Seraphita

Seraphita

Chapter 1: Seraphitus

Balzac begins with a travelogue of the fiords of Norway, concentrating ultimately on one isolated valley that is isolated by the roaring waters of the Sieg River which rises in Sweden and by the forbidding mountains of Jarvis.

We begin with two figures cross-country skiing UP a mountain, past unimaginable abysses. One of them is Minna Becker, daughter of the village pastor. The other is apparently (why I say this will itself become apparent soon) a pale young male named Seraphitus, who expertly guides Minna up the slope to an Alpine meadow.

The Member for Arcis by Honoré de Balzac

Le Député d’Arcis
The Member for Arcis
Also translated as The Deputy of Arcis

 

The Middle Classes by Honoré de Balzac

Les Petits Bourgeois
The Middle Classes
Also translated as The Lesser Bourgeoisie

 

Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life by Honoré de Balzac

Splendeurs et Misères des Courtisanes
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life – Complete
Also translated as Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans and A Harlot High and Low

 Includes four parts:
Esther Happy/How Girls Love
What Love Costs an Old Man
The End of Evil Ways
Vautrin’s Last Avatar/The Last Incarnation of Vautrin

Parisians in the Country: The Muse of the Department by Honoré de Balzac

Les Parisiens en province: La Muse du département
Parisians in the Country: The Muse of the Department

Béatrix by Honoré de Balzac

Béatrix

The Imaginary Mistress by Honoré de Balzac

La Fausse Maîtresse
The Imaginary Mistress
Also translated as:
The False Mistress
Paz

The Unconscious Comedians by Honoré de Balzac

The Unconscious Comedians (Les Comédiens sans le savoir) also translated as
The Unconscious Humorists
Comedians Without Knowing It
The Unconscious Mummers
The Unwitting Play-Actors

 

Albert Savarus by Honoré de Balzac

Albert Savarus

The Firm of Nucingen by Honoré de Balzac

La Maison Nucingen
The Firm of Nucingen
Also translated as The House of Nucingen
Also translated as Nucingen & Co, Bankers

Picture to yourself a private dining room in a restaurant divided in two by a flimsy partition. The diners in one partition can hear everything that is said in the other.