فاسينو كان

La Comédie Humaine #43

by Honoré de Balzac, ميشيل خوري

Websters paperbacks take advantage of the fact that classics are frequently assigned readings in English courses. By using a running English-to-French thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this edition of Facino Cane by Honor de Balzac was edited for three audiences. The first includes French-speaking students enrolled in an English Language Program (ELP), an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program, an English as a Second Language Program (ESL), or in a TOEFL or TOEIC preparation program. The second audience includes English-speaking students enrolled in bilingual education programs or French speakers enrolled in English-speaking schools. The third audience consists of students who are actively building their vocabularies in French in order to take foreign service, translation certification, Advanced Placement (AP) or similar examinations. By using the Webster's French Thesaurus Edition when assigned for an English course, the reader can enrich their vocabulary in anticipation of an examination in French or English.TOEFL, TOEIC, AP and Advanced Placement are trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which has neither reviewed nor endorsed this book. All rights reserved.Websters edition of this classic is organized to expose the reader to a maximum number of difficult and potentially ambiguous English words. Rare or idiosyncratic words and expressions are given lower priority compared to difficult, yet commonly used words. Rather than supply a single translation, many words are translated for a variety of meanings in French, allowing readers to better grasp the ambiguity of English, and avoid them using the notes as a pure translation crutch. Having the reader decipher a wordsmeaning within context serves to improve vocabulary retention and understanding. Each page covers words not already highlighted on previous pages. If a difficult word is n

Genres: France, Short Stories, Classics, French Literature, Fiction, Literature, 19th Century

109 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1836

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

[Carlo Mascellani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cosa mai spinge l'ormai anziano e cieco Facino Cane a voler tornare nella sua Venezia? L'oro che vi ha lasciato? O forse il sapore di una giovinezza avventurosa ormai perduta per sempre, il bruciante desiderio di riportare indietro il tempo e contravvenire alle leggi stesse stabilite dalla vita? Forse solo un pensiero fattosi ormai ossessione nel tempo e tale da render amara persino la sua già tormentata vecchiaia.

[Ionuț Anastasiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una dintre cele mai scurte povestiri din Comedia Umană este narată la persoana întâi de către un tânăr, a cărei viață este împărțită între studiul intens practicat în timpul nopții și lucrul din timpul zilei la o bibliotecă. În afara acestor ocupații, el mai are următoarea preocupare: "O singură patimă mă mai făcea să părăsesc aceste îndeletniciri cărturăreşti – dar nu era oare şi aceasta tot un studiu? – anume dorinţa de a iscodi ce se petrece în jur, prin cartier, de a observa localnicii şi felul lor de a se purta. Îmbrăcat la fel de prost ca un lucrător, puţin mă sinchiseam cum arătam; astfel că nimeni nu se ferea de mine şi puteam, în chipul acesta, să mă amestec în gaşca lor, să-i văd făcând negoţ ori să-i aud ciorovăindu-se când ieşeau de la lucru".
Din motive necunoscute, Balzac nu dorește să ne spună numele acestui tânăr studios, dar, dat fiind ceea ce știm despre el, nu putem să nu remarcăm cât de mult seamănă cu creatorul său în ceea ce privește această dorință de a observa comportamentul oamenilor.
Invitat fiind să participe la o nuntă, eroul nostru îl va cunoaște pe un bătrân orb de optzeci și doi de ani ce cântă la clarinet. Șocul intervine atunci când acest amărât îi mărturisește tânărului nostru cine este, și anume Marco Facino Cane, principe de Varese, patrician din Veneția. Iar povestea sa de viață este cu adevărat remarcabilă. Dar oare chiar este bătrânul orb cine pretinde că este sau totul nu este decât o minciună? Lectură plăcută!

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

(The Human Comedy #36 of 98)
An interesting story short, only about 15 pages long, written as a memory from the author's youth. Written in the first person it opens at a wedding party where the author spends his time observing the people, honing his skills of description and of imagination when he sees the band, a trio of blind musicians. The elderly italian-looking clarinetist in particular attracts his attention. And after sitting with the band he hears the man's story, like the ancient mariner.

