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La Comédie Humaine #73
Massimilla Doni
Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - As all who are learned in such matters know, the Venetian aristocracy is the first in Europe. Its Libro d'Oro dates from before the Crusades, from a time when Venice, a survivor of Imperial and Christian Rome which had flung itself into the waters to escape the Barbarians, was already powerful and illustrious, and the head of the political and commercial world. With a few rare exceptions this brilliant nobility has fallen into utter ruin. Among the gondoliers who serve the English - to whom history here reads the lesson of their future fate - there are descendants of long dead Doges whose names are older than those of sovereigns. On some bridge, as you glide past it, if you are ever in Venice, you may admire some lovely girl in rags, a poor child belonging, perhaps, to one of the most famous patrician families. When a nation of kings has fallen so low, naturally some curious characters will be met with. It is not surprising that sparks should flash out among the ashes.
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1839
About the author
Honoré de Balzac
9,697 books4,449 followersFrench 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 20, 2018
Ίσως το πιο "μελωδικό" έργο του Μπαλζάκ που έχω διαβάσει εισέτι. Μια ωδή στην όπερα και στην ιταλική ψυχοσύνθεση, όπου το μέλος συγχέεται και διαχέεται στο πάθος, μέσα από την ιστορία έρωτα του Πρίγκιπα και της Μασιμίλα Ντόνι. Ο καλλιτέχνης κατορθώνει να παρασύρει με την τέχνη του ακόμα και εκείνους -όπως εγώ- που δεν ενδιαφέρονται ιδιαίτερα για το εν λόγω μουσικό είδος ούτε βέβαια για τη στερεοτυπική παρουσίαση των Ιταλών ως λαού "αισθαντικού, μουσικού, ερωτεύσιμου" (η "πυξίδα" μου συνεχίζει να δείχνει πάντα στον Βορρά, μακριά από τον κατά Τ. Μαν "κτηνώδη αισθησιασμό των Νοτίων").
Ο Παρατηρητής Μπαλζάκ χειρίζεται το λογοτεχνικό του "οπλοστάσιο" με χαρακτηριστική άνεση, αναδεικνύοντας τα παραδοσιακά δίπολα που απασχόλησαν και απασχολούν την τέχνη από καταβολής της: Ιδέα και Μορφή, Πνεύμα και Ύλη, Πλατωνικός και σαρκικός έρωτας, απόλαυση των αισθήσεων αλλά και της τέχνης. Και πάνω από όλα, προβάλλει η μυσταγωγική εμπειρία της μουσικής, ως "κινούν αίτιο", ως φορέας νοήματος.
Αυτά που θεωρήθηκαν μειονεκτήματα στη νουβέλα αυτή, τουτέστιν η μακροσκελής ανάλυση της όπερας του Ροσίνι και η αφελής κατάληξη, ουδόλως δεν διαταράσσουν τη μαγεία και επ' ουδενί δεν μειώνουν την απόλαυση της ανάγνωσης.
Σημειωτέο, πως όπως συμβαίνει στα περισσότερα έργα του Μπαλζάκ, απαιτείται η ενεργός συμμετοχή του αναγνώστη, ο οποίος θα πρέπει να διακρίνει την ευφυή αλληλουχία των λέξεων και το παιχνίδι των νοημάτων που κρύβεται σε… κοινή θέα.
Τελικά, το πρόβλημα παραμένει ένα και μόνο: Μετά την ανάγνωση έργων σαν κι αυτό, η σύγχρονη λογοτεχνική παραγωγή, στα μάτια μου τουλάχιστον, φαντάζει ακόμα πιο φτωχή και ασήμαντη.
Ο Παρατηρητής Μπαλζάκ χειρίζεται το λογοτεχνικό του "οπλοστάσιο" με χαρακτηριστική άνεση, αναδεικνύοντας τα παραδοσιακά δίπολα που απασχόλησαν και απασχολούν την τέχνη από καταβολής της: Ιδέα και Μορφή, Πνεύμα και Ύλη, Πλατωνικός και σαρκικός έρωτας, απόλαυση των αισθήσεων αλλά και της τέχνης. Και πάνω από όλα, προβάλλει η μυσταγωγική εμπειρία της μουσικής, ως "κινούν αίτιο", ως φορέας νοήματος.
Αυτά που θεωρήθηκαν μειονεκτήματα στη νουβέλα αυτή, τουτέστιν η μακροσκελής ανάλυση της όπερας του Ροσίνι και η αφελής κατάληξη, ουδόλως δεν διαταράσσουν τη μαγεία και επ' ουδενί δεν μειώνουν την απόλαυση της ανάγνωσης.
Σημειωτέο, πως όπως συμβαίνει στα περισσότερα έργα του Μπαλζάκ, απαιτείται η ενεργός συμμετοχή του αναγνώστη, ο οποίος θα πρέπει να διακρίνει την ευφυή αλληλουχία των λέξεων και το παιχνίδι των νοημάτων που κρύβεται σε… κοινή θέα.
Τελικά, το πρόβλημα παραμένει ένα και μόνο: Μετά την ανάγνωση έργων σαν κι αυτό, η σύγχρονη λογοτεχνική παραγωγή, στα μάτια μου τουλάχιστον, φαντάζει ακόμα πιο φτωχή και ασήμαντη.
April 12, 2017
Κάποιοι ενδιαφέροντες στοχασμοί για την δύναμη και την φύση της μουσικής, του πάθους και την πολιτική. Αλλα είναι ιδιαίτερα έντονος και ο λυρισμός ενω η σκιαγράφηση χωλαίνει ως επι το πλείστον. Οι λεπτομέρειες δυστυχώς κουράζουν καθώς μοιάζουν ατάκτως ερριμμένες σαν να μην έχουν δουλευτεί αρκετά ωστε να ταιριάξουν. Συνολικά ένα κάτω του μετρίου έργο που δεν θυμίζει Μπαλζάκ.
May 28, 2018
Ωδή στην όπερα του Ροσσίνι.
February 11, 2025
Η Μασιμίλα είναι γυναίκα του δούκα Κατανέο, καλογραιομεγαλωμένη, ενάρετη και γενικώς καλής ανατροφής, μέχρι που φτάνει στη Βενετία του 1820. Ο περί ου ο λόγος Κατανέο όμως, είναι ο ορισμός της συζυγικής αδιαφορίας, σε βαθμό που την προτρέπει να αποκτήσει εραστή για να μην του τα κάνει μογκολφιερικά αερόστατα, καθώς την έχει παντρευτεί μόνο και μόνο για να αποκτήσει τίτλο ευγενείας και είναι ξετρελαμένος με την Ντίντι, τραγουδίστρια της όπερας, της οποίας είναι και (αχέμ) χορηγός.
Από την άλλη, έχουμε τον Εμίλιο, νεαρό πρίγκιπα από το Βαρέζε που παθαίνει βαρύτατο μπακακάο με τη Μασιμίλα και ανάμεσά τους αναπτύσσεται ένας έρωτας που ρέπει έντονα προς το πλατωνικό.
Τα air b‘n’b της αποχής δε λειτουργούν καλά και ο Εμίλιο βρίσκεται να έχει νοικιάσει χωρίς να το γνωρίζει τη βίλα του στον Κατανέο και την Ντίντι η οποία τον βλέπει και παθαίνει τον δικό της ντουβροντζά με το νεαρό πρίγκιπα.
