La Comédie Humaine

by Honoré de Balzac

Découvrez les dessous d'un Paris de pouvoir et d'intrigues

Dans ce volume, Balzac dresse des portraits vivants des personnages qui animent les salons, les bureaux et les rues de la capitale. Le texte met en lumière les ambitions, les alliances et les jeux d'influence qui traversent la société française de l’époque.

Ce livre agit comme une fenêtre sur les vies privées et publiques, où la vie politique et les affaires se mêlent aux échanges personnels. À travers des notes biographiques et des scènes de la vie parisienne, il révèle les réseaux et les motivations qui poussent chacun à chercher sa place au sein d’un monde en mouvement. Des portraits riches et variés qui éclairent les rapports entre argent, pouvoir et statut. Des scènes qui montrent comment les ambitions personnelles croisent les arcanes de l’administration et de la société. Des détails qui donnent le ton et l’époque des intrigues littéraires et sociales. Une présentation structurée qui facilite la découverte des personnages et de leurs liens. Ideal pour les lecteurs qui souhaitent situer les personnages et les dynamiques humaines au cœur d’un XIXe siècle parisien en pleine transformation.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, France, French Literature

413 pages, Hardcover

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

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 2 out of 5]

11/19 sooo GOOD NEWS! As I am only reading the shorter stories I actually have about 400 ish pages remaining. The ebook I’m using is just about everything he wrote, but I was not planning to reread anything I had already read; nor was I going to read the books, or any nonfiction pieces or any bio type writings. Those 400 pages consist of the remainder of my current story, which is a bit enjoyable, and one other story (I think). That is such a cheerful, refreshing bit of news. I am ready for this to be over.

11/12/23 well I suppose I should see how much I can make myself read before the end of the year since this is how my year started. Considering what I had read before opening this copy, I’ve made decent progress, I just can’t update the % very well. That’s maths and my maths doesn’t maths.


4/23. This book is still haunting and taunting me. Damn you Balzac! I just finished one of the short stories and I’m almost finished with the second AND I AM STILL AT 40% what the F I’m no quitter Balzac. You better get your game on, because I will defeat you by the end of this year or I’ll delete your damn book

BON JOUR de Balzac! Yes t'is I I have recharged my batteries for a second go at your ridiculous omnibus. I do not know if I'm happy about this yet, but I'm certainly tired of looking at you on my shelf. So here it goes!

1/1923 I’m getting so used to seeing this book on my currently reading shelf I might just leave it there forever. That way I can compare the length of all of the other books I read in 2023 and feel like a lying cheat because that’s the only way I’ll ever finish this. I can now compare it to my Wordsworth book on that shelf. I believe they have about the same amount of pages to read now.

10/30 39%! 39! 39% people I’m at 39% and it’s only the end of October! 2022 I’d better put that year in as I expect to finish in 2034. In my coffin.
I’ll read it to Vlad. I hear he likes being invited to book clubs. He can come right in and join me. Invitation has been offered.

10/5 I’m finally reaching some of the short stories and novellas I’ve already read. I just jumped to 32%!! I mean I have been reading this since January so that’s great progress only another 5,000 pages to go. That’s like book pocket change. No wrinkles or grey hairs to blame on this book yet. I do think I’m going to write Honore a fan letter and ask him what the hell was he thinking when he wrote all of these damn stories. I think he was on meth.

6/13 I really do not want to read this anymore. I started this at the end of January, it’s been practically 6 months HALF A YEAR and I’m still at 25%. This is total madness. I read from this collection every damn day. It’s lost its appeal. Someone may have to bury me with a copy of this book, as I might need something to read on the bus that’s driving my friends and I to the beach of all beaches. I should have taken before and after pics of myself so that I could visualize how badly I’ve aged because of this stupid book.


1/25 i don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time reading something and still be at 1%. OMG! I’m still at 1%. I must say I’m enjoying this much more than Lost Time by Proust.

1/26 OMG! This is hilarious! I’m still at 1% bahahaha

2/5 so it appears that I’m only moving 1% a week? That’s seems odd, but that’s the statistic so far. If that’s the case I’ll finish this next year…yeah EDIT 11/19/2023: c’est finis it took almost a year and a half! And that was just the shortish stories that I had never read. But I can now divorce de Balzac.

2/20 I’m now at 5%. FIVE PERCENT! So I know I was worried about Chekhov. And then there was the Proust. But I think de Balzac with be the death of me. Someone is going to find me dead in my bed holding my IPAD and I’ll still be at 5%.

Ok so if I read all of this it will be the largest published work I’ve ever taken on; it’s opening up with a page count of over 21,000 pages. I’ve already read maybe 25%? Just not in order (past reads)I honestly have no idea how long this will take me. For those of you who have asked me you know how I will approach this. For those of you who are not in the know I fit these monstrous omnibuses in pages here and there while I spend more time on my shorter books (shorter being anything 400 or less ish) so this may take me several months. Let’s see if I can get this read by spring showers bringing may flowers

4/2 well so far I've read around 27 of the stories just 3,789 to go lol I'm using two different versions. I have a Delphi classics ebook and I have an abridged NYBR version. Neither has the stories in numerical order for some reason. Funny thing is IM STILL ONLY 10% through god that makes me laugh so hard 10/18 UPDATE- I have been able to locate some of the stories on LibriVox! Woo hoo speed at 2lol

4/4 why am I doing this to myself? All of the stories are whimsical for the most part. There has been one or two that struck a nerve, but most are average meh 😑 I changed the font so more words fit on the page because psychologically I feel like I’m reading it more quickly. I may have to take a break considering IM STILL AT TEN PERCENT.this book is an OUBLIETTE

4/11 Oooooooooo I jumped TWO % tonight! Celebrate good times come on! 12% people! I’ll be finished with this before you know it. Either that or I’m going to throw my iPad against the wall. Either really would feel fulfilling at this point.