In the first half I thought the story would develop more than it does but unfortunately it quickly dissolved away and the whole feels rushed, unfinished and unrevised - for example, we never hear what happens to an accomplice to a robbery who simply conveniently disappears, nor do we find out what happens to Facino Cane's love, Bianca, who just dies from nothing as far as we can tell. Nor, in fact, do we find out how Facino goes blind - he just does, presumably god's ire or something, or symbolism for greed blinding us to the world around us. And then the ending is ridiculously abrupt, just cutting off in a sentence as though Balzac's dinner going had rung and he thought "that's close enough, damnit".

So, a slight disappointment in the end after a very good start

[Steve R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly charming fifteen page short story, showing Balzac could have, had he wished to do so, mastered the melodramatic adventures of Dumas and Hugo and turned away from his rather trenchant and penetrating social criticism so characteristic of his view of French society in the early nineteenth century.

The narrator of this story possesses a unique ability to enter into the consciousness of anyone he finds particularly interesting - a seeming admission on Balzac's part of his unique method of characterization in all of his writings. In this case, it is an 82 year old, blind Venetian musician from Venice who piques his interest. Within the all-too-brief span of this short story, which easily could have been expanded to a novel to match The Count of Monte Cristo, Balzac includes intrigue, color, exotic locales, suspenseful dangers, perilous escapes, both jilted and enraptured love as well as tragic death and unfulfilled yearning.

There are not one but two murders of romantic rivals, an exile from his home city, a dangerous return to see his true love, incarceration in a dungeon, interpretation of Arabic scripts leading to a subterranean tunnel and the discovery of the secret vault of treasure of the Venetian Doge. A perilous escape with riches, a fateful parting of colleagues, a tragic passing, a mistaken trust in a new love, the brutal onslaught of blindness, impoverishment brought about by weakness and fraud and a bleak existence with an unfulfilled yearning to return from Paris to Venice highlight this tale.

As La Grande Breteche showed how Balzac could, had he wanted, rivaled Poe in his ability to write dark stories of the supernatural, so this story shows how he could have easily written works of melodramatic intrigue to rival Scott or Dumas. Personally, I'm glad he stuck to the bittersweet descriptions of Parisian life contained in Le Pere Goriot, Cousin Bette and Cousin Pons: they are all so much more real and moving than the flights of romantic color characterizing this story and its melodramatic counterparts.

Still, well work looking at, if only to indicate a significant 'what might have been' element of Balzac's writing.

[David Bisset · Rating 4 out of 5]

A romantic tale with an abrupt ending.

[Leah Akaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Facino Cane" by Honore de Balzac is a thought-provoking and haunting novella that explores the destructive power of revenge and the corruption of absolute power.

The story revolves around a young Italian nobleman named Facino Cane who seeks revenge against the powerful Count Giraldi, who had destroyed his family and taken possession of their lands. Cane is driven by an obsessive desire for revenge and is willing to go to any lengths to achieve his goal.

As the story progresses, Cane's thirst for vengeance consumes him, and he becomes increasingly ruthless and cruel. He uses his charm and cunning to manipulate others and slowly begins to descend into madness.

The novella is brilliantly written, with vivid descriptions of the characters and their surroundings, which create a sense of dread and foreboding. Balzac's masterful storytelling creates a tense and unsettling atmosphere that keeps the reader on edge throughout.

"Facino Cane" is a cautionary tale about the dangers of seeking revenge and the corrupting influence of power. It's a profound and deeply moving work that explores universal themes of human nature and the consequences of our actions.