Παράλληλα, τρέχει ο «Μωυσής στη Αίγυπτο» (Ροσίνι) διά χειλέων Μασιμίλα(ς) που μας ταλαιπωρεί για μεγάλο μέρος του μικρού αυτού βιβλίου, ενώ η μουσική είναι πανταχού παρούσα, γεμίζει το χώρο και παρέχει πληθώρα αναφορών.
Το όλο έργο στηρίζεται στην -ομολογουμένως εκπληκτική όσο και μουσική- ατμόσφαιρα που δημιουργεί, πολύ περισσότερο από ό,τι στις αλληλεπιδράσεις μεταξύ των χαρακτήρων, κάτι που δεν είναι το δικό μου cup of tea, ας είμεθα ειλικρινείς, θα ομολογήσω ότι όσο όμορφο κι αν είναι, με κούρασε…
Σπόιλερ αλέρτ, πλοτ τούστ και διπλό τόλουπ, στο φινάλε υπάρχει και μια "γκαστριά κατακλείδας", αλλά δεδομένου ότι το βιβλίο έχει πρακτικά τελειώσει δε θα απασχολήσει τον αναγνώστη…
Από την άλλη, έχουμε τον Εμίλιο, νεαρό πρίγκιπα από το Βαρέζε που παθαίνει βαρύτατο μπακακάο με τη Μασιμίλα και ανάμεσά τους αναπτύσσεται ένας έρωτας που ρέπει έντονα προς το πλατωνικό.
Τα air b‘n’b της αποχής δε λειτουργούν καλά και ο Εμίλιο βρίσκεται να έχει νοικιάσει χωρίς να το γνωρίζει τη βίλα του στον Κατανέο και την Ντίντι η οποία τον βλέπει και παθαίνει τον δικό της ντουβροντζά με το νεαρό πρίγκιπα.
Παράλληλα, τρέχει ο «Μωυσής στη Αίγυπτο» (Ροσίνι) διά χειλέων Μασιμίλα(ς) που μας ταλαιπωρεί για μεγάλο μέρος του μικρού αυτού βιβλίου, ενώ η μουσική είναι πανταχού παρούσα, γεμίζει το χώρο και παρέχει πληθώρα αναφορών.
Το όλο έργο στηρίζεται στην -ομολογουμένως εκπληκτική όσο και μουσική- ατμόσφαιρα που δημιουργεί, πολύ περισσότερο από ό,τι στις αλληλεπιδράσεις μεταξύ των χαρακτήρων, κάτι που δεν είναι το δικό μου cup of tea, ας είμεθα ειλικρινείς, θα ομολογήσω ότι όσο όμορφο κι αν είναι, με κούρασε…
Σπόιλερ αλέρτ, πλοτ τούστ και διπλό τόλουπ, στο φινάλε υπάρχει και μια "γκαστριά κατακλείδας", αλλά δεδομένου ότι το βιβλίο έχει πρακτικά τελειώσει δε θα απασχολήσει τον αναγνώστη…
May 10, 2018
Η πρώτη μου επαφή με τον Honoré de Balzac δεν με απογοήτευσε καθόλου.
Πλατωνικός ή σεξουαλικός έρωτας; Μπορούν να συνυπάρξουν και οι δύο σε έναν άνθρωπο όταν εκδηλώνονται για διαφορετικά πρόσωπα;
Αυτά είναι τα κυρίως ερωτήματα που θέτει το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο και ο Balzac επιχειρεί να απαντήσει με έναν ιδιαίτερο τρόπο...
Παραλληλίζοντας την Αγάπη με την Μουσική και χρησιμοποιώντας μουσικές ορολογίες για να περιγράψει τις διακυμάνσεις της μελωδίας σε γνωστές Όπερες, καθώς και τον τρόπο που ο μουσικός συμμετέχει σε αυτές, καταφέρνει να περιγράψει πώς αισθάνεται ο ερωτευμένος όταν βρεθεί σε αυτήν την κατάσταση μέσα από την μουσική θεωρία.
Πιστεύω θα εκτιμηθεί λίγο παραπάνω από ανθρώπους που έχουν μουσικές γνώσεις και γνωρίζουν τις Όπερες που αναφέρονται στο έργο καθώς αναλύονται διεξοδικά σε αρκετές σελίδες. (Οι υπόλοιποι αναγνώστες ίσως βρουν τις συγκεκριμένες σελίδες κάπως ανιαρές).
Γενικά πρόκειται για ένα ευχάριστο ανάγνωσμα όπου μπορεί να σταθεί ισάξια στα υπόλοιπα βιβλία της σειράς Aldina :)
Πλατωνικός ή σεξουαλικός έρωτας; Μπορούν να συνυπάρξουν και οι δύο σε έναν άνθρωπο όταν εκδηλώνονται για διαφορετικά πρόσωπα;
Αυτά είναι τα κυρίως ερωτήματα που θέτει το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο και ο Balzac επιχειρεί να απαντήσει με έναν ιδιαίτερο τρόπο...
Παραλληλίζοντας την Αγάπη με την Μουσική και χρησιμοποιώντας μουσικές ορολογίες για να περιγράψει τις διακυμάνσεις της μελωδίας σε γνωστές Όπερες, καθώς και τον τρόπο που ο μουσικός συμμετέχει σε αυτές, καταφέρνει να περιγράψει πώς αισθάνεται ο ερωτευμένος όταν βρεθεί σε αυτήν την κατάσταση μέσα από την μουσική θεωρία.
Πιστεύω θα εκτιμηθεί λίγο παραπάνω από ανθρώπους που έχουν μουσικές γνώσεις και γνωρίζουν τις Όπερες που αναφέρονται στο έργο καθώς αναλύονται διεξοδικά σε αρκετές σελίδες. (Οι υπόλοιποι αναγνώστες ίσως βρουν τις συγκεκριμένες σελίδες κάπως ανιαρές).
Γενικά πρόκειται για ένα ευχάριστο ανάγνωσμα όπου μπορεί να σταθεί ισάξια στα υπόλοιπα βιβλία της σειράς Aldina :)
November 8, 2022
Σε σχέση με τα άλλα του έργα έχει τη μικρότερη πλοκή και μεγάλη αναφορά (συγκριτικά με το μέγεθος του) στην όπερα του Ροσίνι "Ο Μωυσής στην Αίγυπτο". Αυτό δεν σημαίνει ότι δεν είναι απολαυστικό. Παντα ο κόσμος του Μπαλζάκ με γοητεύει, αλλά μας έχει δώσει και μεγαλύτερα έργα.
September 5, 2014
Balzac has excelled himself in this story with this description of Emilio's garden:
The shelving gardens were full of the marvels where money has been turned into rocky grottoes and patterns of shells,--the very madness of craftsmanship,--terraces laid out by the fairies, arbours of sterner aspect, where the cypress on its tall trunk, the triangular pines, and the melancholy olive mingled pleasingly with orange trees, bays, and myrtles, and clear pools in which blue or russet fishes swam. Whatever may be said in favour of the natural or English garden, these trees, pruned into parasols, and yews fantastically clipped; this luxury of art so skilfully combined with that of nature in Court dress; those cascades over marble steps where the water spreads so shyly, a filmy scarf swept aside by the wind and immediately renewed; those bronzed metal figures speechlessly inhabiting the silent grove; that lordly palace, an object in the landscape from every side, raising its light outline at the foot of the Alps,--all the living thoughts which animate the stone, the bronze, and the trees, or express themselves in garden plots,--this lavish prodigality was in perfect keeping with the loves of a duchess and a handsome youth, for they are a poem far removed from the coarse ends of brutal nature.
