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La Com茅die Humaine #56
螚 蔚尉伪未苇位蠁畏 螠蟺苇蟿蟿畏
螠苇蟽伪 蟽蟿畏谓 蟿喂蟿维谓喂伪 位慰纬慰蟿蔚蠂谓喂魏萎 未畏渭喂慰蠀蟻纬委伪 蟿慰蠀 螠蟺伪位味维魏, "螚 蔚尉伪未苇位蠁畏 螠蟺苇蟿蟿畏" 蟽蠀纬魏蔚谓蟿蟻蠋谓蔚喂 蠈位蔚蟼 蟿喂蟼 伪蠁畏纬畏渭伪蟿喂魏苇蟼 伪蟻蔚蟿苇蟼 蟿慰蠀 魏慰蟻蠀蠁伪委慰蠀 渭蠀胃喂蟽蟿慰蟻喂慰纬蟻维蠁慰蠀. 螣喂魏慰纬蔚谓蔚喂伪魏蠈 未蟻维渭伪 蟺慰蠀 蟺畏纬维味蔚喂 伪蟺蠈 蟿畏 蟽蠉纬魏蟻慰蠀蟽畏 伪谓维渭蔚蟽伪 蟽蟿畏谓 螒蟻蔚蟿萎 魏伪喂 蟽蟿畏谓 螝伪魏委伪 魏伪喂 蠈蟺慰蠀 蟿慰 蠂蟻萎渭伪 纬委谓蔚蟿伪喂 魏蠀蟻委伪蟻蠂慰. 螁位位慰 蟽蠀蟽蟿伪蟿喂魏蠈 蟿慰蠀 尾喂尾位委慰蠀 蔚委谓伪喂 苇谓伪蟼 纬萎喂谓慰蟼 苇蟻蠅蟿伪蟼 魏伪喂 慰喂 蔚魏渭蔚蟿伪位位蔚蠀蠈渭蔚谓蔚蟼 魏慰喂谓蠅谓喂魏苇蟼 蟿维尉蔚喂蟼: 蠂蔚喂蟻蠅谓维魏蟿蔚蟼, 魏蔚谓蟿蟻委蟽蟿蟻蔚蟼, 渭蔚蟻慰魏伪渭伪蟿喂维蟻畏未蔚蟼 - 蠁蟿蠅蠂慰委.
Out of print - 螘尉伪谓蟿位畏渭苇谓慰
Out of print - 螘尉伪谓蟿位畏渭苇谓慰
640 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1846
531 people are currently reading
21.2k people want to read
About the author
Honor茅 de Balzac
8,275听books4,217听followersFrench writer Honor茅 de Balzac (born Honor茅 Balzac), a founder of the realist school of fiction, portrayed the panorama of society in a body of works, known collectively as
La com茅die humaine
.
Honor茅 de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napol茅on I Bonaparte 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, 脡mile 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 Ha艅ska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.
Honor茅 de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napol茅on I Bonaparte 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, 脡mile 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 Ha艅ska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.
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January 20, 2022
La Cousine Bette = Cousin Bette, Honor茅 de Balzac
Story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended family.
Cousin Bette is considered Balzac's last great work. His trademark use of realist detail combines with a panorama of characters returning from earlier novels. Several critics have hailed it as a turning point in the author's career, and others have called it a prototypical naturalist text.
