la historia y los personajes toman una posición preponderante sobre el contexto. Las ideas, por otro lado, son tan poderosas y aparentemente sencillas, que logran algo así como un halo de sabiduría universal.

Creo que es de los mejores relatos que he leído de Balzac. Lo recomiendo ampliamente y sin reservas.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Balzac is often too sentimental for me, but this sentimental story touched my heart.
It is the story of the surgeon Desplein who was guide and mentor to the prominent physician Bianchon when he was a student. One day Bianchon is puzzled to see Desplain attending mass, when he knows the surgeon to be an atheist; and when a year later he see Desplain do the same thing, he resolves to find out the reason for this apparent contradiction.
He sits down beside Desplain in the pew, and thus it is that Desplain provides an explanation. It seems that when he was young, and extremely poor, a fellow lodger, a water-carrier named Bourgeat,
as poor as he, took pity on him and shared everything he had. He paid for transport to new lodgings when they were thrown out for not paying the rent, he went without the best food himself so that Desplain could have coffee when he needed to stay awake to study, and he even paid Desplain's examination fees.
When he graduated and became well-known and successful, Desplain never forgot Bourgeat and used his first year's salary to buy the horse and cart that Bourgeat had been saving for when first they met. Desplain tended Bourgeat when he was ill, and when his time came, he died in Desplain's arms.
And in his memory, Desplain founded four masses annually, and attends them himself, because Bourgeat was a devout believer, and Desplain respects that faith. Indeed, he wishes, sometimes, that he had it himself.

[Dhaval · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short story of the master surgeon Desplein and how his disciple Bianchon caught the avowed atheist heading to mass four times a year. Desplein relates how although being a naturalist, he still attends mass.

I think the central conflict in this short story is what atheist feel and the naturally human desire to please either yourself or others. When is a lie evil? Is it wrong to tell someone it's going to be okay, when you know they are going to die?

Desplein is driven by compassion, and many of those touched by the divine are as well. The question, then, do you need to be religious to be compassionate? And if you are not religious, should God (if you believe) be compassionate of those who are not?

Very interesting short story, one of which, I can easily relate to and that does not have easy answers for the believers or nonbelievers.

[Gláucia Renata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conto publicado em 1836, traz como personagem o médico Desplein, professor do já conhecido dr. Bianchon. Desplein é uma homenagem ao famoso fisiologista dr. Guillaume Dupuytren, cirurgião da família real, morto um ano antes da publicação do conto.
Traz como tema um mistério: o que leva um ateu convicto como Desplein a rezar e orientar uma missa 4 vezes ao ano? É isso que o leitor irá descobrir junto com dr. Bianchon.



Histórico de leitura

80% (56 de 70)

"Católico ardoroso, nunca me disse uma única palavra sobre minha religião."

16% (11 de 70)

"Um médico a quem a ciência deve uma bela fisiológica e que, jovem ainda, se colocou entre as celebridades da Escola de Paris, centro de luzes ao qual todos os médicos da Europa prestam homenagem, o dr. Bianchon praticou durante muito tempo a cirurgia antes de se dedicar à cirurgia."

[Elgun M · Rating 4 out of 5]

"- В Париже, когда некоторые люди видят, что вы вот-вот готовы сесть в седло, иной начинает тащить вас за полу, а тот отстегивает подпругу, чтобы вы упали и разбили себе голову; третий сбивает подковы с ног вашей лошади, четвертый крадет у вас хлыст; самый честный — тот, кто приближается к вам с пистолетом в руке, чтобы выстрелить в вас в упор."

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stories about faith, doubt, waiting and trying. The stories are different and also reflect different kind of characters and complication of stories. I liked the first one for the struggling aspects, life, science and faith reflections. The second story was more about believing trying and failing, the moral was strong.