It's an interesting story as much for the way contrasts Italian life with French: he sees it as much more relaxed and congenial, but it's risky to leave politics and business to others - because they are invariably corrupt and often ruin results. There is an attractive carelessness in the way women dress, compared to the seriousness with which French women invest it. But Italy is not free: in the tussle between Austria and France, Austria had the upper hand and Italy has been ceded to them. There is talk of independence, but it is only talk; the Italians envy France her freedom from despotism.
When it's suggested that Italy would be better off allowing France to protect her, as a man protects his mistress. the Duchess replies that France would not love Italy as she wants to be loved. She's no democrat and she's not interested in liberty, fraternity and equality. She just wants the Italian aristocracy restored to its privileges:
"We want to be free. But the liberty I crave is not your ignoble and middle-class liberalism, which would kill all art. I ask," said she, in a tone that thrilled through the box,--"that is to say, I would ask,--that each Italian republic should be resuscitated, with its nobles, its citizens, its special privileges for each caste. I would have the old aristocratic republics once more with their intestine warfare and rivalry that gave birth to the noblest works of art, that created politics, that raised up the great princely houses.
The Italians, it seems have the upper hand over the Austrians, when it comes to opera. Balzac indulges himself with some complex discussion about their respective merits, the main point being that Rossini’s opera is Mose (Moses in Egypt) which of course is all about rebelling against oppression, while the Austrians (i.e. Mozart) content themselves with writing operas about a libertine at odds with his victims (i.e. Don Giovanni). As the hymn of the delivered Israelites rings out, the Italians stand and demand an encore, a clear symbol of their resentment of the occupiers.
The love story concerns an innocent youth called Emilio, heir to a princedom but no money. He loves Massimilla, wife of the Duke Cataneo who is old and ugly and doesn't want her anyway. He expects her to take a lover, but her religious scruples preclude it, and Emilio is too honourable to succumb to his feelings as well. Alas for him, a mix-up occurs when they go to Venice, separately, and he doesn't get the message that his close friend Vendramin has leased his palazzo to the Duke so that he can entertain Clarina Tinti, the opera singer he's besotted with. (The idea is that the Duke will renovate it, something Emilio doesn't have the money to do. There's a farcical scene where Emilio having gone to bed has left his trousers lying about and when the Duke comes in and sees them he gets in a rage. Clara throws him out for being so rude and promptly seduces Emilio.
Emilio is of course wracked by guilt but he doesn't 'fess up, and what’s more, he succumbs more than once. They go to the opera again, and this time the two stars, Clara and Genovese are at odds with each other, Clara singing sublimely, and Genovese braying like a donkey.
Clearly some intervention is needed and it’s a French doctor who supplies a cure for both the courting couples that is reminiscent of the switcheroo identity plots of Mozart’s comic operas!
Quotations are from the Gutenberg edition.
The shelving gardens were full of the marvels where money has been turned into rocky grottoes and patterns of shells,--the very madness of craftsmanship,--terraces laid out by the fairies, arbours of sterner aspect, where the cypress on its tall trunk, the triangular pines, and the melancholy olive mingled pleasingly with orange trees, bays, and myrtles, and clear pools in which blue or russet fishes swam. Whatever may be said in favour of the natural or English garden, these trees, pruned into parasols, and yews fantastically clipped; this luxury of art so skilfully combined with that of nature in Court dress; those cascades over marble steps where the water spreads so shyly, a filmy scarf swept aside by the wind and immediately renewed; those bronzed metal figures speechlessly inhabiting the silent grove; that lordly palace, an object in the landscape from every side, raising its light outline at the foot of the Alps,--all the living thoughts which animate the stone, the bronze, and the trees, or express themselves in garden plots,--this lavish prodigality was in perfect keeping with the loves of a duchess and a handsome youth, for they are a poem far removed from the coarse ends of brutal nature.
It's an interesting story as much for the way contrasts Italian life with French: he sees it as much more relaxed and congenial, but it's risky to leave politics and business to others - because they are invariably corrupt and often ruin results. There is an attractive carelessness in the way women dress, compared to the seriousness with which French women invest it. But Italy is not free: in the tussle between Austria and France, Austria had the upper hand and Italy has been ceded to them. There is talk of independence, but it is only talk; the Italians envy France her freedom from despotism.
When it's suggested that Italy would be better off allowing France to protect her, as a man protects his mistress. the Duchess replies that France would not love Italy as she wants to be loved. She's no democrat and she's not interested in liberty, fraternity and equality. She just wants the Italian aristocracy restored to its privileges:
"We want to be free. But the liberty I crave is not your ignoble and middle-class liberalism, which would kill all art. I ask," said she, in a tone that thrilled through the box,--"that is to say, I would ask,--that each Italian republic should be resuscitated, with its nobles, its citizens, its special privileges for each caste. I would have the old aristocratic republics once more with their intestine warfare and rivalry that gave birth to the noblest works of art, that created politics, that raised up the great princely houses.
The Italians, it seems have the upper hand over the Austrians, when it comes to opera. Balzac indulges himself with some complex discussion about their respective merits, the main point being that Rossini’s opera is Mose (Moses in Egypt) which of course is all about rebelling against oppression, while the Austrians (i.e. Mozart) content themselves with writing operas about a libertine at odds with his victims (i.e. Don Giovanni). As the hymn of the delivered Israelites rings out, the Italians stand and demand an encore, a clear symbol of their resentment of the occupiers.
The love story concerns an innocent youth called Emilio, heir to a princedom but no money. He loves Massimilla, wife of the Duke Cataneo who is old and ugly and doesn't want her anyway. He expects her to take a lover, but her religious scruples preclude it, and Emilio is too honourable to succumb to his feelings as well. Alas for him, a mix-up occurs when they go to Venice, separately, and he doesn't get the message that his close friend Vendramin has leased his palazzo to the Duke so that he can entertain Clarina Tinti, the opera singer he's besotted with. (The idea is that the Duke will renovate it, something Emilio doesn't have the money to do. There's a farcical scene where Emilio having gone to bed has left his trousers lying about and when the Duke comes in and sees them he gets in a rage. Clara throws him out for being so rude and promptly seduces Emilio.
Emilio is of course wracked by guilt but he doesn't 'fess up, and what’s more, he succumbs more than once. They go to the opera again, and this time the two stars, Clara and Genovese are at odds with each other, Clara singing sublimely, and Genovese braying like a donkey.
Clearly some intervention is needed and it’s a French doctor who supplies a cure for both the courting couples that is reminiscent of the switcheroo identity plots of Mozart’s comic operas!
Quotations are from the Gutenberg edition.
March 6, 2019
Publicado em 1839 faz parte dos Estudos Filosóficos dentro da Comédia Humana.