It has been compared to William Shakespeare's Othello as well as Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. The novel explores themes of vice and virtue, as well as the influence of money on French society. Bette's relationship with Val茅rie is also seen as an important exploration of homoerotic themes.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 亘蹖爻鬲 賵 爻賵賲 賲丕賴 賳賵丕賲亘乇 爻丕賱1971賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 丿禺鬲乇 毓賲賵 亘鬲 - 丿乇 丿賵 噩賱丿貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丌賳賵乇賴 (丕賵賳賵乇賴) 丿賵 亘丕賱夭丕讴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲.丕 亘賴 丌匕蹖賳 (賲丨賲賵丿 丕毓鬲賲丕丿夭丕丿賴)貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丌爻蹖丕貙 爻丕賱1347貨 丿乇486氐貨 趩丕倬 爻賵賲 爻丕賱1368貨 卮丕亘讴9649067949貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳蹖賱賵賮乇貙 爻丕賱1390貙 卮丕亘讴9789644484988貨 丿乇551氐貨 噩賱丿 賳禺爻鬲 丕夭 氐 蹖讴 鬲丕 氐240貨 噩賱丿 丿賵賲 丕夭 氐243貨 鬲丕 氐486貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 賮乇丕賳爻賴 - 爻丿賴 蹖19賲
亘爻蹖丕乇蹖貙 芦丿禺鬲乇 毓賲賵 亘鬲禄 乇丕貙 丿乇 卮賲丕乇 卮丕賴讴丕乇賴丕蹖 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄 丿丕賳爻鬲賴 丕賳丿貨 賵 亘賴 賵丕賯毓 賳蹖夭貙 趩賳蹖賳 丕爻鬲貨 賲蹖鬲賵丕賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 倬乇 丕夭 卮丕禺 賵 亘乇诏 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄 乇丕貙 賳倬爻賳丿蹖丿貙 賲蹖鬲賵丕賳 賵爻賵丕爻 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 乇丕貙 亘乇丕蹖 夭賲蹖賳賴 爻丕夭蹖 丿賯蹖賯貙 賵 禺爻鬲賴 讴賳賳丿賴 蹖 丕蹖卮丕賳貨 亘乇丕蹖 卮賳丕爻丕賳丿賳 蹖讴丕賳 蹖讴丕賳 丕夭 卮禺氐蹖鬲賴丕蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳貨 賵 诏賵卮賴 賴丕蹖 賲丨蹖胤蹖 讴賴貙 鬲禺蹖賱 賵 禺蹖丕賱 卮诏賮鬲 丕賳诏蹖夭 丕賵貙 丌賳賴丕 乇丕 亘賴 丨乇讴鬲 丿乇賲蹖丕賵乇丿貨 賵 亘賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 賵丕賲蹖丿丕乇丿貙 亘賴 亘丕丿 丕賳鬲賯丕丿 诏乇賮鬲貨 蹖丕 亘丕 倬卮鬲诏乇賲蹖 亘賴 丕賳丿賵禺鬲賴 蹖 丿丕賳卮 丕賲乇賵夭蹖賳貙 讴賴 丕夭 賲噩丕乇蹖 乇賵夭賳丕賲賴 賴丕貙 賵 乇爻丕賳賴 賴丕貨 蹖丕 讴鬲丕亘賴丕蹖 丿亘蹖乇爻鬲丕賳貙 賵 睾蹖乇 丌賳貙 亘賴 丿爻鬲 丌賲丿賴貙 鬲卅賵乇蹖 亘丕賮蹖賴丕蹖 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄 乇丕貙 讴賵丿讴丕賳賴 卮賲乇丿貨 賵 丕丨爻丕爻 亘乇鬲乇蹖 賳賲賵丿貨 賴賲賴 蹖 丕蹖賳賴丕 丕賲讴丕賳 丿丕乇丿貨 丕賲丕 亘丕蹖丿 鬲賵噩賴 丿丕卮鬲貙 讴賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄貙 賴賲丕賳賳丿 禺賵丿 賵丕賯毓蹖鬲貙 賲噩丕亘 讴賳賳丿賴 賴爻鬲賳丿貨
