The Brotherhood of Consolation

by Honoré de Balzac, Katherine Prescott Wormeley (Translator)

Godefroid was in debt. As a first test, a first task, he resolved to live in some retired place, and pay his debts from his income. To a man accustomed to spend six thousand francs when he had but five, it was no small undertaking. Every morning he studied advertisements, till the following met his eye: -- "To Let. A small lodging for seventy francs a month; suitable for an ecclesiastic. A quiet tenant desired. Board supplied; the rooms can be furnished at a moderate cost if mutually acceptable." At four o'clock on the grocer, who told him that Madame de la Chanterie was then dining, and did not receive anyone when at her meals. The lady, he said, was visible in the evening after seven o'clock, or in the morning between ten and twelve. While speaking, Monsieur Millet examined Godefroid, and made him submit to what magistrates call the "first degree of interrogation." "Was monsieur unmarried? Madame wished a person of regular habits; the gate was closed at eleven at the latest. Monsieur certainly seemed of an age to suit Madame de la Chanterie." "How old do you think me?" asked Godefroid. "About forty!" replied the grocer. This ingenuous answer threw the young man into a state of misanthropic gloom. He went off and dined at a restaurant on the quai de la Tournelle, and afterwards went to the parapet to contemplate Notre-Dame at the moment when the fires of the setting sun were rippling and breaking about the manifold buttresses of the apsis.

236 pages, Hardcover

Published December 1, 2002

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

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of his best: a brilliant idea, and the first part well executed, but the second part is just too fanciful even for Balzac.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly not Balzac's best work, and it has the somewhat characteristic truncated ending, but even more pronounced than usual. Still, the character sketches - Balzac's forte - are very good, and the story is interesting, and a rather notable departure from his usual themes. This book could very easily have been twice as long, and it probably would have been better for it. Godefroid's conversion would have been more convincing and more fleshed out if it were developed over the course of a career of charitable works, than simply over his very first one!

Balzac's treatment of poverty and the poignant dignity that can be found there is the best part of the book; at least, I found myself wanting more such scenarios. I can recommend this to Balzac fans, or more generally perhaps to believers in true Catholic charity, as the book relies on buying in to this doctrine to be at all moving.

[Steve Gordon]

Oh Honoré, is there no end to your sweet, sweet goodness?

[Richard Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not top flight Balzac, but some good moments.