Temos uma trama amorosa que se passa em Veneza que é apenas pretexto para o autor discorrer sobre música, fazendo na maior parte do tempo uma apaixonada defesa da ópera italiana através da obra Moisés de Rossini, encenada na novela e analisada por uma das personagens que a assiste. O romance praticamente se perde em meio às digressões sobre o tema música.
Histórico de leitura
12/02/2019
"Como sabem os conhecedores, a nobreza veneziana é a primeira da Europa."
Temos uma trama amorosa que se passa em Veneza que é apenas pretexto para o autor discorrer sobre música, fazendo na maior parte do tempo uma apaixonada defesa da ópera italiana através da obra Moisés de Rossini, encenada na novela e analisada por uma das personagens que a assiste. O romance praticamente se perde em meio às digressões sobre o tema música.
Histórico de leitura
12/02/2019
"Como sabem os conhecedores, a nobreza veneziana é a primeira da Europa."
January 28, 2022
NASSIMILLA DONI-HONORÉ DE BALZAC
✒"– Prince, pauvre, jeune et beau, mais c’est un conte de fée !… dit-elle."
✒"Aux yeux d’Emilio, il y avait comme une joute entre l’amour saint de cette âme blanche, et l’amour de la nerveuse et colère Sicilienne."
✒"Ainsi va la vie italienne : le matin l’amour, le soir la musique, la nuit le sommeil."
💃Jedna kratka priča iz Balzakove Ljudske komedije iz ciklusa o filozofskom životu.
💃Međutim,ovde osim filozofije ima i ljubavi i svakakvih zavrzlama.
💃Ljubav duhovna ili ljubav telesna i mogu li se ta dva osećanja spojiti u ljubav prema jednoj osobi
💃Razlike između francuskog i italijanskog duha,kroz viđenje muzike
💃Razlika između slikarstva koje predstavlja fizički objekat i muzike koja je potpuno eterična.
💃Jedna prava čitalačka poslastica.
#7sensesofabook #knjige #classicliterature #literature #readingaddict #bookstagram #balzac
✒"– Prince, pauvre, jeune et beau, mais c’est un conte de fée !… dit-elle."
✒"Aux yeux d’Emilio, il y avait comme une joute entre l’amour saint de cette âme blanche, et l’amour de la nerveuse et colère Sicilienne."
✒"Ainsi va la vie italienne : le matin l’amour, le soir la musique, la nuit le sommeil."
💃Jedna kratka priča iz Balzakove Ljudske komedije iz ciklusa o filozofskom životu.
💃Međutim,ovde osim filozofije ima i ljubavi i svakakvih zavrzlama.
💃Ljubav duhovna ili ljubav telesna i mogu li se ta dva osećanja spojiti u ljubav prema jednoj osobi
💃Razlike između francuskog i italijanskog duha,kroz viđenje muzike
💃Razlika između slikarstva koje predstavlja fizički objekat i muzike koja je potpuno eterična.
💃Jedna prava čitalačka poslastica.
#7sensesofabook #knjige #classicliterature #literature #readingaddict #bookstagram #balzac
February 3, 2022
Before reading Balzac's "Massimilla Doni"(MD), I decided to re-read his short story "Facino Cane" because Emilio who is one of the main characters in MD. Facino Cane the last of his line, next heir is Emilio. Massimilla is introduced in the very end of "Gambara", and it is clear that " Gambara" happens after MD. The year is 1820, Massimilla has married a Duke, after living all her life in a convent, her mother helps with her match. Balzac brings music into this story, as he did in "Gambara", he had help from a musical friend which he dedicates to him. The Opera and the importance to Italian life as well as how the French and English differ. Balzac brings up how an Empire of great men is a shadow of its former self and how Princes and other nobility are very likely to live in poverty. Emilio has the new title and an empty castle with very little money, making it impossible. How nations die, is a very interesting and sad reality, I especially can see it happening and the sad reality in current times. This is a romance of that is of the mind, but is that enough for a young man?
Story in short- Massimilla marries an older man who only wants her in name only, he encourages her to find a lover but that doesn't necessarily mean a love affair. Bring in some more characters and see what happens.
I didn't read this edition bit from a collection of his works which included the synopsis below.
"This 1839 short story concerns the character Emilio Cane, who is the last in a line of nobility of Venice. Though poor, he will succeed to a property, but for the time being he must survive on a small income from a country house. Emilio is in love with Massimilla Doni, a beautiful young woman who is an heiress of the Doni of Florence and married to the rich, old Duke Cataneo."
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert ❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
La Tinti and Genovese sing in Albert Savarus.
"When this was over, the Princess had to take part in the famous quartette, Mi manca la voce, which was sung by her with Tinti, with the famous tenor Genovese, and with a well-known Italian Prince then in exile, whose voice. It he had not been a Prince. would have made him one of the princes of Art." Albert Savarus
After reading "Gambara", I was curious about Massimilla and who she was because she and her husband offer to help the musician. Emilio is her husband, so the Duke has died, and after making love that night of the party in MD, so he no longer thinks of La Tinti. The below is from the end of " Gambara".
"It was nine o’clock in the evening. A handsome Italian, the Principessa Massimilla De Varese, took pity on the poor creatures; she gave them forty francs and questioned them, discerning from the woman’s thanks that she was a Venetian. Prince Emilio would know the history of their woes, and Marianna told it, making no complaints of God or men. “Madame,” said Gambara, as she ended, for he was sober, “we are victims of our own superiority. My music is good. But as soon as music transcends feeling and becomes an idea, only persons of genius should be the hearers, for they alone are capable of responding to it! It is my misfortune that I have heard the chorus of angels, and believed that men could understand the strains. The same thing happens to women when their love assumes a divine aspect: men cannot understand them.” This speech was well worth the forty francs bestowed by Massimilla; she took out a second gold piece, and told Marianna she would write to Andrea Marcosini. “Do not write to him, madame!” exclaimed Marianna. “And God grant you to always be beautiful!” “Let us provide for them,” said the Princess to her husband; “for this man has remained faithful to the Ideal which we have killed.”
