Vie privée et publique des animaux: Vignettes par Grandville. Publiée sous la direction de P. F. Stahl

by Honoré de Balzac, P.-J. Stahl

This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1875 edition by J. Hetzel, Paris.

Genres: France, Animals, Short Stories

644 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1841

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

[S̶e̶a̶n̶]

Illustrated by J. J. Grandville.

Available for free at Internet Archive.

[Anna]

Typiquement le genre de projet dont l'idée est meilleure que le résultat final (cf l'assemblée des animaux qui souhaitent faire valoir leur droit et qui fait finalement un flop). J'ai cependant apprécié trois des six ou sept récits présentés ici : celui du pingouin, celui de la chatte française et celui de la girafe. De manière générale, on ne peut pas dire que ces récits cherchent vraiment à se mettre dans la peau, dans la tête d'un animal ; il s'agit toujours de parler de l'humanité, soit à travers le point de vue des animaux (la girafe commente la vanité de la race humaine) soit en calquant les comportements des animaux sur ceux des humains (relations amoureuses notamment). L'ensemble est assez divertissant mais pas essentiel.