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The Lesser Bourgeoisie (La Comédie Humaine)

3.47 of 5 stars 3.47 · rating details · 15 ratings · 2 reviews

At the fall of the Villele ministry, Monsieur Louis-Jerome Thuillier, who had then seen twenty-six years' service as a clerk in the ministry of finance, became sub-director of a department thereof; but scarcely had he enjoyed the subaltern authority of a position formerly his lowest hope, when the events of July, 1830, forced him to resign it.

Paperback, 468 pages

Published 1855 by Kessinger Publishing

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Jul 17, 2012 Dagny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, balzac-honore-de, french

The story opens with a description of the house owned by Mademoiselle Thuillier and details some of the residents. She, a very capable money-manager, lives there with her brother and his family. M. Colleville is her brother's most intimate friend and the families spend considerable time together.

Theodose de la Payrade, one of eleven children, came to Paris in 1829. After struggling with several careers he eventually became a barrister, often pleading the causes of the poor.

Numerous other charact...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: balzac

Here is a late Balzac novel that, until recently, I didn't even know existed. It tells of the attempts made by a young attorney named Theodose de la Peyrade to worm himself into the good graces of a nouveau riche Paris family, the Thuilliers. As his reward he aims for the hand of the lucky heir of this childless couple, one Celeste Colleville. Along the way to achieving his goals, however, La Peyrade compromises himself by shady financial dealings with the amusingly corrupt Cerizet and his partn...more Here is a late Balzac novel that, until recently, I didn't even know existed. It tells of the attempts made by a young attorney named Theodose de la Peyrade to worm himself into the good graces of a nouveau riche Paris family, the Thuilliers. As his reward he aims for the hand of the lucky heir of this childless couple, one Celeste Colleville. Along the way to achieving his goals, however, La Peyrade compromises himself by shady financial dealings with the amusingly corrupt Cerizet and his partner-in-crime Dutocq.

What prevents The Middle Classes from being first-rate Balzac is that the author never had the opportunity to give the book the polish and gloss that characterizes such classics as Pere Goriot, Lost Illusions, Cousin Bette, Cousin Pons, and César Birotteau. It seems that there is little or no character development -- except perhaps on the part of one minor character, Felix Phellion. Cerizet is the same at the end as he was in the beginning, as is Theodose de la Peyrade, Du Portail, the Thuilliers, and Madame Lambert. There are some surprises that Balzac springs upon us, especially where Du Portail is concerned; but there is nothing that approaches the transformations of the character of Eugene de Rastignac in Pere Goriot.

Balzac tends to find the ambitious middle class characters as amusing, compared to Flaubert, who made of the equally bourgeois Madame Emma Bovary a tragic character. At one point, one of the characters says:

You are seeking fortune and influence, my good nephew; you want to rise above the crowd and to play your part in all the great events of your time; you want employment for a keen, active mind, full of resources, and slightly inclined to intrigue; in short, you long to exert in some upper and elegant sphere that force of will and subtlety which at present you are wasting in the silly and useless manipulation of the most barren and tough-skinned animal on earth, to wit: a bourgeois.

Although The Middle Classes strikes me as an uneven -- and even slightly unfinished -- work, I find its author to be fascinating whether he is great (Pere Goriot), good (A Commission in Lunacy), bad (The Peasants), or ugly (A Woman of Thirty).(less)

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Jun 13, 2013 Caterina added it · review of another edition

Shelves: libreria-di-casa

Jun 10, 2013 Kiana marked it as to-read

May 04, 2013 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: litterature

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Shelves: booklist

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Jan 25, 2013 Nina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jan 17, 2013 Krysbald is currently reading it

Jan 09, 2013 Maria marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Dec 30, 2012 Lisa marked it as to-read

Shelves: balzac-to-read

Dec 30, 2012 Laura marked it as to-read

Nov 20, 2012 Katie marked it as to-read

Shelves: classics, kindle

Nov 20, 2012 Aragorn marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Nov 12, 2012 Michelle Johnson marked it as to-read

Sep 16, 2012 Massimo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novel

Sep 13, 2012 Mitch Croskell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-french, fiction

Aug 02, 2012 Leslie marked it as stories

Jul 31, 2012 Wolfpabiru marked it as da-controllare · review of another edition

Shelves: france

Jun 19, 2012 Celia marked it as to-read

Shelves: e-book

Jun 14, 2012 Jacques le fataliste et son maître rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: letteratura-francese, narrativa

Mar 31, 2012 Roebek rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Mar 29, 2012 Tali rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Feb 27, 2012 Kai marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: french-literature, novel

Nov 06, 2011 Kate marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century-classics, library, human-comedy, france, found-in-translation, recommended-by-a-friend, the-middle-classes, we-talk-about-class-in-quiet-rooms, 19th-century-fic

Dec 28, 2011 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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About Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac was a nineteenth-century French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of almost 100 novels and plays collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the fall of Napoléon Bonaparte in 1815.

Due to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders o...more Honoré de Balzac was a nineteenth-century French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of almost 100 novels and plays collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the fall of Napoléon Bonaparte in 1815.

Due to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multi-faceted characters; even his lesser characters are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. Inanimate objects are imbued with character as well; the city of Paris, a backdrop for much of his writing, takes on many human qualities. His writing influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James and Jack Kerouac, as well as important philosophers such as Friedrich Engels. Many of Balzac's works have been made into films, and they continue to inspire other writers.

An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac had trouble adapting himself to the teaching style of his grammar school. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life, and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. When he finished school, Balzac was apprenticed as a legal clerk, but he turned his back on law after wearying of its inhumanity and banal routine. Before and during his career as a writer, he attempted to be a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician. He failed in all of these efforts. La Comédie Humaine reflects his real-life difficulties, and includes scenes from his own experience.

Balzac suffered from health problems throughout his life, possibly due to his intense writing schedule. His relationship with his family was often strained by financial and personal drama, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; he died five months later.
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The Lesser Bourgeoisie (La Comédie Humaine)

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