夭賳丿诏蹖貙 丿乇 賲蹖丕賳 賵丕跇賴 賴丕蹖 丕蹖卮丕賳貙 賴賲丕乇賴 賱賲爻 賲蹖卮賵丿貨 讴賲賳丿 爻賵丿丕賴丕蹖蹖 讴賴 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄貙 亘賴 诏乇丿賳 賯賴乇賲丕賳丕賳 禺賵蹖卮貙 賲蹖丕賮讴賳丿貙 賵 丌賳賴丕 乇丕貙 亘賴 爻賵蹖 倬丕蹖丕賳 賲賳胤賯蹖 爻乇賳賵卮鬲 禺賵丿貙 賲蹖讴卮丕賳丿貙 賴蹖趩诏丕賴貙 爻丕禺鬲诏蹖貙 賵 睾蹖乇丕賳爻丕賳蹖 賳蹖爻鬲貨 趩賴乇賴 賴丕 亘蹖诏丕賳賴 賳蹖爻鬲賳丿貨 诏賮鬲賴 賴丕蹖卮丕賳 亘賴 诏賵卮 禺賵丕賳卮诏乇 丌卮賳丕爻鬲貨 丕蹖卮丕賳貙 丕夭 丨乇讴丕鬲 亘爻蹖丕乇 毓丕丿蹖貙 睾賵賱賴丕蹖蹖 賲蹖爻丕夭賳丿貙 讴賴 賳賲蹖鬲賵丕賳 丿蹖丿賴 亘乇 丌賳賴丕 賮乇賵亘爻鬲貨 賵 丕蹖賳 睾賵賱賴丕貙 讴爻丕賳蹖 噩夭 禺賵丿 賲丕賴丕 賳蹖爻鬲蹖賲 賵 賳蹖爻鬲賳丿貨 賴賲賴 蹖 賲丕貙 賳賲賵賳賴 賴丕蹖蹖 丕夭: 芦賱蹖爻亘鬲禄貙 芦賴賵賱賵禄貙 芦丌丿賱蹖賳禄貙 芦讴乇賵賱禄貙 芦賲丕乇賳賮禄 賵 夭賳卮 乇丕貙 丿乇 丿賵乇 賵 亘乇 禺賵丿貙 丿蹖丿賴 丕蹖賲貨 賵 讴賳丕乇 禺賵丿 丿丕乇蹖賲貨
丿乇 丕胤乇丕賮 賲丕 賳蹖夭貙 丌夭賲賳丿蹖 賵 賴賵爻貙 丿乇 卮賲丕乇 诏乇丿丕賳賳丿诏丕賳 丕氐賱蹖 乇賵蹖丿丕丿賴丕蹖 乇賵夭賲乇賴貙 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 賵 賴賳賵夭 賴賲貙 丕乇夭卮 賴乇趩蹖夭蹖貙 亘賴 爻賵丿丌賵乇蹖貙 賵 亘丕 賵丕丨丿 倬賵賱 爻賳噩蹖丿賴 賲蹖卮賵丿貨 芦讴乇賵賱禄貙 亘乇丕蹖 丕賳鬲賯丕賲 丕夭 芦賴賵賱賵禄貙 賵 丿爻鬲 蹖丕賮鬲賳 亘乇 夭賳 丕賵貙 賲蹖禺賵丕賴丿 爻蹖氐丿賴夭丕乇 芦賮乇丕賳讴禄貙 賲丕蹖賴 亘诏匕丕乇丿貨 芦丌丿賱蹖賳禄 亘夭乇诏賲賳卮 賵 夭蹖亘丕貙 丿乇 賱丨馗賴 蹖 丿乇賲丕賳丿诏蹖貙 丨丕囟乇 丕爻鬲 禺賵蹖卮鬲賳亘丕賳蹖 (鬲賯賵蹖) 禺賵丿 乇丕貙 亘賴 丿賵蹖爻鬲 賴夭丕乇 芦賮乇丕賳讴禄貙 亘賮乇賵卮丿貨 亘乇丕蹖 丿禺鬲乇 賵 丿丕賲丕丿 芦讴乇賵賱禄貙 讴賴 爻賴賲 禺賵丿 乇丕貙 丕夭 賲蹖乇丕孬 賵蹖貙 丿乇 禺胤乇 賲蹖亘蹖賳賳丿貙 夭賳丿诏蹖 夭賳 丿賱賮乇蹖亘貙 賵 丿爻蹖爻賴 讴丕乇 芦賲丕乇賳賮禄貙 鬲賳賴丕 倬賳噩丕賴 賴夭丕乇 芦賮乇丕賳讴禄 丕乇夭卮 丿丕乇丿貨
丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄 賳蹖夭貙 丨爻 夭賳亘丕乇诏蹖貙 丨爻 卮乇賮 賵 賲爻卅賵賱蹖鬲 乇丕貙 丕夭 蹖丕丿 倬丿乇 賲蹖亘乇丿貙 賵 丕賵 乇丕貙 倬賱賴 亘賴 倬賱賴貙 丕夭 丿夭丿蹖 丿乇 丕賲賵丕賱 丿賵賱鬲貙 亘賴 賳賵毓蹖 賯賵丕丿蹖 賲蹖讴卮丕賳丿貨 賵 ...貨 丿乇 蹖讴 噩賲賱賴 蹖 亘賱賳丿貙 賲蹖鬲賵丕賳 诏賮鬲: 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 夭賳 賲蹖丕賳爻丕賱蹖 丕爻鬲貨 讴賴 丕夭丿賵丕噩 賳讴乇丿賴貙 賵 胤乇丨 賵蹖乇丕賳蹖 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 蹖 倬乇噩賲毓蹖鬲 禺賵蹖卮 乇丕貙 丿乇 爻乇 賲蹖鈥屬矩辟堌必з嗀� 丕蹖賳 乇賲丕賳 賳蹖夭貙 毓囟賵蹖 丕夭 爻乇蹖賴丕蹖 讴賲丿蹖 丕賳爻丕賳蹖 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄 亘賴 卮賲丕乇 賲蹖鈥屫辟堌�
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 20/11/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 29/10/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
Story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended family.
Cousin Bette is considered Balzac's last great work. His trademark use of realist detail combines with a panorama of characters returning from earlier novels. Several critics have hailed it as a turning point in the author's career, and others have called it a prototypical naturalist text.
