[CAX]∎ PDF Free Lost Illusions Dodo Press Honore De Balzac Ellen Marriage George Saintsbury 9781406506587 Books

Lost Illusions Dodo Press Honore De Balzac Ellen Marriage George Saintsbury 9781406506587 Books

Download As PDF : Lost Illusions Dodo Press Honore De Balzac Ellen Marriage George Saintsbury 9781406506587 Books

Lost Illusions Dodo Press Honore De Balzac Ellen Marriage George Saintsbury 9781406506587 Books

I never expected to fall in love with Balzac, seeing as how he was just another DWM and sooooo Eurocentric. Yeah, but he's a great storyteller, and if you're really convinced that once upon a time people were better or different or less complex or something, well, here's the antidote. Granted, you occasionally want to have a scorecard to keep all the players straight (and sometimes you don't), but that's a small price to pay for the delicate savagery with which he skewers the pompous fools of his day. I had to laugh at his portrayal of 19th century journalists and newspapers: if you're a historian, you may think twice and then think again about using one as a source. And then there's his clear esteem for bankers, financiers, clergymen, government bureaucrats; no one really escapes. Balzac can occasionally try your patience when he decides to explain the intricacies of a legal accounting, papermarking, and the rest, but, really, if you finding yourself nodding, then skip ahead. After all, did you read all of the stuff about whaling in Moby Dick? An extraordinary novel, and compared to Flaubert's Sentimental Education, a much grander work of genius.


Tags : Lost Illusions (Dodo Press) [Honore De Balzac, Ellen Marriage, George Saintsbury] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. By the French author, who, along with Flaubert, is generally regarded as a founding-father of realism in European fiction. His large output of works,Honore De Balzac, Ellen Marriage, George Saintsbury,Lost Illusions (Dodo Press),Dodo Press,1406506583,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction General,Fiction: general & literary,General,General & Literary Fiction,Modern & contemporary fiction,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Modern fiction

Lost Illusions Dodo Press Honore De Balzac Ellen Marriage George Saintsbury 9781406506587 Books Reviews

Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) was a workaholic literary genius. In his relatively short life he wrote 92 novels in his "Human Comedy" series. In these works he wishes to reveal to us humanity in all its many faces as seen in the social, political, business and religious milieu of nineteenth century France. Many of the novels use recurring character in a technique also used by such writers as William Faulkner and Anthony Trollope.
Lost Illusions is a long and sometimes tedious novel about a young poet from the provinces whose name is Lucien Chardan. He is fatuous and relatively talented as a minor poet and historical novelist. He engages in a platonic affair with the wealthy Madame Bargeton resulting in the couple's flight from the village to Paris. There they are soon separated by boredom and disillusion with one another.
Lucien has an amorous affair with the showgirl Coralie who is beautiful but dumb. He becomes a newspaper reporter. Balzac shows us all the details involved in the publishing and literary world of Paris. We meet many interesting characters who populate this environment. It is clear than Lucien is like his creator for Balzac knew well the literary life in Paris. Lucien is disillusioned by the cynicism and the quest for the god MONEY which is worshipped by his friends. Art is forced to take a backseat to the pursuit of pelf. Doublecrosses, blackmail and deceit rule the Parisian desert.
Lucien's sweet sister Eve marries David Sechart. Sechart is a printer who believes he has invented a new way to produce paper cheaply. He is involved in convoluted schemes to keep the business afloat and stay out of debtor's prison.
Lucien is not an admirable figure. He is foolish and vain seeking glory and fame. Balzac continues his downfall story in later books in the Human Comedy series.
Balzac is a great writer but takes getting used to. Many of his pages are devoted to explaining complex money matters and who is cheating whom. He is wonderful on describing a scene in detail and was first class in his microscopic examination of French rural and urban society in mid nineteenth century life. Balzac does not make moral judgments on the actions of his flawed characters leaving that to the reader. In the pantheon of nineteenth century French novelists he stands alone with Victor Hugo and Gustave Flaubert at the top of the list.
Absolutely rubbish, garbage in the first rate ,the scheme the theme and most of the scenes all conveid with remarkable insignificance, fast and easy read as balzac story telling abilities are what made him a master of his time, I thoroughly enjoyed his other work specifically Pere goriot, cousin bette and the black sheep, A work dedicated to victor hugo would make him faint half way reading, I truly believe however slightly I could be wrong that balzac manufactured this Parisian novel after a night of cards, where he lost a thousand francs or two, spending the night without an etiquette dinner ,loverless ,drunkard and a amusingly insolent to all of the settings he so highly esteemed; as he would put it . Not sure if I missed the projected ecstasy as I read this book in one setting late at night, but honestly neither the poet lucien or the paper making David or the fancy boring Mme Bargeton lady Or the town of Angouleme down to L'Houmeau or the French words and others tucked in adding little purpose have left me with any worthy impressions . Only sechard I believe his name David's father was a masterful creation of a character , I took a predejused liking to him for he rejected idealism and loved his wooden presses. The first 20 or so pages were a promise to another master creation by balzac only to fade and evaporate as we got deeper into the night. Will continue to read the human comedy for its renowned literary despite some artless distractions here and there.
It may be impossible to say which is the best Balzac novel, given his prodigious output and a number of really outstanding works among it, but this certainly seems the best of him when you're reading it.

The translation by Kathleen Raine is also outstanding, preferable to the Penguin version by Hunt, even though he was a Balzac specialist. Possibly this is because Raine was a poet as well as a translator. And it is of interest that she chose (or was chosen?) to do the translation.

Also well worth reading is her translation of COUSIN BETTE.
I never expected to fall in love with Balzac, seeing as how he was just another DWM and sooooo Eurocentric. Yeah, but he's a great storyteller, and if you're really convinced that once upon a time people were better or different or less complex or something, well, here's the antidote. Granted, you occasionally want to have a scorecard to keep all the players straight (and sometimes you don't), but that's a small price to pay for the delicate savagery with which he skewers the pompous fools of his day. I had to laugh at his portrayal of 19th century journalists and newspapers if you're a historian, you may think twice and then think again about using one as a source. And then there's his clear esteem for bankers, financiers, clergymen, government bureaucrats; no one really escapes. Balzac can occasionally try your patience when he decides to explain the intricacies of a legal accounting, papermarking, and the rest, but, really, if you finding yourself nodding, then skip ahead. After all, did you read all of the stuff about whaling in Moby Dick? An extraordinary novel, and compared to Flaubert's Sentimental Education, a much grander work of genius.