In conclusion, "Facino Cane" is a gripping and powerful novella that showcases Balzac's talent for creating complex characters and exploring the darker side of human nature. It's a must-read for anyone interested in literature that delves into the depths of the human psyche.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bearing similarities to Balzac's "Sarrasine," both works dealing with Italians and wrapped in enigmas ("I do not know how it is that I have kept the following story so long untold. It is one of the curious things that stop in the bag from which Memory draws out stories at haphazard, like numbers in a lottery. There are plenty of tales just as strange and just as well hidden still left; but some day, you may be sure, their turn will come"), and still drunk on the influence of Roland Barthes (S/Z), I found myself immediately enraptured by Balzac's "Facino Cane" (1836). Having read Proust one might say there is something Proustian in it, and of course Proust was influenced by Balzac, though a pioneer of form and language, far transcending Balzac's limitations. The prose and the mysteries involved in this tale placed it on a fast track to becoming one of my favorite Balzac stories. But about 8 pages into this 15 page tale, it began to unravel, bogged down by sloppiness and Balzac's unfortunate delight in melodrama. The story, which makes several direct references to the Arabian Nights, was like those stories a folktale, and a simple folktale at that, but early on it promised so much more. By the end I was left with disappointment as to what "Facino Cane" could have been.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A story that is more about Balzac’s ability to tell stories than the story itself. The most memorable aspect of Facino is his ambiguity: is he telling the truth, or is he merely a senile old man? And what of the ending? (spoiler!) Did the narrator really believe the story, or was he merely humoring an old man? And how exactly did Facino die? If not for the rather light-hearted and empathetic opening section in which the narrator explains his penchant for connecting with the lives of others, I may have been tempted to read something rather sinister in the abrupt death of Facino right after telling the narrator about the location of a supposed fortune. These questions made the story enjoyable, even if I wasn’t completely bowled over. Worth a look if you’re wanting to explore Balzac’s writing.

[Ece · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okuduğum en kısa hikayelerden olsa bile, beni Sarıyer'den Venedik'e taşıdı. Facino Cane, körler hastanesinde çalgıcı olsa da aslında gençliğinde, hastalanıp kör olmadan önce, Venedik'in son soylularından biridir. Sevdiceği Bianca'ya kavuşmak isterken girdiği çatışmada hapse atılan Cane, kaçış planları yaparken kazdığı tünel Venedik'in hazinesine çıkar. Sonrası ise sevgilisiyle Smyrna'ya (Izmir'e) kaçış ve onu da kaybettikten sonra kör olup çalgıcılığa başlaması.

Ben bu hikayeyi hayatın cilveleri olarak yorumladım. Yaşam oyununa başlanabilecek en yüksek konumda başlayan bir hayat, körler hastanesinde kimsesiz bir sekilde veremden ölmeye kadar uzanabiliyor.


Okuduğum ilk Balzac hikayelerinden biri olsa bile, Kırmızı Han ve Facino Cane'nin gerek yazım şeklinden gerekse hikayenin açtığı ahlak tartışmalarından çok keyif aldım. Bir dahaki Balzac'lara!

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normalerweise würde ich eine 15-seitige Kurzgeschichte nicht unter meinen Büchern aufnehmen, aber da das hier als Book 43 der Comédie humaine gezählt wird, mache ich eine Ausnahme.

Der Icherzähler berichtet von der Begegnung mit den Titelhelden einem alten, blinden Klarinettenspieler, den er auf einer Hochzeit kennenlernt. Der stammt aus Italien und erzählt seine abenteuerliche Geschichte. Wie er geliebt, getötet hat, der Freiheit beraubt wurde, und mit großem Schatz entkommen ist. Dann wieder verarmt und erblindet. Nun möchte er mit dem Icherzähler zurück nach Venedig.

Wie einer der Kommentatoren schon sagt, Balzac zeigt hier, dass er, wenn er gewollt hätte, auch Bücher wie Dumas hätte schreiben können. Vielleicht hätte er sollen. Wenigstens eins.