It has been compared to William Shakespeare's Othello as well as Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. The novel explores themes of vice and virtue, as well as the influence of money on French society. Bette's relationship with Val茅rie is also seen as an important exploration of homoerotic themes.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 亘蹖爻鬲 賵 爻賵賲 賲丕賴 賳賵丕賲亘乇 爻丕賱1971賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 丿禺鬲乇 毓賲賵 亘鬲 - 丿乇 丿賵 噩賱丿貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丌賳賵乇賴 (丕賵賳賵乇賴) 丿賵 亘丕賱夭丕讴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲.丕 亘賴 丌匕蹖賳 (賲丨賲賵丿 丕毓鬲賲丕丿夭丕丿賴)貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丌爻蹖丕貙 爻丕賱1347貨 丿乇486氐貨 趩丕倬 爻賵賲 爻丕賱1368貨 卮丕亘讴9649067949貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳蹖賱賵賮乇貙 爻丕賱1390貙 卮丕亘讴9789644484988貨 丿乇551氐貨 噩賱丿 賳禺爻鬲 丕夭 氐 蹖讴 鬲丕 氐240貨 噩賱丿 丿賵賲 丕夭 氐243貨 鬲丕 氐486貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 賮乇丕賳爻賴 - 爻丿賴 蹖19賲
亘爻蹖丕乇蹖貙 芦丿禺鬲乇 毓賲賵 亘鬲禄 乇丕貙 丿乇 卮賲丕乇 卮丕賴讴丕乇賴丕蹖 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄 丿丕賳爻鬲賴 丕賳丿貨 賵 亘賴 賵丕賯毓 賳蹖夭貙 趩賳蹖賳 丕爻鬲貨 賲蹖鬲賵丕賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 倬乇 丕夭 卮丕禺 賵 亘乇诏 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄 乇丕貙 賳倬爻賳丿蹖丿貙 賲蹖鬲賵丕賳 賵爻賵丕爻 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 乇丕貙 亘乇丕蹖 夭賲蹖賳賴 爻丕夭蹖 丿賯蹖賯貙 賵 禺爻鬲賴 讴賳賳丿賴 蹖 丕蹖卮丕賳貨 亘乇丕蹖 卮賳丕爻丕賳丿賳 蹖讴丕賳 蹖讴丕賳 丕夭 卮禺氐蹖鬲賴丕蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳貨 賵 诏賵卮賴 賴丕蹖 賲丨蹖胤蹖 讴賴貙 鬲禺蹖賱 賵 禺蹖丕賱 卮诏賮鬲 丕賳诏蹖夭 丕賵貙 丌賳賴丕 乇丕 亘賴 丨乇讴鬲 丿乇賲蹖丕賵乇丿貨 賵 亘賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 賵丕賲蹖丿丕乇丿貙 亘賴 亘丕丿 丕賳鬲賯丕丿 诏乇賮鬲貨 蹖丕 亘丕 倬卮鬲诏乇賲蹖 亘賴 丕賳丿賵禺鬲賴 蹖 丿丕賳卮 丕賲乇賵夭蹖賳貙 讴賴 丕夭 賲噩丕乇蹖 乇賵夭賳丕賲賴 賴丕貙 賵 乇爻丕賳賴 賴丕貨 蹖丕 讴鬲丕亘賴丕蹖 丿亘蹖乇爻鬲丕賳貙 賵 睾蹖乇 丌賳貙 亘賴 丿爻鬲 丌賲丿賴貙 鬲卅賵乇蹖 亘丕賮蹖賴丕蹖 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄 乇丕貙 讴賵丿讴丕賳賴 卮賲乇丿貨 賵 丕丨爻丕爻 亘乇鬲乇蹖 賳賲賵丿貨 賴賲賴 蹖 丕蹖賳賴丕 丕賲讴丕賳 丿丕乇丿貨 丕賲丕 亘丕蹖丿 鬲賵噩賴 丿丕卮鬲貙 讴賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄貙 賴賲丕賳賳丿 禺賵丿 賵丕賯毓蹖鬲貙 賲噩丕亘 讴賳賳丿賴 賴爻鬲賳丿貨
