The Splendors And Miseries Of Courtesans V1

by Honoré de Balzac, Ellery Sedgwick (Translator)

The Way That Girls Love; How Much Love Costs Old Men;

Genres: Fiction, Classics, French Literature

504 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1838

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

[Evelina | AvalinahsBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uh... A lot of classics fall hopelessly out of relevance, and this is one of them. However, that's not even the biggest problem. The biggest problem, as it is with most classics, of course, is the blatant, hideous and incredible racism. And of course, sexism. Part of those times, you'll say, but maybe we should just put it down and not read things like that anymore.

There are more reasons to put this down though. The story could be told in 300 pages, yet my copy tortured me for 600. It's full of incredibly dated references which, in honesty, none of us should know anymore, and it has nothing to do with sophistication - none of us should know what play was running in Paris in 1845. If you know that, it's either your job, or maybe you've mixed up the calendar and lost the year you're living in. All of these things bog you down, and it makes reading the story a real chore. Not to mention the overly flowery style, where the author will go on a tangent and talk about irrelevant things for pages and pages, or worse yet - start going on and on about politics that has been irrelevant for more than 150 years.

The only reason I stuck with this book was because it was interesting as a chronicle of the times. But as such, it bored me to death still and had me roll my eyes at the dated notions. I don't know why we choose to study works like this in literature classes still - there's nothing to learn here. We should move on. I've read plenty of classics, and some of them are amazing, but this one has been one of the biggest instances of time wasted so far. I'm sorry, Balzac. It's not your day anymore.

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[Olga Lazareva · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems like a Hollywood story, especially when Esther inherited a lot of money out of the blue or police showing up exactly at the time when Lucien was meeting Clotilde for the last time to arrest him. Also, it's shocking to read about how women were treated back then, e.g. Esther being called a "thing" and her blind belief that it's supposed to be that way. Life meant nothing. O tempora o mores!

[Gazmend Ceno · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not going to comment on this masterpiece. It needs no comment. But I like to confess that I have read it so many times, I am not sure about the exact number anymore. I also like to add that when you look at people like Balzac form a certain perspective (like time, amount of the work done, depth, persistence and passion, you feel very small and insignificant, almost hopeless. Yet, despite the amount of talent ones can have or can have not, it is worthy to imitate and match at least the amount of dedication and hard work that he invested to archive all this. Maybe you can get somewhere to - or die trying. At least, thats how I feel.

[Francesco D'Isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why students have to read that boring "Daddy Goriot," if everything that a teenager needs to know is so well taught by the courtesans?

Plot: The splendors and miseries of courtesans.

[Madame Miou-Miou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!!

[Rosa Attab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mandatory.