[Gláucia Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conto publicado em 1836, figura em Estudos de Costumes - Cenas da Vida Parisiense.
Narrado em primeira pessoa por alguém anônimo que conta ter conhecido numa festa de casamento, Facino Cane, um músico cego e idoso proveniente de Veneza, membro da nobreza que foi condenado à masmorras por ter assassinado o marido de sua amante. Na prisão tenta cavar um túnel e descobre um tesouro magnífico, deixando-se dominar a partir de então por uma avassaladora e irresistível paixão pelo ouro.
Teria esse conto em parte inspirado Alexandre Dumas na criação de uma das mais famosas passagens de seu romance O Conde de Monte Cristo? Fica a dúvida...

[David C Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gothic tale complete with romance, murders, a dungeon, a miraculous escape, a cavern full of treasure and four or five betrayals. The narrator, an observer of Parisians, like Balzac himself, meets a blind musician at a wedding who spins the tale of his fall - he is obsessed by gold, can smell it and it may be his obsession that has blinded him. If he can just get back to Venice and find the cell where he was imprisoned he can dig his way into the Doge’s treasure room again and start over....

[Don Wentworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with most of Balzac, interesting well-written story - but it drops off the cliff, not so much as an O. Henry ending as a just plain hit the wall ending. She you kill off the character on one sentence to end the story, without resolution, it is just plain unsatisfying

[Hélène Lamboley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un très beau conte beau et puissant dont les images et les symboles sont frappants. La manière de ne pas conclure et de laisser agir l’imagination et l’interprétation du lecteur m’a aussi beaucoup plus

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much nonsense packed into such a short story! It would have made a terrible novel but at this length it was an excellent read.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short novella - nice story - Balzac gives us a surprise ending.

[Jakub Balawejder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krótkie i ciekawe. Los ludzki bywa nad wyraz przewrotny. :) Dobra inspiracja

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me trajo algo de Edmond Dantés este relato. Nos encontramos con un hombre mayor que cuenta su historia a un desconocido el cual termina haciendo una promesa que finalmente no se podrá cumplir.

[myriam kisfaludi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Petite nouvelles de quelques pages sans envergure. Mais ça reste du Balzac

[Timo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,23

[Henri Le Grand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to find more information about the character (Facino Cane) and did not think it will be such a precious reading. Well, Balzac... I got great pleasure from reading

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

2023 review after reading in a Balzac biography by Albert Keim and Louis Lumet states “But there were times when he left his garret at nightfall, mingled with the crowd and there exercised those marvellous faculties of his which verged upon prodigy. He has described them in a short tale, Facino Cano, and they appear to have been an exceptional gift.” “I lived frugally…..”


Old review below that stands-


Short story by Balzac but full of adventure. Re-read before reading “Massimilla Doni” This story tells how greed blinds us and takes hold of those obsessed with it.

I did not read this edition but from a Delphi collection of his works.

"This short story first appeared in the Chronique de Paris on March 17, 1836 and in 1837 Balzac classified it as an Étude philosophique (Philosophical Study). In 1843, the short story appeared with the novel Albert Savarus and in the following year it was then moved into the Scènes de la Vie Parisienne section of La Comédie humaine."

"The novel concerns a blind old man called Father Canet, who claims to be a descendant of the 14th century condottiere of the same name. The narrator meets Facino Cane at the wedding celebration of his maid’s sisters. Interested by the appearance of the old man, the narrator begins a conversation with him, and Facino Cane mentions being from Venice. He then tells the story of his life and how he lost his status and money and became blind."

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Facino Cane was a prince that loved Bianca but she was married, after her husband found them together in her room, the men fought, Facino had killed her husband and must flee without Bianca who refused to go. Missing her he comes back and they have 6 months of happiness before he was captured and imprisoned. While trying to escape he finds gold and other jewels, but can not carry them all. He enlists the guard to help him escape with the booty and they are parted after the escape. Bianca has died and Facino soon becomes blind, in Paris he trusted a woman who robbing and placing him in a hospital for insanity. He finally finds someone to take him back to Venice where the booty, but money is needed to travel, he dies a couple months later.