夭賳丿诏蹖貙 丿乇 賲蹖丕賳 賵丕跇賴 賴丕蹖 丕蹖卮丕賳貙 賴賲丕乇賴 賱賲爻 賲蹖卮賵丿貨 讴賲賳丿 爻賵丿丕賴丕蹖蹖 讴賴 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄貙 亘賴 诏乇丿賳 賯賴乇賲丕賳丕賳 禺賵蹖卮貙 賲蹖丕賮讴賳丿貙 賵 丌賳賴丕 乇丕貙 亘賴 爻賵蹖 倬丕蹖丕賳 賲賳胤賯蹖 爻乇賳賵卮鬲 禺賵丿貙 賲蹖讴卮丕賳丿貙 賴蹖趩诏丕賴貙 爻丕禺鬲诏蹖貙 賵 睾蹖乇丕賳爻丕賳蹖 賳蹖爻鬲貨 趩賴乇賴 賴丕 亘蹖诏丕賳賴 賳蹖爻鬲賳丿貨 诏賮鬲賴 賴丕蹖卮丕賳 亘賴 诏賵卮 禺賵丕賳卮诏乇 丌卮賳丕爻鬲貨 丕蹖卮丕賳貙 丕夭 丨乇讴丕鬲 亘爻蹖丕乇 毓丕丿蹖貙 睾賵賱賴丕蹖蹖 賲蹖爻丕夭賳丿貙 讴賴 賳賲蹖鬲賵丕賳 丿蹖丿賴 亘乇 丌賳賴丕 賮乇賵亘爻鬲貨 賵 丕蹖賳 睾賵賱賴丕貙 讴爻丕賳蹖 噩夭 禺賵丿 賲丕賴丕 賳蹖爻鬲蹖賲 賵 賳蹖爻鬲賳丿貨 賴賲賴 蹖 賲丕貙 賳賲賵賳賴 賴丕蹖蹖 丕夭: 芦賱蹖爻亘鬲禄貙 芦賴賵賱賵禄貙 芦丌丿賱蹖賳禄貙 芦讴乇賵賱禄貙 芦賲丕乇賳賮禄 賵 夭賳卮 乇丕貙 丿乇 丿賵乇 賵 亘乇 禺賵丿貙 丿蹖丿賴 丕蹖賲貨 賵 讴賳丕乇 禺賵丿 丿丕乇蹖賲貨
丿乇 丕胤乇丕賮 賲丕 賳蹖夭貙 丌夭賲賳丿蹖 賵 賴賵爻貙 丿乇 卮賲丕乇 诏乇丿丕賳賳丿诏丕賳 丕氐賱蹖 乇賵蹖丿丕丿賴丕蹖 乇賵夭賲乇賴貙 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 賵 賴賳賵夭 賴賲貙 丕乇夭卮 賴乇趩蹖夭蹖貙 亘賴 爻賵丿丌賵乇蹖貙 賵 亘丕 賵丕丨丿 倬賵賱 爻賳噩蹖丿賴 賲蹖卮賵丿貨 芦讴乇賵賱禄貙 亘乇丕蹖 丕賳鬲賯丕賲 丕夭 芦賴賵賱賵禄貙 賵 丿爻鬲 蹖丕賮鬲賳 亘乇 夭賳 丕賵貙 賲蹖禺賵丕賴丿 爻蹖氐丿賴夭丕乇 芦賮乇丕賳讴禄貙 賲丕蹖賴 亘诏匕丕乇丿貨 芦丌丿賱蹖賳禄 亘夭乇诏賲賳卮 賵 夭蹖亘丕貙 丿乇 賱丨馗賴 蹖 丿乇賲丕賳丿诏蹖貙 丨丕囟乇 丕爻鬲 禺賵蹖卮鬲賳亘丕賳蹖 (鬲賯賵蹖) 禺賵丿 乇丕貙 亘賴 丿賵蹖爻鬲 賴夭丕乇 芦賮乇丕賳讴禄貙 亘賮乇賵卮丿貨 亘乇丕蹖 丿禺鬲乇 賵 丿丕賲丕丿 芦讴乇賵賱禄貙 讴賴 爻賴賲 禺賵丿 乇丕貙 丕夭 賲蹖乇丕孬 賵蹖貙 丿乇 禺胤乇 賲蹖亘蹖賳賳丿貙 夭賳丿诏蹖 夭賳 丿賱賮乇蹖亘貙 賵 丿爻蹖爻賴 讴丕乇 芦賲丕乇賳賮禄貙 鬲賳賴丕 倬賳噩丕賴 賴夭丕乇 芦賮乇丕賳讴禄 丕乇夭卮 丿丕乇丿貨
丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄 賳蹖夭貙 丨爻 夭賳亘丕乇诏蹖貙 丨爻 卮乇賮 賵 賲爻卅賵賱蹖鬲 乇丕貙 丕夭 蹖丕丿 倬丿乇 賲蹖亘乇丿貙 賵 丕賵 乇丕貙 倬賱賴 亘賴 倬賱賴貙 丕夭 丿夭丿蹖 丿乇 丕賲賵丕賱 丿賵賱鬲貙 亘賴 賳賵毓蹖 賯賵丕丿蹖 賲蹖讴卮丕賳丿貨 賵 ...貨 丿乇 蹖讴 噩賲賱賴 蹖 亘賱賳丿貙 賲蹖鬲賵丕賳 诏賮鬲: 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 夭賳 賲蹖丕賳爻丕賱蹖 丕爻鬲貨 讴賴 丕夭丿賵丕噩 賳讴乇丿賴貙 賵 胤乇丨 賵蹖乇丕賳蹖 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 蹖 倬乇噩賲毓蹖鬲 禺賵蹖卮 乇丕貙 丿乇 爻乇 賲蹖鈥屬矩辟堌必з嗀� 丕蹖賳 乇賲丕賳 賳蹖夭貙 毓囟賵蹖 丕夭 爻乇蹖賴丕蹖 讴賲丿蹖 丕賳爻丕賳蹖 芦亘丕賱夭丕讴禄 亘賴 卮賲丕乇 賲蹖鈥屫辟堌�
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 20/11/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 29/10/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
June 28, 2023
This book had good moments but I'm disappointed I didn't enjoy it more than I did. It's about a jealous old spinster paying her family back for decades of being treated as inferior for being the ugly cousin. She teams up with the beautiful Madame Marneffe (cue the homoerotic undertones) to destroy the treacherous Hulots. It sounded pretty juicy if you ask me, but there's a lot of slow stretches. Not nearly as fun as I was hoping for, but still entertaining in parts.
