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La Comédie Humaine - Tome 1/12
Ce volume contient
Avant-propos de La Comédie humaine . Études de mœurs, scènes de la vie privée : La Maison du Chat-qui-pelote - Le Bal de Sceaux - Mémoires de deux jeunes mariées - La Bourse - Modeste Mignon - Un Début dans la vie - Albert Savarus - La Vendetta.
Avant-propos de La Comédie humaine . Études de mœurs, scènes de la vie privée : La Maison du Chat-qui-pelote - Le Bal de Sceaux - Mémoires de deux jeunes mariées - La Bourse - Modeste Mignon - Un Début dans la vie - Albert Savarus - La Vendetta.
1712 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1844
12 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
Honoré de Balzac
9,568 books4,387 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 of 1 review
June 14, 2025
La Comedie Humaine – Tome 1 by Honore de Balzac – Pere Goriot is on the list of 100 Greatest Books of All Time – my note on it is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
10 out of 10
Balzac is the name that I utter, scream, cajole with, chant, howl many times a day, at least fifty, for this is what I call on of my two babies aka macaws – the other is Puccini, but the latter gets less attention, for he is more independent, less naughty, takes his branches and chews, or acts like a…dog, on the floor, exploring
Otherwise, Honore de Balzac is evidently one of the greatest writers of all time – a sardonic thought makes me put down here that he may have been one of the largest as well, physically, although he was spartan when writing, which was for long hours every night, and day, he indulged in huge prandial activities
The incredible author https://realini.blogspot.com/2019/04/... took the noble name, but he was not of aristocratic origin, indeed, it was his father who had added the particle de, then young Balzac would keep it, his aspirations would always be to be within the crème de la crème…
The high society, but also, he would spend so much, that he would get constantly into trouble with creditors, at some late stage, the creator of La Comedie Humaine owed the equivalent of 750,000 Euros, and looked for lodgings, changed them also, which had two entrances/exits, so that he could leave in a hurry
One of these places was on the name of his servant, to hide his identity, she would be one of his many mistresses, he was so discreet, he never talked about his intimacy, a cause for speculation, rumors, doubts about his sexuality, only he would rather have the gossip that maybe he is impotent, which he was not
Honore de Balzac loved a rich woman from…Ukraine, he even travelled all the way there – it was Russia back then, alas, it could still be soon, what with their gains on the front line, and the Orange Fool, winning the elections in the USA, talk of La Comedie Humaine, right, Homeric laughter, really – and stayed for some long periods
His effort was gargantuan https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... following a daunting, extenuating program, went to sleep with the hens, at six in the evening, but he woke at one at night and worked assiduously, drinking huge quantities of coffee, without food when writing
This activity would take a toll on his health, besides, he would be very active in other ways too, as mentioned, he wanted to be art of the high life, he also needed to observe the society he would describe so in such a prolific manner, he was very knowledgeable of women, wrote as if he was one, according to female critics
Balzac had some initiatives in business, but there he was not successful, evidenced by the huge debts he had accumulated, however, it is also due to the injustice of the system, writers were not paid their dues, printers would just take their work and profit from it with impunity, until the law was changed, due in part to Balzac
He tried to print a newspaper, but that failed, his incursion into the theater was not a huge achievement either, but I think of Intellectuals https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/... by Paul Johnson, and the abominable behavior described in it, the horrible acts of luminaries
Leo Tolstoy, Henrik Ibsen, Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Jacques Rousseau look like monsters, the latter left his children at the door of an orphanage, at a time when nine in ten died in such circumstances. Ergo the conclusion:
- If one is incredibly good in one area, it is likely to have a very serious flaw in some other field
It could be regression to the mean, as explained by the only psychologist who has won the Nobel Prize, for economy, there is no such award for psychology, Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking Fast and Slow https://realini.blogspot.com/2015/07/... or it might be what Aristotle called
- The Golden Mean
Honore de Balzac seemed to be spared the excess of the writers aforementioned, and others, included in Intellectuals or not, he was a gourmand, spent too much, he was somewhat vain, what with the pretend nobility (he was a superior spirit, and then noblesse oblige) and the snobbish aspiration to be part of the aristocracy
