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(0)Katharine Prescott Wormeley
1) The Recruit
This gripping short story from master of French realism Honore de Balzac packs an emotional wallop and has a twist ending you won't be able to forget. The mother of a French soldier receives word that her son be paying her a visit. Though overjoyed at the news, she begins to fret about his safety on the trip home. Will her fears prove to be accurate?
2) The Red Inn
Like many of the short stories in Honore de Balzac's vast story cycle The Human Comedy, The Red Inn is a tale within a tale. After a pleasant dinner at the Red Inn, guests begin to swap anecdotes. German businessman Hermann contributes to the discussion with a story about a French soldier who was imprisoned after being unjustly accused of committing a murder.
Regarded by many critics as one of Honore de Balzac's foremost literary achievements, the novel The Alkahest offers an incisive look at the dangers of obsession. Scientist Balthazar Claes begins his research into alchemical properties with the best of intentions, but before long, he begins to neglect everything else in his life.
This novella is part of the Scenes from Private Life section of Honore de Balzac's sprawling story cycle The Human Comedy. Trapped in a maddeningly frustrating love triangle and unable to express his true feelings to his beloved, protagonist Paz invents an imaginary mistress to use as an excuse for his lovesickness and increasing alienation from his group of friends.
A daughter inherits her father's miserliness, which stifles her relationship with her cousin, making love an unsatisfying experience. As with Balzac's other work, his characters in Eugenie Grandet are fully and realistically portrayed. Balzac began to conceive his great work The Human Comedy whilst writing this novel, and the characters herein are reworked in his comedy.
Set in the fifteenth century, Maitre Cornelius is a gripping historical novel that illustrates the unbelievable lengths to which some will go in the name of love. Marie, the daughter of the king, is trapped in a loveless marriage with a cruel, violent man. To escape her horrible home life, she begins spending time with a young man named Georges d'Estoutville, who decides to free her from her dangerous marriage via a daring rescue attempt.
...If you like your tales of tragic love to come with a stiff dose of historical realism, get ready to savor this classic from French writer Honore de Balzac. The Lily of the Valley tells the tale of star-crossed lovers Felix de Vandenesse and Henriette de Mortsauf. Will social conventions keep them apart, or will they say goodbye to the trappings of the French aristocracy to live together? Pick up this must-read romance to find out.
In this novella from Honore de Balzac, the skilled artisan Palafox Gazonal arrives in Paris to settle some important business and perhaps make a splash in the city's thriving art scene. However, Gazonal is used to the slower-paced life in the provinces and finds himself confused—and even disgusted—with some of the customs and practices that are commonplace in Paris. It's another of Balzac's insightful analyses of the artist and his
...9) Beatrix
Honore de Balzac excelled at creating unforgettable characters, but most of his creations were works of pure fiction. Many critics have asserted that the novel Beatrix is a roman a clef depicting the life of the French memoirist George Sand, as well as the larger cultural shift from an era of genteel aristocracy and class stratification to a more democratic way of living.
Balzac's La Comedie Humaine was a story cycle comprising more than 100 novels and stories. Although most of these works are set in nineteenth-century France, several hearken back to earlier periods. Catherine de' Medici centers on the life of the woman born into an aristocratic family in medieval Italy who went on to become Queen consort and, later, regent of France.
Set among the sprawling vineyards of France's Loire Valley, Balzac's novel Parisians in the Country follows the life of one Dinah Piedefer, a beautiful and talented young woman who finds herself trapped in a not-so-perfect marriage. Though she is initially content, she gradually begins to bristle against the constraints of her union and the provincial shabbiness of her lifestyle.
12) An Old Maid
Immerse yourself in the inner workings of a quaint French village in this charming novel from Honore de Balzac, an early master of literary realism. Brimming with finely observed details and Balzac's trademark insight into human motivations and morality, An Old Maid follows several men who have designs—honorable and not-so-honorable—on one of the village's wealthiest bachelorettes.
13) Ferragus
A heartbroken cavalry officer, Auguste de Maulincour, is strolling through a rather seedy section of Paris when he happens to spot the object of his unrequited love, a married young woman named Clemence. Even more remarkable is the fact that he sees her furtively entering a house of ill repute. Aghast and yet intrigued, Auguste begins to follow Clemence—and what he witnesses plunges him into a world of deception and dark secrets.
14) Sons of the Soil
French writer Honore de Balzac had many unique strengths, and chief among them is his ability to limn and illuminate subtle differences between social classes. In this pastoral novel, Balzac explores the virtues and follies of country life through the eyes of Emile Blondet, a journalist who was born and raised in the provinces, works in Paris, and has returned to the countryside of his youth for a much-needed vacation.
One of the unifying themes that wends its way through Honore de Balzac's immense body of work is the corrupting danger of greed—and the often-absurd lengths to which people will go to secure material wealth. In the wonderful novel Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau, the title character starts out as a successful perfume-maker who is gradually lured to the dark side by the promise of ill-gotten gains.
16) Vendetta
Fans of Romeo and Juliet will delight in the novella Vendetta, Honore de Balzac's unique take on the timeless theme of star-crossed lovers. Corsican immigrants Ginevra Piombo and Luigi Porta fall hopelessly in love, unaware of the fact that their respective families have long been ensnared in a multi-generational blood feud. Will they be able to live happily ever after in spite of their unhappy heritage?
17) Bureaucracy
This fascinating novel from French master Honore de Balzac was published just as the age of bureaucracy was kicking into high gear in the mid-nineteenth century. Balzac delves deeply into the labyrinthine workings of a French agency, conveying the machinations, political alliances, and complex characters with astonishing texture and detail.
18) A Start in Life
The novel A Start in Life is part of the Scenes of Private Life section of Honore de Balzac's masterpiece of nineteenth-century realism, The Human Comedy. In much of Balzac's work, the aristocracy is portrayed as vain, duplicitous, and greedy. But in this novel, it is members of the working class who are mercilessly skewered when what starts out as a harmless prank rapidly snowballs into a comedy of errors with profound consequences.
...The short novel The Marriage Contract is part of the Scenes from Private Life section of Honore de Balzac's epic masterpiece of nineteenth-century realism, The Human Comedy. It delves directly into the question of the nature of marriage, which was rapidly evolving during the period. Kind-hearted bachelor Paul de Manerville becomes deeply smitten with the comely Natalie Evangelista and wants to marry for love, but Natalie and
...20) The Hated Son
The novella The Hated Son is a section from French writer Honore de Balzac's multi-volume masterwork, The Human Comedy. Set in the late 1500s and early 1600s, the tale follows a newly married woman who is pregnant—and the baby's father is not her new husband. Terrified of what will become of herself and the child, she fears for both of their futures. The second part of the tale occurs several decades later. Will the illegitimate
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