M. Félix Gaudissart
(Gaudissart the Great)
… Chacun de dire en le voyant : – Ah ! voilà l’illustre Gaudissart !
L’ILLUSTRE GAUDISSART
Furne, 1843, t. VI, p. 318
Signatures : P.P. ; Piaud
Tag Archives: Gaudissart the Great
Gaudissart the Great by Honoré de Balzac
Les Parisiens en province: L’Illustre Gaudissart
Gaudissart the Great
Also translated as The Illustrious Gaudissart
This is a very short story from Balzac’s La Comedie Humaine, and perhaps not one of his best. It features a commercial traveller as the butt of the author’s scorn: ‘a human pyrotechnic, a juggler hoaxed by himself, an unbelieving priest of mysteries and dogmas, which he expounds all the better for his want of faith’. He’s a know-all, he’s ‘soaked in vices’ and he purports to be the friend of all. It’s his job to poke into other people’s affairs and guess their habits, interests and financial status – so that he can sell them products they don’t need. Continue reading
La Comedie Humaine by Balzac 