"CANE (Marco-Facino), known as Pere Canet, a blind old man, an inmate of the Hospital des Quinze-Vingts, who during the Restoration followed the vocation of musician, at Paris. He played the clarionet at a ball of the working-people of rue de Charenton, on the occasion of the wedding of Mme. Vaillant’s sister. He said he was a Venetian, Prince de Varese, a descendant of the condottiere Facino Cane, whose conquests fell into the hands of the Duke of Milan. He told strange stories regarding his patrician youth. He died in 1820, more than an octogenarian. He was the last of the Canes on the senior branch, and he transmitted the title of Prince de Varese to a relative, Emilio Memmi. Facino Cane. Massimilla Doni"

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a summary, not a review.
Written in 1836, this is another of Balzac's very short stories, but it's one that reveals Balzac's life as a writer. By day the narrator studied at the Biblioteque d'Oreans, but by night he watched the manners and customs of the people around him, gathering the stories that he would one day use to create his masterwork, La Comedie Humaine.
He was poor, but not quite as poor as his charwoman, who supplemented the family income by tending to his basic needs. Despite her poverty she and her husband were honest and hardworking, and he valued the relationship. When one day they invited him to her sister's wedding, he decided to honour their friendship by attending, and while he was there, he met a most interesting man...
There was a three piece band, not very good, but the musicians were all blind so the audience was tolerant. One of them, the clarinettist, interested him because his face bore the traces of a life of bitterness and regret.
It turns out that he was from Venice, and was once a Senator. His name was Marco Facino Cane, and he begged the narrator to take him back to Venice, promising him great wealth if he did so. He had had the misfortune to fall in love with a woman called Bianca, the wife of a powerful man and when their love was discovered he had killed his rival. He expected the woman to flee with him, but she did not, and he was condemned to death and his property confiscated.
In Milan, he gambled, and lost it all. He felt an overwhelming urge to see his Bianca again, and returned to Venice. For six months he enjoyed her love until discovered by the Provveditore. She was wounded in the ensuing fight, and he was thrown into the dungeon.
However, he discovered some directions carved into the stone walls by a previous prisoner, which explained that part of the stone wall had been excavated. The man had died before he could achieve his freedom, but Facino broke through and discovered he was in a great vault full of gold and precious gems, the Secret Treasury of the Republic. Together with the gaoler, he escaped with Bianca to France (where they ditched the gaoler) and then to Spain, where they lived the high life together . In 1770 he came back to Paris undetected, but his sight failed, which he attributed to his time in the dungeon.
After Bianca’s death he took up with a woman who was a friend of Mme du Barry, until she deserted him in London after they had gone to Hyde Park to see an oculist. She took all his money and he could not complain without revealing who he was. When the Revolution came, she had him committed to the lunatic asylum, and then to the Blind Asylum.
Still besotted by gold (which he attributed to his mother’s fondness for it when he was in the womb) he begged to be taken back to Venice so that he could raid the Treasury again. The narrator out of pity agreed, but the old man died of a chill before he had to make good his promise.

[Thorben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kondensierter Graf von Monte Christo

[Armin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der 82jährige Klarinettist der Blindenkapelle auf einer Armenhochzeit erzählt dem jungen Gast von seiner Flucht aus venezianischer Gefangenschaft über die Schatzkammer der Republik. Napoleon hat das Gold nie gefunden, er könnte es dagegen riechen, eine Art Casanova-Variation in etwas anderer Reihenfolge, die seine Mitmusiker schon zu oft anhören mussten, die letzte Aufführung, wie sich noch herausstellt."

[Sara Jesus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Todo o ambiente desta história encanta. Desde o ambiente as personagens. E o melhor são as referencias a Odisseia e outras obras clássicas.
Um ambiente idílico. Situado algures na Itália. É um livro que nos preenche a alma!

[Sindy Castellanos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Facino Cane es una historia con un tinte de ilusión y esperanza, en medio de las tragedias que pueden ocurrir a una persona.

[Cla]

My first Balzac and I'm glad it is. What an eye he had for interactions between people.