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Honoré de Balzac

Born

in Tours, France

May 20, 1799

Died

August 18, 1850

Genre

Literature & Fiction

Influences

Walter Scott, Molière, Jean Racine, Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Jean de L ...more

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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 fine 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, incl 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 fine 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 passed away five months later.
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Combine Editions
Honoré de Balzac’s books

Average rating: 3.79 · 179,433 ratings · 11,829 reviews · 4,152 distinct works • Similar authors

	Père Goriot 3.85 avg rating — 55,136 ratings — published 1835 — 235 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Eugénie Grandet 3.79 avg rating — 21,698 ratings — published 1833 — 1261 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lost Illusions 4.16 avg rating — 10,364 ratings — published 1843 — 754 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cousin Bette 3.85 avg rating — 9,514 ratings — published 1846 — 523 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wild Ass's Skin 3.78 avg rating — 8,311 ratings — published 1831 — 798 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vadideki Zambak 3.72 avg rating — 6,007 ratings — published 1835 — 556 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le Colonel Chabert 3.60 avg rating — 5,383 ratings — published 1832 — 602 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Unknown Masterpiece by Honoré de Balzac, Richard Howard (translator), Arthur C. Danto (contributor) 3.83 avg rating — 4,916 ratings — published 1831 — 324 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Woman Of Thirty 3.45 avg rating — 5,244 ratings — published 1834 — 439 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Harlot High and Low 4.05 avg rating — 3,219 ratings — published 1838 — 420 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Honoré de Balzac…

Series by Honoré de Balzac

La Comédie Humaine (89 books)
by

Honoré de Balzac

3.79 avg rating — 163,889 ratings

Études de mœurs : Scènes de la vie de province (10 books)
by

Honoré de Balzac

3.90 avg rating — 35,732 ratings

Études de mœurs : Scènes de la vie parisienne (20 books)
by

Honoré de Balzac

3.77 avg rating — 22,035 ratings

Études philosophiques (19 books)
by

Honoré de Balzac

3.69 avg rating — 18,385 ratings

Poor Relations (2 books)
by

Honoré de Balzac,

Herbert J. Hunt (Translator)

3.87 avg rating — 10,947 ratings

More series by Honoré de Balzac…

Quotes by Honoré de Balzac (?)

“Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine.”
― Honoré de Balzac

tags: loneliness, society, solitude

4194 likes

“Reading brings us unknown friends”
― Honore de Balzac

tags: reading

3105 likes

“The more one judges, the less one loves.”
― Honoré de Balzac, Physiologie Du Mariage

tags: human-nature, love

2872 likes

See all Honoré de Balzac's quotes »

Polls

March 2021 Old School Poll

Don Juan by Molière 1665, 146 pages

18 votes, 20.5%

Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac 1835, 370 pages

13 votes, 14.8%

Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim 1898, 207 pages

13 votes, 14.8%

The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson 1220, 180 pages

10 votes, 11.4%

All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare 1604, 336 pages

10 votes, 11.4%

Oroonoko by Aphra Behn 1688, 144 pages

8 votes, 9.1%

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu -600, 160 pages

7 votes, 8.0%

Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov 1859, 586 pages

5 votes, 5.7%

Hester by Mrs. Oliphant 1883, 468 pages

4 votes, 4.5%

88 total votes

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