Facino Cane has died and his relative Emilio Memmi is given the title, Prince de Varese. This title give him only a small amount to live on and a castle that has no furniture or warmth of luxury, just stone and art within that cannot be sold. His mistress though they have not made love yet, due too his seeing her so grand and having nothing to offer her, is Massimilla Doni, her husband had married her just to be married and told her to find a lover. She had finally found Emilio at the opera, they fell in love at first sight. She is 20 and has bought her homes in hope to have her love affair but her lover is timid. He is extremely poor and his only meal is when he dines with his lover. He is told of his new postion and is not too happy because he has no wealth but he is amazed when coming to the castle in Venice, he sees the castle luxurious, thinking his mistress has fixed it for him. He has heard about a young opera singer, Tinti and a tenor, Genovese coming to Venice but is not concerned about it. He goes to sleep and is awakened by a young girl and old man, the man finds Emilio in her bed and tells her that he never wants to see her again. Tinti is surprised and denies, it is apparent that this old man fixed up the castle for his opera singer, who he had found working as a waitress when she was very young. Tinti is 16 and is kept not for sexual purposes but for the Duke's pleasure in hearing her beautiful voice and especially when it is combined with a tenor, Genovese, it brings him happiness. When Tinti sees Emilio, his beauty and being a prince, she falls in love with him. She tells the Duke to leave or she will never see him again, so the Duke leaves. Meanwhile Emilio is thinking of his lover and his need to escape, because though this young girl is beautiful, he think of his divine Massimilla, but when he sees Tinti crying, looking so heavenly, he only sees her and they make love, but when he wakes up, he curses Tinti and leaves. Tinti had told Emilio that she knows his lover is Massimilla, and that Massimilla's husband is her benefactor, the Duke, who fixed up the rooms. Emilio's friend Vendramini had rented out the castle for his friend, so he can have more money and had written to Emilio but the letter was not fully read, having thrown it away. Emilio sees Tinti again and feels guilty, he feels that Massimilla gives him spiritual love and earthly love he has from the opera singer. He feels so upset that he doesn't know how much longer he can live like this. Massimilla knows the Duke and his opera mistress are at Emilio's castle, she decides that if Emilio can stand to see the Duke, she can too, not knowing about Emilio's affair with Tinti. The opera goes well until Genovese who is in love with Tinti tries to speak love to her with his music bit that doesn't go well, his voice is terrible and the crowd is upset until Tinti sings, it is rumored she is in love. Massimilla is very knowledgeable about the opera and explains it to the French doctor that is there to exam her husband's health. The doctor sees that something is wrong with Massimilla and Emilio, she worries she is losing him and Emilio feels so beneath his lover. The Duke invites Emilio and the others for dinner, Tinti is there and Emilio drinks forgetting all except Tinti. The doctor knows about the troubles of Emilio and Genovese, so he tells Massimilla, her lover is in danger and she needs to be the courtesan as Tintio can be, she makes love to Emilio and he wakes to a beautiful dream and reality. The doctor tells Tinti she must help Genovese, she makes love to him, and he has real love for he needs not seek love in his singing, which he is back to his normal radiant self. Massimilla has a baby with Emilo, her husband dies as well as Vendramini, which his friends grieve.
"With a few rare exceptions this brilliant nobility has fallen into utter ruin. Among the gondoliers who serve the English — to whom history here reads the lesson of their future fate — there are descendants of long dead Doges whose names are older than those of sovereigns. On some bridge, as you glide past it, if you are ever in Venice, you may admire some lovely girl in rags, a poor child belonging, perhaps, to one of the most famous patrician families."
"The last Cane of the elder branch vanished from Venice thirty years before the fall of the Republic, condemned for various crimes more or less criminal."
"In the twentieth year of the present century they were represented only by a young man whose name was Emilio, and an old palace which is regarded as one of the chief ornaments of the Grand Canal. This son of Venice the Fair had for his whole fortune this useless Palazzo, and fifteen hundred francs a year derived from a country house on the Brenta,"
"At eleven in the forenoon, after a walk, and by the side of a table still strewn with the remains of an elegant breakfast, the Duchess, lounging in an easy-chair, left her lover the master of these muslin draperies, without a frown each time he moved. Emilio, seated at her side, held one of her hands between his, gazing at her with utter absorption. Ask not whether they loved; they loved only too well."
"By what obscure phenomenon did his soul so overmaster his body that he was no longer conscious of his independent self, but was wholly one with this woman at the least word she spoke in that voice which disturbed the very sources of life in him?"
"Massimilla, the heiress of the Doni, of Florence, had married the Sicilian Duke Cataneo. Her mother, since dead, had hoped, by promoting this marriage, to leave her rich and happy, according to Florentine custom. She had concluded that her daughter, emerging from a convent to embark in life, would achieve, under the laws of love, that second union of heart with heart which, to an Italian woman, is all in all. But Massimilla Doni had acquired in her convent a real taste for a religious life, and, when she had pledged her troth to Duke Cataneo, she was Christianly content to be his wife. This was an untenable position. Cataneo, who only looked for a duchess, thought himself ridiculous as a husband; and, when Massimilla complained of this indifference, he calmly bid her look about her for a cavaliere servente, even offering his services to introduce to her some youths from whom to choose. The Duchess wept; the Duke made his bow."
"Then she lost her mother, inherited her property, assumed mourning, and made her way to Venice. There she saw Emilio, who, as he went past her opera box, exchanged with her a flash of inquiry. This was all. The Venetian was thunderstruck, while a voice in the Duchess’ ear called out: “This is he!” Anywhere else two persons more prudent and less guileless would have studied and examined each other; but these two ignorances mingled like two masses of homogeneous matter, which, when they meet, form but one. Massimilla was at once and thenceforth Venetian."
Story in short- Massimilla marries an older man who only wants her in name only, he encourages her to find a lover but that doesn't necessarily mean a love affair. Bring in some more characters and see what happens.
I didn't read this edition bit from a collection of his works which included the synopsis below.
"This 1839 short story concerns the character Emilio Cane, who is the last in a line of nobility of Venice. Though poor, he will succeed to a property, but for the time being he must survive on a small income from a country house. Emilio is in love with Massimilla Doni, a beautiful young woman who is an heiress of the Doni of Florence and married to the rich, old Duke Cataneo."
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert ❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
La Tinti and Genovese sing in Albert Savarus.
"When this was over, the Princess had to take part in the famous quartette, Mi manca la voce, which was sung by her with Tinti, with the famous tenor Genovese, and with a well-known Italian Prince then in exile, whose voice. It he had not been a Prince. would have made him one of the princes of Art." Albert Savarus
After reading "Gambara", I was curious about Massimilla and who she was because she and her husband offer to help the musician. Emilio is her husband, so the Duke has died, and after making love that night of the party in MD, so he no longer thinks of La Tinti. The below is from the end of " Gambara".
"It was nine o’clock in the evening. A handsome Italian, the Principessa Massimilla De Varese, took pity on the poor creatures; she gave them forty francs and questioned them, discerning from the woman’s thanks that she was a Venetian. Prince Emilio would know the history of their woes, and Marianna told it, making no complaints of God or men. “Madame,” said Gambara, as she ended, for he was sober, “we are victims of our own superiority. My music is good. But as soon as music transcends feeling and becomes an idea, only persons of genius should be the hearers, for they alone are capable of responding to it! It is my misfortune that I have heard the chorus of angels, and believed that men could understand the strains. The same thing happens to women when their love assumes a divine aspect: men cannot understand them.” This speech was well worth the forty francs bestowed by Massimilla; she took out a second gold piece, and told Marianna she would write to Andrea Marcosini. “Do not write to him, madame!” exclaimed Marianna. “And God grant you to always be beautiful!” “Let us provide for them,” said the Princess to her husband; “for this man has remained faithful to the Ideal which we have killed.”