July 27, 2024
Pro Tip:
Honor茅 de Balzac isn't a name that someone with a Southern accent has an easy time with, and I walked around for a week telling everyone that I was reading a book by someone whose name was Ballsack. Honestly, I should have just listened to the book, shut up, and kept my redneck pronunciation tucked under my hat.
It's hard to be taken seriously when you have a drawl.
Okay, first things first. Cousin Bette isn't as sympathetic as I thought she'd be when I read the blurb. She's a bit of a dick.
Now there are moments when you can get behind her, but most of the time, she's just as selfish and unlikable as the rest of the characters in the book. So don't go into this thinking you'll get to root for some downtrodden heroine.
And yet, by the end of the book I was convinced the true villain was Adeline.
Now, I'm not saying it was her fault that her scumbag husband, Baron Hector Hulot, cheated on her. But I am saying that it's probably not the best idea to comfort your husband when his mistress throws him over for a wealthier man.
Balzac did this thing where he wrote her as this pseudo-sympathetic character, full of what everyone thinks the virtues of a good wife are, then perfectly pointed the finger at why all of those virtues are bullshit.
Led by her long-suffering example, her entire family fell into one ruinous situation after another.
Put a foot up his ass, Madame!
Ok. So the skinny gist is that Bette is this swarthy peasant who is jealous of her family. They're not terrible to her but they treat her like she's...well, a swarthy peasant.
BUT THEN.
You find out Bette has been financially supporting this sexy little artist in her building. She says she thinks of him as a son but...oh-ho-ho, methinks not!
So imagine her surprise when Adeline's beautiful daughter flits in like the Hamburgler and steals her young man right out from under her.
Now she's pissed.
In an effort to screw with them, she teams up with Val茅rie, an unscrupulous married woman in her apartment building. Val茅rie seduces (I use that term loosely) Adeline's husband and takes him for everything he has, bankrupting the family, while Adeline coos, coddles, and suffers in silence.
Val茅rie is so good at her job that she is also simultaneously carrying on affairs with several other men - including Adeline's daughter's husband and her son's father-in-law!
These men are all ridiculous and stupid. There's just no other way to describe them.
Throughout the story, Hulot just could not stop himself from chasing ever-younger ass. By the end of it he was just a sad old fart with half a chubby running after girls, and yet (like most narcissists) he never really got what was coming to him.
Because right up till the end, Adeline worshiped and enabled him.
No one really got what they wanted, Bette included. But she came close a time or two.
Fun story!
Recommended.
Honor茅 de Balzac isn't a name that someone with a Southern accent has an easy time with, and I walked around for a week telling everyone that I was reading a book by someone whose name was Ballsack. Honestly, I should have just listened to the book, shut up, and kept my redneck pronunciation tucked under my hat.
It's hard to be taken seriously when you have a drawl.
Okay, first things first. Cousin Bette isn't as sympathetic as I thought she'd be when I read the blurb. She's a bit of a dick.
Now there are moments when you can get behind her, but most of the time, she's just as selfish and unlikable as the rest of the characters in the book. So don't go into this thinking you'll get to root for some downtrodden heroine.
And yet, by the end of the book I was convinced the true villain was Adeline.
Now, I'm not saying it was her fault that her scumbag husband, Baron Hector Hulot, cheated on her. But I am saying that it's probably not the best idea to comfort your husband when his mistress throws him over for a wealthier man.
Balzac did this thing where he wrote her as this pseudo-sympathetic character, full of what everyone thinks the virtues of a good wife are, then perfectly pointed the finger at why all of those virtues are bullshit.
Led by her long-suffering example, her entire family fell into one ruinous situation after another.
Put a foot up his ass, Madame!
Ok. So the skinny gist is that Bette is this swarthy peasant who is jealous of her family. They're not terrible to her but they treat her like she's...well, a swarthy peasant.
BUT THEN.
You find out Bette has been financially supporting this sexy little artist in her building. She says she thinks of him as a son but...oh-ho-ho, methinks not!
So imagine her surprise when Adeline's beautiful daughter flits in like the Hamburgler and steals her young man right out from under her.
Now she's pissed.
In an effort to screw with them, she teams up with Val茅rie, an unscrupulous married woman in her apartment building. Val茅rie seduces (I use that term loosely) Adeline's husband and takes him for everything he has, bankrupting the family, while Adeline coos, coddles, and suffers in silence.
Val茅rie is so good at her job that she is also simultaneously carrying on affairs with several other men - including Adeline's daughter's husband and her son's father-in-law!
These men are all ridiculous and stupid. There's just no other way to describe them.
Throughout the story, Hulot just could not stop himself from chasing ever-younger ass. By the end of it he was just a sad old fart with half a chubby running after girls, and yet (like most narcissists) he never really got what was coming to him.
