Welcome to all who enjoy the works of Honoré de Balzac!
The Balzac Yahoo group was created in honor of the bicentennial of Balzac’s birth. We finished a complete reading of La Comedie Humaine in May, 2012. This site is a space for us to share summaries and the wealth of information we compiled.
Individual summaries may be accessed by clicking on the title in the Story Index or the Publication Chronology.
In addition to summaries and Introductions by George Saintsbury, you’ll find a list of characters appearing in more than one story and the stories in which they appear plus a suggested reading order based on the book by William Hobart Royce.
Please feel free to make comments on any of the stories or other items. We love to talk about Balzac and his works.
Now that we have finished our group read and discussion of the entire La Comedie Humaine, there will be very few posts here but the most recent ones can always viewed by clicking on the title under Recent Posts or the current month in the Archives.
For more information or further discussion, visit the Group Site.
Read Balzac’s Author’s Introduction from July, 1842.
Everyone is welcome to join us at Madame Vauquer’s Boarding House.
What, the seediest boarding house in Paris LOL??
You don’t like seedy-orama, lol?
Just think of the wonderful dining room scenes and all the fun at dinner.
Oh true, the company would be great, but I don’t think the old skinflint would serve up fabulous French food!
Well, I do have a budget you know. If those rascals hadn’t trampled all over my artichokes they would be on the menu. Sorry about the cat lapping up all the cream.
Congratulations on reaching 3500+ hits!
I can’t really help but admire your blog, your blog is so adorable and nice .
I am reading the Chouans and the translation is a struggle at times. I’d be interested in discussing the plot lines in the first hundred pages. Is anybody there? Le Sponge
Just joined. Fabulous…and my good luck. I hope to learn much and put in my two sous. (!)
I am reading a very interesting book called “Parisians” by Graham Robb. It is a non-fiction book, a history of Paris as told through the adventures of real people who lived in Paris; the playwright who wrote “La Vie Boheme,” the criminal-police detective-private detective Vidocq, etc. In one of the stories, an editor named Auguste Lepoitevin Saint-Alme is quoted as boasting that he discovered Balzac and taught B how to write pornographic stories. This must have been before B found his voice and achieved success. Do any of these early stories exist, along with the potboilers and gory stories of the the same time? Would be fun to read, aside from their prurient value.
I don’t know offhand about this Saint-Alme, but some of the potboilers are now available in translation–although not nearly all. Not sure about the “gory” stories–some of the Droll Tales were pretty gory and many were risque. They’re all available as free etexts from Project Gutenberg.
At the Yahoo Group, there is is a list of known potboilers. I’ve read Le Centenaire and ultimately didn’t care for it, but I know other readers who loved it.
Right now we’re reading Gerson’s biography, The Prodigal Genius. There’s a strong possibility that we’ll go for another potboiler when we finish it. At least two of us want to read The Vicar’s Passion (Le Vicaire des Ardennes).
The group is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/balzac/ and the list is in the “Files” section.
Glad to hear that this blog is still going strong. Madame Vacquer: I know I read this story, but, for the life of me I can’t remember the name. It’s about two guys out hunting and they come upon a dark old house inhabited by two women. Turns out one of them takes care of the other. It also turns out that one of the hunters rescued one of the women during a fierce battle and the crosssing of a river. The woman has gone mad, and one of the hunters shoots himself because he loved her and has found her mad. Is this a Balzac story or a figment of my fevered imagination? Bixiou (aka Allen Levy)
Sorry to be so long getting back to you, Bixiou. I only just now found your comment.
You could be thinking of Adieu/Farewell, although the story isn’t quite the same. You can read my summary at http://wp.me/pZns8-Z and see what you think.
Are you the Bixiou who recently joined the Yahoo Group as Buck? If it is you, welcome back!
It’s been a long time since you replied to me, but you are correct. I was referring to “Adieu”, although I had the story a bit mixed up. Anyway, I’m glad I’m part of the Yahoo group and I really enjoyed the melodramatic Vicar. Bixiou
Thanks an interesting site. I wanted to read more of him but wasn’t sure of where to start so very helpfull thanks
Glad we helped. With which one did you decide to begin? Pere Goriot is the one several of us recommend.