Facino Cane has died and his relative Emilio Memmi is given the title, Prince de Varese. This title give him only a small amount to live on and a castle that has no furniture or warmth of luxury, just stone and art within that cannot be sold. His mistress though they have not made love yet, due too his seeing her so grand and having nothing to offer her, is Massimilla Doni, her husband had married her just to be married and told her to find a lover. She had finally found Emilio at the opera, they fell in love at first sight. She is 20 and has bought her homes in hope to have her love affair but her lover is timid. He is extremely poor and his only meal is when he dines with his lover. He is told of his new postion and is not too happy because he has no wealth but he is amazed when coming to the castle in Venice, he sees the castle luxurious, thinking his mistress has fixed it for him. He has heard about a young opera singer, Tinti and a tenor, Genovese coming to Venice but is not concerned about it. He goes to sleep and is awakened by a young girl and old man, the man finds Emilio in her bed and tells her that he never wants to see her again. Tinti is surprised and denies, it is apparent that this old man fixed up the castle for his opera singer, who he had found working as a waitress when she was very young. Tinti is 16 and is kept not for sexual purposes but for the Duke's pleasure in hearing her beautiful voice and especially when it is combined with a tenor, Genovese, it brings him happiness. When Tinti sees Emilio, his beauty and being a prince, she falls in love with him. She tells the Duke to leave or she will never see him again, so the Duke leaves. Meanwhile Emilio is thinking of his lover and his need to escape, because though this young girl is beautiful, he think of his divine Massimilla, but when he sees Tinti crying, looking so heavenly, he only sees her and they make love, but when he wakes up, he curses Tinti and leaves. Tinti had told Emilio that she knows his lover is Massimilla, and that Massimilla's husband is her benefactor, the Duke, who fixed up the rooms. Emilio's friend Vendramini had rented out the castle for his friend, so he can have more money and had written to Emilio but the letter was not fully read, having thrown it away. Emilio sees Tinti again and feels guilty, he feels that Massimilla gives him spiritual love and earthly love he has from the opera singer. He feels so upset that he doesn't know how much longer he can live like this. Massimilla knows the Duke and his opera mistress are at Emilio's castle, she decides that if Emilio can stand to see the Duke, she can too, not knowing about Emilio's affair with Tinti. The opera goes well until Genovese who is in love with Tinti tries to speak love to her with his music bit that doesn't go well, his voice is terrible and the crowd is upset until Tinti sings, it is rumored she is in love. Massimilla is very knowledgeable about the opera and explains it to the French doctor that is there to exam her husband's health. The doctor sees that something is wrong with Massimilla and Emilio, she worries she is losing him and Emilio feels so beneath his lover. The Duke invites Emilio and the others for dinner, Tinti is there and Emilio drinks forgetting all except Tinti. The doctor knows about the troubles of Emilio and Genovese, so he tells Massimilla, her lover is in danger and she needs to be the courtesan as Tintio can be, she makes love to Emilio and he wakes to a beautiful dream and reality. The doctor tells Tinti she must help Genovese, she makes love to him, and he has real love for he needs not seek love in his singing, which he is back to his normal radiant self. Massimilla has a baby with Emilo, her husband dies as well as Vendramini, which his friends grieve.
"With a few rare exceptions this brilliant nobility has fallen into utter ruin. Among the gondoliers who serve the English — to whom history here reads the lesson of their future fate — there are descendants of long dead Doges whose names are older than those of sovereigns. On some bridge, as you glide past it, if you are ever in Venice, you may admire some lovely girl in rags, a poor child belonging, perhaps, to one of the most famous patrician families."
"The last Cane of the elder branch vanished from Venice thirty years before the fall of the Republic, condemned for various crimes more or less criminal."
"In the twentieth year of the present century they were represented only by a young man whose name was Emilio, and an old palace which is regarded as one of the chief ornaments of the Grand Canal. This son of Venice the Fair had for his whole fortune this useless Palazzo, and fifteen hundred francs a year derived from a country house on the Brenta,"
"At eleven in the forenoon, after a walk, and by the side of a table still strewn with the remains of an elegant breakfast, the Duchess, lounging in an easy-chair, left her lover the master of these muslin draperies, without a frown each time he moved. Emilio, seated at her side, held one of her hands between his, gazing at her with utter absorption. Ask not whether they loved; they loved only too well."
"By what obscure phenomenon did his soul so overmaster his body that he was no longer conscious of his independent self, but was wholly one with this woman at the least word she spoke in that voice which disturbed the very sources of life in him?"
"Massimilla, the heiress of the Doni, of Florence, had married the Sicilian Duke Cataneo. Her mother, since dead, had hoped, by promoting this marriage, to leave her rich and happy, according to Florentine custom. She had concluded that her daughter, emerging from a convent to embark in life, would achieve, under the laws of love, that second union of heart with heart which, to an Italian woman, is all in all. But Massimilla Doni had acquired in her convent a real taste for a religious life, and, when she had pledged her troth to Duke Cataneo, she was Christianly content to be his wife. This was an untenable position. Cataneo, who only looked for a duchess, thought himself ridiculous as a husband; and, when Massimilla complained of this indifference, he calmly bid her look about her for a cavaliere servente, even offering his services to introduce to her some youths from whom to choose. The Duchess wept; the Duke made his bow."
"Then she lost her mother, inherited her property, assumed mourning, and made her way to Venice. There she saw Emilio, who, as he went past her opera box, exchanged with her a flash of inquiry. This was all. The Venetian was thunderstruck, while a voice in the Duchess’ ear called out: “This is he!” Anywhere else two persons more prudent and less guileless would have studied and examined each other; but these two ignorances mingled like two masses of homogeneous matter, which, when they meet, form but one. Massimilla was at once and thenceforth Venetian."
August 25, 2012
This story belongs to the series "Etudes Philosophiques".
October 19, 2024
Μασιμίλα Ντόνι. Ονορέ Ντε Μπαλζάκ.
📖📖📖📖
...κι ενώ οι εκδόσεις Gutenberg δεν με έχουν απογοητ��ύσει “ποτέ” ήρθε η ώρα το απόλυτο να αντικατασταθεί από το “σχεδόν ποτέ”. Όχι πως αλλάζει κάτι για την εκτίμησή μου, όμως συνέβη και το καταγράφω. Φαίνεται όμως πως οι εκδόσεις και ο δημιουργός αυτή τη φορά εναγκαλίστηκαν με αυτό το “σχεδόν ποτέ” καθώς είναι η πρώτη φορά που με απογοητεύει και ο Μπαλζάκ. Και πριν αρχίσω να φωνάζω τα στοιχεία της φύσης και τους ανέμους, σαν άλλος Gary Oldman στον Dracula για να ξεσπάσω την ταραχή της λογοτεχνικής μου συνείδησης, θα παραθέσω τους λόγους της προσωρινής μου απογοήτευσης επικαλούμενη την επιείκεια όλων, όσοι θα τύχει να διαβάσετε τα παρακάτω λόγια.
📖📖📖📖
Ξεκινώντας λοιπόν θέτω υπό συζήτηση το μικρό ατόπημα το εκδόσεων το οποίο αφορά την εισαγωγή, που ήταν μια πραγματική έκπληξη γιατί αν κάτι αγαπώ στις εν λόγω εκδόσεις είναι, πέρα από τις επιλογές τους, οι καταπληκτικές εισαγωγές που πολλές εξ αυτών αποτελούν από μόνες τους λογοτεχνική μελέτη. Η εισαγωγή στην Μασιμίλα Ντόνι, διαθέτει μεν τον λυρισμό ενός λογοτεχνικού κειμένου( το οποίο υποθέτω πολύ θα ευαρεστηθούν) που δίνει την εντύπωση πως δεν αναλύει, δεν επεξηγεί αλλά επιτείνει την εκφραστικότητα του ίδιου του Μπαλζακικού ύφους και συναντιέται με μια διαλεκτική ποιητικότητα μαζί του, αναπαράγοντας και όχι πλαισιώνοντας την ιδιαιτερότητά του, λες και βρίσκεται σε υποσυνείδητη κόντρα με τον λογοτέχνη.