Because right up till the end, Adeline worshiped and enabled him.
No one really got what they wanted, Bette included. But she came close a time or two.
Fun story!
Recommended.
September 23, 2018
This is a soap opera masquerading as a classic. It has all the right ingredients.
* A husband, a baron, who has spent all the family money on other women.
* A wife who justifies acting like a doormat by saying it is religious feminine submission.
* An in-law who threatens to put the kybosh on any potential "good match" marriage for their dowry-less but pretty (and rather boring) daughter Hortense if religious doormat doesn't sleep with him.
* Cousin Bette, the protagonist of the story, who is the plain, poor relation given shelter by the Baron, but must earn her own living and who is a jealous, vengeful and cunning woman.
* A talented sculptor who leads on and exploits Cousin Bette for what she can do for him, but falls in love with Hortense (and marries her after he has become rich through using her connections).
* A beautiful mistress/whore, Valerie. Lots of French classics have a woman who exploits her looks but is eventually brought low. Camille in La Dame aux Cam茅lias, Nana, Madame Bovary to name a few I've read.
* The poor but handsome lover of the mistress who is used for sex and spurned because he hasn't got enough money. He's going to have his revenge too.
* More than a hint of lesbianism between the vengeful Bette and the greedy Valerie.
Everyone gets their just desserts in the end, except, mystifingly, the Baron who on his saintly wife's demise marries a servant girl and is happy as a hare in clover satisfied with his comfortable life and lots of sex.
Balzac did write this as a series and it is both light fiction and great literature. It explores the themes of wealth, beauty, cruelty, passion and religion in an elegant fashion. This is what makes it such a good read, a good plot, great characters and plenty of depth to flesh out the story into a real experience. But 4 stars rather than 5 because it does take a bit of wading through.
January 11, 2018
Compelling (and unsavory) characters drew me into Honore de Balzac's Cousin Bette (1846). The main plot centers on Cousin Bette's revenge on her family; however, all the stories which make up the novel are imbued by obsessions which drive the narrative to its dark end. Much of how I described Balzac's earlier novel, Pere Goriot, holds true for Cousin Bette; Balzac's impressively/exhaustively detailed style is at work here. The layers of detail allow readers to immerse themselves in early 19th century French society in general and more specifically in the depiction of the drawn out spiteful vengeance Bette exacts on her family. Once immersed, it can be overwhelming to stand in Balzac's world, but it's probably as close as any of us will get to hanging out with scheming relatives (in 19th century France).
February 16, 2022
After a run of reading more modern books that have left me underwhelmed I thought it was time to remind myself of how great a novel can be. I had had this sitting on my shelf for a while but was feeling too tired to commit to 450 pages and the exertions of flipping back and forth to the notes explaining the history of some law that is referenced in passing. Fool!
This Penguin edition is fantastic; a very brief introduction (I only read the introduction after
I鈥檝e finished the book when you can understand what they are talking about and there is no risk of spoilers) and absolutely no notes bar a few footnotes. This meant the narrative spoke for itself and could be read without interruption and what a wonderful read it was.
In terms of characterisation Balzac is akin to Dickens, Cousin Bette is populated by caricatures. There is the malicious, scheming eponymous spinster who is skinny, dark and sports a monobrow, her saintly cousin Adeline who is beauty personified and endlessly patient and forgiving, the greedy, cruel bewitching courtesan and the sexually incontinent baron among others. Yet Balzac has none of the moralising or sentimentality of Dickens. Characters suffer, characters cheat and fail morally and yet the author remains objective and does not offer any opprobrium on them. Instead it is left to the reader to pass judgment on their actions.
This book is described as a book about vengeance but I would argue it is more about the self-destructive nature of selfishness and greed. Despite being the eponymous character Cousin Bette does remarkably little to bring her cousin, and by association the Hulot family, down. She, in many ways, is a Iago. She has to do remarkably little to exploit the weaknesses in each character and once that faultline has been found she can observe them destroy themselves.
It is with discomfort that we read of husbands and fathers abandoning and impoverishing their families in the pursuit of sex. Baron Hulot, a handsome, charming man of renown brazenly parades his courtesans around town, paying for them to live in splendour while his family home is in genteel decay. Balzac鈥檚 description of the Baron鈥檚 home is wonderful.
Cousin Bette, who was not impressed, as the newly rich ex-perfumer had been, by the signs of distress written on the worn chairs, the discoloured hangings, and the split silk. The furniture with which we live is in the same case as ourselves . Seeing ourselves every day, we come, like the Baron, to think ourselves little changed, still young, while other people see on our heads hair turning to chinchilla, V-shaped furrows on our foreheads, and great pumpkins in our bellies. These rooms were still lit for Cousin Bette by the Bengal lights of Imperial victories and shone with perennial splendour.