4/30 16 percent everyone! It’s taken four months, but obviously, I must be on a role now! de Balzac you are the devil and we are going to have a conversation about this after I’ve driven the bus down there and find you

5/17 YYAAAAASSSSS IVE MADE IT TO PROVINCIAL LIFE ! I’m still only about 20% read but I’ve read section one of my omnibus
Is that a pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel? Or am I still viewing the lunar eclipse?

5/19 I decided I’m definitely stopping at the philosophical studies. In my copy though that’s only about 3,000 pages less than the total. I also noticed that a few of the stories are duplicated in other sections? So there’s that! I must be on a roll because I read from this my entire off work week and jumped an entire 2% people! See that’s what determination gets you! Steadfastness right here y’all

Please forgive any typos I never proofread

[Rosa St.Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consider The Human Comedy to be one of the best novels ever written. In his assorment of stories, Balzac's study of human nature in pre-Freud times is a detailed analyses of how greed, lust, corruption can turn the most naive and innocent to fall into the drain of temptation. His creation of the characters who inhabit the pages within The Human Comedy, is a map from which the readers gain experience that would take years of in-life-training to learn otherwise. His characters are so real that they can be found in any group of persons. He writes with such realism and depth that only a slate of other writers can claim the same. The most prolific among those who followed his path are Émile Zola, Jack Kerouac and Charles Dickens.

Even as a child, he loved reading but did not like the ways of grammar school. He liked to go his own way. Sadly, this much acclaimed author, who was copied by many, did not live too long. he died at 51, after being married to the love of his life for only 5 months.

I rate this book 5 stars. I read this book in my teens, and then again while in college, but recently reread it because of its vast wealth of words.

[Joao Baptista · Rating 5 out of 5]

As minhas impressões sobre a leitura deste ciclo integral:

https://epulata.com/2019/07/28/livros-2/

[Lyna Torche · Rating 4 out of 5]

pelo le moment de la dent m’a trauma de 1 et de deux pourquoi j’avais autant aimer au collège

[Graziano · Rating 4 out of 5]

LA VENDETTA (***)

Esclusivamente romanticismo.



UNA DOPPIA FAMIGLIA (***)



LA FALSA AMANTE (****)

“Con una donna, bisogna sempre trarre vantaggio da un segreto: essa ve n’è grata...”

(168)



IL MESSAGGIO (**)



LA DONNA ABBANDONATA (****)

“La viscontessa viveva ignorando completamente le circonvoluzioni che tracciava intorno a lei M. de Nueil, il cui amore aumentava con il crescere degli ostacoli da superare, i quali conferivano alla sua amante improvvisata le attrattive che possiede ciò che è lontano.”

(244-5)



“La donna è così riconoscente quando incontra un uomo sensibile ai capricci così logici del suo cuore, che capisca le apparenti contraddizioni della sua mente, i fugaci pudori, per le sue sensazioni ora timide, ora ardite, strano miscuglio di civetteria e di ingenuità!”

(251)



L’INTERDIZIONE (****)

“La tua donna affettuosa non porta a nulla, una donna di mondo porta a tutto, è il diamante con cui un uomo taglia tutti i vetri, quando lui non ha la chiave d’oro che apre tutte le porte.”

(287)



L’ILLUSTRE GAUDISSART (****)

I SEGRETI DELLA PRINCIPESSA DI CADIGNAN (***)

"... perché un'amicizia sincera e durevole tra donne dev'essere cementata con qualche piccolo misfatto."
(30)

SARRASINE (***)

"Parlar di pericoli a un innamorato non è forse proporgli dei piaceri?"
(99)

PIERRE GRASSOU (**)

UN EPISODIO DURANTE IL TERRORE (**)

UNA PASSIONE NEL DESERTO (***)

GESU' CRISTO IN FIANDRA (**)

IL CAPOLAVORO SCONOSCIUTO (***)

"Ogni figura è un mondo, un ritratto il cui modello è apparso in una visione sublime, bagnato di luce, designato da una voce interiore, spogliato da un dito celeste che ha mostrato, nel passato di tutta una vita, le fonti dell'espressione."
(217)

IL FIGLIO MALEDETTO (****)

"Quando abbiamo fatto qualche esperienza nella vita, conosciamo il segreto influsso che i luoghi esercitano sul nostro animo."
(248)

"La laboriosa poesia le cui ricche meditazioni ci fanno percorrere come botanici i vasti campi del pensiero, la feconda comparazione delle idee umane, l'esaltazione che ci procura il perfetto intendimento delle opere del genio, erano divenute le inesauribili e tranquille felicità della sua vita di sogno e solitudine." (Étienne)
(288)

ADDIO (****)

LE MARANA (****)

"L'amore crea nella donna una donna nuova, l'indomani, quella di ieri non esiste più."
(436)

LA RECLUTA (****)

"Vivamente commosso da quella abnegazione così naturale nelle donne, e tuttavia per noi sempre motivo di commozione, perché tutti gli uomini sono lusingati dai sacrifici che una di loro fa per un uomo..."
(476)

EL VERDUGO (**)

LA LOCANDA ROSSA (**)

[Kieffer Jérôme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinaire, à lire absolument