📖📖📖📖
Κατά τη γνώμη μου η εισαγωγή έχασε τη λειτουργικότητά της, εκείνη την επιστημονική σεμνότητα που διακρίνω σε άλλες και επιδόθηκε στην αυτάρεσκη πρόσκληση των προβολέων πάνω στον δημιουργό της, σε μια προσπάθεια να λειτουργήσει κι ο ίδιος ως λογοτέχνης και όχι ως σχολιαστής. Στις 163 περίπου σελίδες καθαρού μπαλζακικού κειμένου, οι 24 είναι εισαγωγή.
📖📖📖📖
Περνάω τώρα στο ίδιο το κείμενο. Ο Μπαλζάκ, ο συγγραφέας που ύμνησε τον έρωτα και τα ανθρώπινα πάθη περισσότερο ίσως από οποιονδήποτε άλλον, δίνει σ’ αυτή την ιδιότυπη δημιουργία του μια κατεξοχήν υπαινικτική ώση. Υπαινικτικός μοιάζει να είναι ακόμα κι ο σκοπός της συγγραφής της Μασιμίλα Ντόνι. Μιλάει, όπως πάντα, για τον έρωτα, μόνο που πέφτει στο ατόπημα της φλυαρίας γύρω από το αγαπημένο του θέμα.
Εντάσσει στην πλοκή του πλήθος άλλες θεματικές που επισημαίνει ακροθιγώς από το κέντρο της αφήγησής του (έρωτας) προς τις παρυφές της κοινωνικής ζωής (πολιτική, τέχνη, κοινωνικές τάξεις και κατατάξεις). Η περιγραφή του ερωτικού πόθου διολισθαίνει σε μια λαβυρινθώδη υπερβολή, όπου η παράφορη δραματοποίηση των λεπτομερειών διαμορφώνουν έναν φαύλο κύκλο που υπερτονίζει τη φιλοσοφική τάση των ηρώων του, μετατοπίζοντας το ατελέσφορο σαρκική τους ενδιαφέρον στη μεταφυσική σφαίρα. Την ίδια στιγμή προσδίδει στη μετάνοια μια θρησκευτική βαρύτητα ασύμφορη με το υπόλοιπο αφηγηματικό περιβάλλον και τελικά την ηθικοποιεί για να την αιτιολογήσει και καταλήγει σε δικαιολογίες δημαγωγικού χειρισμού. Όλο το κείμενο μοιάζει με άσκηση των εκφραστικών του μέσων, προβάλλοντας το ταλέντο της ευγλωτίας του δημιουργού του ασυμμέτρως εξόφθαλμα, ακόμα και για τον πληθωρικό Μπαλζάκ, ένα εγχείρημα όπου ο συγγραφέας " είχε έναν καημό και βγήκε και τον είπε" ή μάλλον τον έγραψε με την ομολογουμένως μοναδική γνωσσική του υπεροχή.
Ωστόσο, για να μη γίνω αφοριστική, θα διευκρίνιζα πως ίσως να μην είναι η καλύτερη δημιουργία του, όμως η αναγνωστική απόλαυση που αντλεί κανείς από τους εξαιρετικούς γλωσσικούς χειρισμούς τους Μπαλζάκ είναι πάντα παρούσα και δεδομένη, ακόμα και εκ προοιμίου.
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...κι ενώ οι εκδόσεις Gutenberg δεν με έχουν απογοητ��ύσει “ποτέ” ήρθε η ώρα το απόλυτο να αντικατασταθεί από το “σχεδόν ποτέ”. Όχι πως αλλάζει κάτι για την εκτίμησή μου, όμως συνέβη και το καταγράφω. Φαίνεται όμως πως οι εκδόσεις και ο δημιουργός αυτή τη φορά εναγκαλίστηκαν με αυτό το “σχεδόν ποτέ” καθώς είναι η πρώτη φορά που με απογοητεύει και ο Μπαλζάκ. Και πριν αρχίσω να φωνάζω τα στοιχεία της φύσης και τους ανέμους, σαν άλλος Gary Oldman στον Dracula για να ξεσπάσω την ταραχή της λογοτεχνικής μου συνείδησης, θα παραθέσω τους λόγους της προσωρινής μου απογοήτευσης επικαλούμενη την επιείκεια όλων, όσοι θα τύχει να διαβάσετε τα παρακάτω λόγια.
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Ξεκινώντας λοιπόν θέτω υπό συζήτηση το μικρό ατόπημα το εκδόσεων το οποίο αφορά την εισαγωγή, που ήταν μια πραγματική έκπληξη γιατί αν κάτι αγαπώ στις εν λόγω εκδόσεις είναι, πέρα από τις επιλογές τους, οι καταπληκτικές εισαγωγές που πολλές εξ αυτών αποτελούν από μόνες τους λογοτεχνική μελέτη. Η εισαγωγή στην Μασιμίλα Ντόνι, διαθέτει μεν τον λυρισμό ενός λογοτεχνικού κειμένου( το οποίο υποθέτω πολύ θα ευαρεστηθούν) που δίνει την εντύπωση πως δεν αναλύει, δεν επεξηγεί αλλά επιτείνει την εκφραστικότητα του ίδιου του Μπαλζακικού ύφους και συναντιέται με μια διαλεκτική ποιητικότητα μαζί του, αναπαράγοντας και όχι πλαισιώνοντας την ιδιαιτερότητά του, λες και βρίσκεται σε υποσυνείδητη κόντρα με τον λογοτέχνη.
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Κατά τη γνώμη μου η εισαγωγή έχασε τη λειτουργικότητά της, εκείνη την επιστημονική σεμνότητα που διακρίνω σε άλλες και επιδόθηκε στην αυτάρεσκη πρόσκληση των προβολέων πάνω στον δημιουργό της, σε μια προσπάθεια να λειτουργήσει κι ο ίδιος ως λογοτέχνης και όχι ως σχολιαστής. Στις 163 περίπου σελίδες καθαρού μπαλζακικού κειμένου, οι 24 είναι εισαγωγή.
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Περνάω τώρα στο ίδιο το κείμενο. Ο Μπαλζάκ, ο συγγραφέας που ύμνησε τον έρωτα και τα ανθρώπινα πάθη περισσότερο ίσως από οποιονδήποτε άλλον, δίνει σ’ αυτή την ιδιότυπη δημιουργία του μια κατεξοχήν υπαινικτική ώση. Υπαινικτικός μοιάζει να είναι ακόμα κι ο σκοπός της συγγραφής της Μασιμίλα Ντόνι. Μιλάει, όπως πάντα, για τον έρωτα, μόνο που πέφτει στο ατόπημα της φλυαρίας γύρω από το αγαπημένο του θέμα.