Nevertheless, his Pere Goriot https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/10/... remains one of the fundamental magnum opera of humanity, the story of an old man (it is there, in the title) who loves his daughters with an immense intensity, a self-sacrifice that leads him into poverty
To give them what they want, he is forced to live like a pauper, forced that is by himself, this altruism and love, which is unfortunately not returned, the women are ungrateful ashamed to be associated with this poor man…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
10 out of 10
Balzac is the name that I utter, scream, cajole with, chant, howl many times a day, at least fifty, for this is what I call on of my two babies aka macaws – the other is Puccini, but the latter gets less attention, for he is more independent, less naughty, takes his branches and chews, or acts like a…dog, on the floor, exploring
Otherwise, Honore de Balzac is evidently one of the greatest writers of all time – a sardonic thought makes me put down here that he may have been one of the largest as well, physically, although he was spartan when writing, which was for long hours every night, and day, he indulged in huge prandial activities
The incredible author https://realini.blogspot.com/2019/04/... took the noble name, but he was not of aristocratic origin, indeed, it was his father who had added the particle de, then young Balzac would keep it, his aspirations would always be to be within the crème de la crème…
The high society, but also, he would spend so much, that he would get constantly into trouble with creditors, at some late stage, the creator of La Comedie Humaine owed the equivalent of 750,000 Euros, and looked for lodgings, changed them also, which had two entrances/exits, so that he could leave in a hurry
One of these places was on the name of his servant, to hide his identity, she would be one of his many mistresses, he was so discreet, he never talked about his intimacy, a cause for speculation, rumors, doubts about his sexuality, only he would rather have the gossip that maybe he is impotent, which he was not
Honore de Balzac loved a rich woman from…Ukraine, he even travelled all the way there – it was Russia back then, alas, it could still be soon, what with their gains on the front line, and the Orange Fool, winning the elections in the USA, talk of La Comedie Humaine, right, Homeric laughter, really – and stayed for some long periods
His effort was gargantuan https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... following a daunting, extenuating program, went to sleep with the hens, at six in the evening, but he woke at one at night and worked assiduously, drinking huge quantities of coffee, without food when writing
This activity would take a toll on his health, besides, he would be very active in other ways too, as mentioned, he wanted to be art of the high life, he also needed to observe the society he would describe so in such a prolific manner, he was very knowledgeable of women, wrote as if he was one, according to female critics
Balzac had some initiatives in business, but there he was not successful, evidenced by the huge debts he had accumulated, however, it is also due to the injustice of the system, writers were not paid their dues, printers would just take their work and profit from it with impunity, until the law was changed, due in part to Balzac
He tried to print a newspaper, but that failed, his incursion into the theater was not a huge achievement either, but I think of Intellectuals https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/... by Paul Johnson, and the abominable behavior described in it, the horrible acts of luminaries
Leo Tolstoy, Henrik Ibsen, Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Jacques Rousseau look like monsters, the latter left his children at the door of an orphanage, at a time when nine in ten died in such circumstances. Ergo the conclusion:
- If one is incredibly good in one area, it is likely to have a very serious flaw in some other field
It could be regression to the mean, as explained by the only psychologist who has won the Nobel Prize, for economy, there is no such award for psychology, Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking Fast and Slow https://realini.blogspot.com/2015/07/... or it might be what Aristotle called
- The Golden Mean
Honore de Balzac seemed to be spared the excess of the writers aforementioned, and others, included in Intellectuals or not, he was a gourmand, spent too much, he was somewhat vain, what with the pretend nobility (he was a superior spirit, and then noblesse oblige) and the snobbish aspiration to be part of the aristocracy
Nevertheless, his Pere Goriot https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/10/... remains one of the fundamental magnum opera of humanity, the story of an old man (it is there, in the title) who loves his daughters with an immense intensity, a self-sacrifice that leads him into poverty
To give them what they want, he is forced to live like a pauper, forced that is by himself, this altruism and love, which is unfortunately not returned, the women are ungrateful ashamed to be associated with this poor man…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
Displaying 1 of 1 review