Download or read book Balzac s Lives written by Peter Brooks and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enter the mind of French literary giant Honoré de Balzac through a study of nine of his greatest characters and the novels they inhabit. Balzac's Lives illuminates the writer's life, era, and work in a completely original way. Balzac, more than anyone, invented the nineteenth-century novel, and Oscar Wilde went so far as to say that Balzac had invented the nineteenth century. But it was above all through the wonderful, unforgettable, extravagant characters that Balzac dreamed up and made flesh—entrepreneurs, bankers, inventors, industrialists, poets, artists, bohemians of both sexes, journalists, aristocrats, politicians, prostitutes—that he brought to life the dynamic forces of an era that ushered in our own. Peter Brooks’s Balzac’s Lives is a vivid and searching portrait of a great novelist as revealed through the fictional lives he imagined.
Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to Balzac written by Owen Heathcote and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-01-16 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the founders of literary realism and the serial novel, Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) was a prolific writer who produced more than a hundred novels, plays and short stories during his career. With its dramatic plots and memorable characters, Balzac's fiction has enthralled generations of readers. 'La Comédie humaine', the vast collection of works in which he strove to document every aspect of nineteenth-century French society, has influenced writers from Flaubert, Zola and Proust to Dostoevsky and Oscar Wilde. This Companion provides a critical reappraisal of Balzac, combining studies of his major novels with guidance on the key narrative and thematic features of his writing. Twelve chapters by world-leading specialists encompass a wide spectrum of topics such as the representation of history, philosophy and religion, the plight of the struggling artist, gender and sexuality, and Balzac's depiction of the creative process itself.
Download or read book Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress written by Sijie Dai and published by Knopf Publishing Group. This book was released on 2001 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An enchanting literary debut—already an international best-seller. At the height of Mao’s infamous Cultural Revolution, two boys are among hundreds of thousands exiled to the countryside for “re-education.” The narrator and his best friend, Luo, guilty of being the sons of doctors, find themselves in a remote village where, among the peasants of Phoenix mountain, they are made to cart buckets of excrement up and down precipitous winding paths. Their meager distractions include a violin—as well as, before long, the beautiful daughter of the local tailor. But it is when the two discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation that their re-education takes its most surprising turn. While ingeniously concealing their forbidden treasure, the boys find transit to worlds they had thought lost forever. And after listening to their dangerously seductive retellings of Balzac, even the Little Seamstress will be forever transformed. From within the hopelessness and terror of one of the darkest passages in human history, Dai Sijie has fashioned a beguiling and unexpected story about the resilience of the human spirit, the wonder of romantic awakening and the magical power of storytelling.
Download or read book The Physiology of Marriage and Pierre Grassou written by Honore De Balzac and published by Cosimo, Inc.. This book was released on 2005-12-01 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who is the husband who can now sleep quietly beside his young and pretty consort, after learning that at least three bachelors are on the lookout to rob him; that, if they have not already encroached upon his property, they regard his bride as their legitimate prey, who, sooner or later, will fall victim to them, whether by force, by ruse, or by her own free will, and that it is impossible that, some day, they will not be victorious!-from "Meditation IV: On the Virtuous Woman""I am not deep," Honor de Balzac is reported have quipped, "but very wide." His satiric width is on full display in The Physiology of Marriage, a sociological essay on matrimony masquerading as a novel... or is it a novel masquerading as a sociological essay on matrimony? Bold and cynical-or so his contemporaries perceived-this 1829 work is startling modern in its spirit and approach, a dryly witty expose of the underlying tensions of the enduring battle of the sexes.Also in this volume: Balzac's short tale "Pierre Grassou," an 1840 story about a terrible painter who uses marriage to the daughter of a wealthy art collector as a stepping stone to success.French writer HONOR DE BALZAC (1799-1850) is generally credited with the invention of realism in fiction, and his novels are considered among the greatest ever written in any language. His grand La Com die Humaine consists of a vast array of novels and short stories depicting French society of his time, among them Louis Lambert (1832), Les Illusions perdues (1837), and La Cousine Bette (1847).
Download or read book Cousin Bette written by Honore De Balzac and published by . This book was released on 1958 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Red Room written by H. G. Wells and published by Read Books Ltd. This book was released on 2016-09-14 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Red Room" is a short story written by H. G. Wells. First published in the 1896 edition of "The Idler" magazine, it is a quintessentially Gothic tale about a man who spends a night in a supposedly haunted room in Lorraine Castle in an attempt to disprove the legends surrounding it. This thrilling tale constitutes a must-read for fans of Gothic literature and Wells' seminal work, and it would make for a fantastic addition to any collection. Herbert George Wells (1866 - 1946) was a prolific English writer who wrote in a variety of genres, including the novel, politics, history, and social commentary. "The Father of Science Fiction" was also a staunch socialist, and his later works are increasingly political and didactic. Today, he is perhaps best remembered for his contributions to the science fiction genre thanks to such novels as "The Time Machine" (1895), "The Invisible Man" (1897), and "The War of the Worlds" (1898). Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.
Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of Paris written by Anna-Louise Milne and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-08 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive exploration of Paris through the texts and experiences of a vast and vibrant range of authors.
Download or read book The Magic Skin written by Honoré de Balzac and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-09-27 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Magic Skin (La Peau de chagrin) is set in early 19th-century Paris and tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. Although the novel uses fantastic elements, its main focus is a realistic portrayal of the excesses of bourgeois materialism. Balzac's renowned attention to detail is used to describe a gambling house, an antique shop, a royal banquet, and other locales. He also includes details from his own life as a struggling writer, placing the main character in a home similar to the one he occupied at the start of his literary career. The central theme of La Peau de chagrin is the conflict between desire and longevity. The magic skin represents the owner's life-force, which is depleted through every expression of will, especially when it is employed for the acquisition of power. Ignoring a caution from the shopkeeper who offers him the skin, the protagonist greedily surrounds himself with wealth, only to find himself miserable and decrepit at the story's end. (source: Wikipedia)
Download or read book Lost illusions written by Honoré de Balzac and published by . This book was released on 1898 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book La Com die Humaine written by Honoré de Balzac and published by . This book was released on 1896 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Balzac s Concept of Genius written by Gretchen R. Besser and published by Librairie Droz. This book was released on 1969 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Real Time written by David F. Bell and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Real Time David F. Bell explores the decisive impact the accelerated movement of people and information had on the fictions of four giants of French realism--Balzac, Stendhal, Dumas, and Zola. Nineteenth-century technological advances radically altered the infrastructure of France, changing the ways ordinary citizens–-and literary characters--viewed time, space, distance, and speed. The most influential of these advances included the improvement of the stagecoach, the growth of road and canal networks leading to the advent of the railway, and the increasing use of mail, and of the optical telegraph. Citing examples from a wide range of novels and stories, Bell demonstrates the numerous ways in which these trends of acceleration became not just literary devices and themes but also structuring principles of the novels themselves. Beginning with both the provincial and the Parisian communications networks of Balzac, Bell proceeds to discuss the roles of horses and optical telegraphs in Stendhal and the importance of domination of communication channels to the characters of Dumas, whose Count of Monte-Cristo might be seen as the ultimate fictional master of this accelerated culture. Finally, Bell analyzes the cinematic vision created by the arrival of the railroad, as depicted by Zola in La Bète Humaine.
Download or read book The Thirteen written by Honore de Balzac and published by The Floating Press. This book was released on 2014-06-01 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This series of three novellas is unified by an overarching motif: in all three tales, a mysterious secret society known as The Thirteen is at work behind the scenes. The men in the group have pledged eternal loyalty to each other, and if any member ever finds himself in peril, it is the sworn duty of the others to come to his aid. Honore de Balzac uses this premise as a device to explore a wide range of topics, including clashes between different classes of society, doomed romances, and intrigue driven by greed.
Download or read book A Passion in the Desert written by Honore de Balzac and published by Sheba Blake Publishing. This book was released on 2018-02-01 with total page 25 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, a French soldier becomes separated from his regiment and finds himself wandering lost in the desert. Just when he was about to give up all hope, he makes an unlikely friend. Honore de Balzac (20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence La Comedie Humaine, which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus. Owing to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multi-faceted characters; even his lesser characters are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. Inanimate objects are imbued with character as well; the city of Paris, a backdrop for much of his writing, takes on many human qualities. His writing influenced many famous writers, including the novelists Emile Zola, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Jack Kerouac, and Henry James, filmmakers Akira Kurosawa and Eric Rohmer as well as important philosophers such as Friedrich Engels. Many of Balzac's works have been made into films, and they continue to inspire other writers.
Download or read book Another Study of Woman written by Honore de Balzac and published by The Floating Press. This book was released on 2014-07-01 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Another Study of Woman" is a narrative hovering between a short story and a novella in terms of length, extracted from Honore de Balzac's multi-volume masterpiece The Human Comedy. At a private dinner party, guests warmed by the flush of fine food and drink begin to banter about the qualities and attributes that characterize the ideal woman. Gradually, the guests begin to reminisce about their own experiences and encounters with perfect and not-so-perfect women. Throughout the entertaining back-and-forth, Balzac presents a number of keen insights about the social mores governing women's behavior in nineteenth-century Europe.
Download or read book Pere Goriot and Eugenie Grandet written by Honore de Balzac and published by . This book was released on 1950 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Balzac written by Graham Robb and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 1995 with total page 622 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A portrait of the self-destructive French novelist follows Balzac's early literary disappointments, impractical money-making schemes, love affairs, correspondences, and achievements.