Εντάσσει στην πλοκή του πλήθος άλλες θεματικές που επισημαίνει ακροθιγώς από το κέντρο της αφήγησής του (έρωτας) προς τις παρυφές της κοινωνικής ζωής (πολιτική, τέχνη, κοινωνικές τάξεις και κατατάξεις). Η περιγραφή του ερωτικού πόθου διολισθαίνει σε μια λαβυρινθώδη υπερβολή, όπου η παράφορη δραματοποίηση των λεπτομερειών διαμορφώνουν έναν φαύλο κύκλο που υπερτονίζει τη φιλοσοφική τάση των ηρώων του, μετατοπίζοντας το ατελέσφορο σαρκική τους ενδιαφέρον στη μεταφυσική σφαίρα. Την ίδια στιγμή προσδίδει στη μετάνοια μια θρησκευτική βαρύτητα ασύμφορη με το υπόλοιπο αφηγηματικό περιβάλλον και τελικά την ηθικοποιεί για να την αιτιολογήσει και καταλήγει σε δικαιολογίες δημαγωγικού χειρισμού. Όλο το κείμενο μοιάζει με άσκηση των εκφραστικών του μέσων, προβάλλοντας το ταλέντο της ευγλωτίας του δημιουργού του ασυμμέτρως εξόφθαλμα, ακόμα και για τον πληθωρικό Μπαλζάκ, ένα εγχείρημα όπου ο συγγραφέας " είχε έναν καημό και βγήκε και τον είπε" ή μάλλον τον έγραψε με την ομολογουμένως μοναδική γνωσσική του υπεροχή.
Ωστόσο, για να μη γίνω αφοριστική, θα διευκρίνιζα πως ίσως να μην είναι η καλύτερη δημιουργία του, όμως η αναγνωστική απόλαυση που αντλεί κανείς από τους εξαιρετικούς γλωσσικούς χειρισμούς τους Μπαλζάκ είναι πάντα παρούσα και δεδομένη, ακόμα και εκ προοιμίου.
April 19, 2021
*Massimilla Doni* is the only one of Balzac's novellas I know of that deals with Italy's pre-unification politics directly. It also seems to be less Legitimist-leaning than others. In some ways it is a bit of a slog; most of the action is a group of aristocrats watching a novel in late 1830s Venice. But the atmosphere of Habsburg Venice is apparent and it is one of Balzac's novels where the "feel" of Europe in the era is manifest quite obviously.
May 22, 2020
Balzac’s prose spills over with appetite for life, full of juice and power. This story is about the subtleties in musical compositions and artists performances, garnered with lust, infidelity and parties.
July 25, 2018
3,5/5
August 5, 2018
I missed the point all together. It is written in a style that does not suit me... long long looooooong descriptions and monologues about italian everything that I don't have the patience for. Sorry.
September 24, 2020
I found this a bit silly really, the music scenes don't make sense and go on far too long. I don't find Balzac at all convincing about music, singers etc.
July 29, 2021
Πήρα αυτό το βιβλίο γιατί αγαπάω την όπερα αλλά δυστυχώς, το μόνο που μπορώ να πω για αυτό είναι ότι με εξαίρεση την περιγραφή της όπερας του Ροσίνι το βρήκα τελείως αδιάφορο.
August 16, 2023
Une ode à l'art musical
April 4, 2025
Tengo que decir que me aburrí mucho. Demasiadas referencias y la extensa explicación de la opera no ayudó demasiado. La historia queda un poco de lado.
March 29, 2013
Although there's a kind of predictable love story, the most interesting thing about this novel is that almost all the action takes place at La Fenice opera house during a performance of Rossini's opera Mose'in Egitto. A Florentine duchess explains the greatness of Rossini and Venice to a Frenchman by means of describing Rossini's and the singers' performances. Short book, fascinating look by a French author at Venice in the mid 19th c., after Napoleon's takeover of Venice.
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September 7, 2018Δύσκολος Μπαλζάκ, αλλά ωραίος Μπαλζάκ!
Πώς συμφιλιωνεται ο σαρκικος με τον πνευματικό έρωτα;
Είναι ένα πολύ όμορφο και μικρό βιβλίο των -περίπου- 200 σελίδων. Σκέφτεσαι ότι θα το τελειώσεις σε σύντομο χρονικό διάστημα, όμως εγώ θα πω ότι το διάβασα πολύ αργά. Λίγες-λίγες σελίδες κάθε μέρα γιατί ήθελα να καταλάβω καλύτερα αυτά που διάβαζα. Η αλήθεια είναι πως με δυσκόλεψε αρκετά, με κούρασε στα σημεία όπου μιλά για την Όπερα και τη μουσική (στο 1/3 του βιβλίου δηλαδή) ΑΛΛΑ εντυπωσιάστηκα με τον τρόπο γραφής του. Ένιωσα πως ο συγγραφέας έχει βάλει πολύ ρομαντισμό στις λέξεις και τις εκφράσεις. Δεν ξέρω πώς αλλιώς να το πω, αλλά είναι ένα βιβλίο γεμάτο πάθος. Πάθος για την Ιταλία, για τη μουσική και την όπερα, για τον έρωτα και τη ζωή.
Είναι από αυτά τα βιβλία που είσαι συνεχώς με το μολύβι και υπογραμμίζεις τις όμορφες σειρές του, που εντυπωσιάζεσαι από τις παρομοιώσεις και περιγραφές του συγγραφέα και που θα σε κάνει να συγκρίνεις τον πλατωνικό με το σαρκικό έρωτα. Είναι το πρώτο βιβλίο που διαβάζω από Μπαλζάκ, μου φάνηκε δύσκολο, αλλά, εάν είστε πιο εξοικειωμένοι με το συγκεκριμένο είδος και το συγκεκριμένο συγγραφέα απ' ότι εγώ, τότε σίγουρα θα το απολαύσετε.
Πώς συμφιλιωνεται ο σαρκικος με τον πνευματικό έρωτα;
Είναι ένα πολύ όμορφο και μικρό βιβλίο των -περίπου- 200 σελίδων. Σκέφτεσαι ότι θα το τελειώσεις σε σύντομο χρονικό διάστημα, όμως εγώ θα πω ότι το διάβασα πολύ αργά. Λίγες-λίγες σελίδες κάθε μέρα γιατί ήθελα να καταλάβω καλύτερα αυτά που διάβαζα. Η αλήθεια είναι πως με δυσκόλεψε αρκετά, με κούρασε στα σημεία όπου μιλά για την Όπερα και τη μουσική (στο 1/3 του βιβλίου δηλαδή) ΑΛΛΑ εντυπωσιάστηκα με τον τρόπο γραφής του. Ένιωσα πως ο συγγραφέας έχει βάλει πολύ ρομαντισμό στις λέξεις και τις εκφράσεις. Δεν ξέρω πώς αλλιώς να το πω, αλλά είναι ένα βιβλίο γεμάτο πάθος. Πάθος για την Ιταλία, για τη μουσική και την όπερα, για τον έρωτα και τη ζωή.
Είναι από αυτά τα βιβλία που είσαι συνεχώς με το μολύβι και υπογραμμίζεις τις όμορφες σειρές του, που εντυπωσιάζεσαι από τις παρομοιώσεις και περιγραφές του συγγραφέα και που θα σε κάνει να συγκρίνεις τον πλατωνικό με το σαρκικό έρωτα. Είναι το πρώτο βιβλίο που διαβάζω από Μπαλζάκ, μου φάνηκε δύσκολο, αλλά, εάν είστε πιο εξοικειωμένοι με το συγκεκριμένο είδος και το συγκεκριμένο συγγραφέα απ' ότι εγώ, τότε σίγουρα θα το απολαύσετε.
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