Like an addict he cannot give up these women and having spent his children鈥檚 inheritance, borrowed from everyone possible and even committed fraud against the state will watch his wife move into a garret and work for a living rather than give up his women. The bleakest moment is at the end, in his twilight years (he is over 80) penniless, shabby and looking his age, he still cannot resist the lure of female flesh and again abandons his family for a young kitchen maid 鈥� his prizes are no longer the beauties and courtesans but dumpy, plain uneducated serving girls as befits the reduction in his circumstances.
The courtesans are no less lacking in empathy. They happily drain the coffers of their marks using enough of the flirt an withdrawal, kindness and coldness that today we would call it coercive control.
Madame Marneffe has an addiction of her own; money. To me she also seemed to have a rage at the world, a need to take everything until she has destroyed it fully. She does this with the men who pay court to her. She will not stop tightening the screws until she has every last sou out of them and has nothing but contempt for the families she is fully aware she is destroying. What makes her so monstrous is her desire to inflict pain on people she has never met and have done her no ill, her greed is incidental (or at best secondary) to her malice and it often seems that money is the method with which she achieves her aims rather than the purpose.
While reading it I kept thinking how inconceivable it was that people would behave like this and then I thought about online scams where people are fleeced of huge amounts of money by the promise of an attractive object of their affection. I personally know of someone who gave her young children鈥檚 savings to a man she had never met in person but had believed she would set up home with him. At least the Baron knew what he was willing to sacrifice everything for. Similarly Madame Marneffe seemed just too cruel and manipulative to be credible, and then I watched The Puppet Master on Netflix and realised that there are people who can strip people of family, finances, autonomy and care not a jot.
A painful but wonderful read.
This Penguin edition is fantastic; a very brief introduction (I only read the introduction after
I鈥檝e finished the book when you can understand what they are talking about and there is no risk of spoilers) and absolutely no notes bar a few footnotes. This meant the narrative spoke for itself and could be read without interruption and what a wonderful read it was.
In terms of characterisation Balzac is akin to Dickens, Cousin Bette is populated by caricatures. There is the malicious, scheming eponymous spinster who is skinny, dark and sports a monobrow, her saintly cousin Adeline who is beauty personified and endlessly patient and forgiving, the greedy, cruel bewitching courtesan and the sexually incontinent baron among others. Yet Balzac has none of the moralising or sentimentality of Dickens. Characters suffer, characters cheat and fail morally and yet the author remains objective and does not offer any opprobrium on them. Instead it is left to the reader to pass judgment on their actions.
This book is described as a book about vengeance but I would argue it is more about the self-destructive nature of selfishness and greed. Despite being the eponymous character Cousin Bette does remarkably little to bring her cousin, and by association the Hulot family, down. She, in many ways, is a Iago. She has to do remarkably little to exploit the weaknesses in each character and once that faultline has been found she can observe them destroy themselves.
It is with discomfort that we read of husbands and fathers abandoning and impoverishing their families in the pursuit of sex. Baron Hulot, a handsome, charming man of renown brazenly parades his courtesans around town, paying for them to live in splendour while his family home is in genteel decay. Balzac鈥檚 description of the Baron鈥檚 home is wonderful.
Cousin Bette, who was not impressed, as the newly rich ex-perfumer had been, by the signs of distress written on the worn chairs, the discoloured hangings, and the split silk. The furniture with which we live is in the same case as ourselves . Seeing ourselves every day, we come, like the Baron, to think ourselves little changed, still young, while other people see on our heads hair turning to chinchilla, V-shaped furrows on our foreheads, and great pumpkins in our bellies. These rooms were still lit for Cousin Bette by the Bengal lights of Imperial victories and shone with perennial splendour.
Like an addict he cannot give up these women and having spent his children鈥檚 inheritance, borrowed from everyone possible and even committed fraud against the state will watch his wife move into a garret and work for a living rather than give up his women. The bleakest moment is at the end, in his twilight years (he is over 80) penniless, shabby and looking his age, he still cannot resist the lure of female flesh and again abandons his family for a young kitchen maid 鈥� his prizes are no longer the beauties and courtesans but dumpy, plain uneducated serving girls as befits the reduction in his circumstances.
The courtesans are no less lacking in empathy. They happily drain the coffers of their marks using enough of the flirt an withdrawal, kindness and coldness that today we would call it coercive control.
Madame Marneffe has an addiction of her own; money. To me she also seemed to have a rage at the world, a need to take everything until she has destroyed it fully. She does this with the men who pay court to her. She will not stop tightening the screws until she has every last sou out of them and has nothing but contempt for the families she is fully aware she is destroying. What makes her so monstrous is her desire to inflict pain on people she has never met and have done her no ill, her greed is incidental (or at best secondary) to her malice and it often seems that money is the method with which she achieves her aims rather than the purpose.
While reading it I kept thinking how inconceivable it was that people would behave like this and then I thought about online scams where people are fleeced of huge amounts of money by the promise of an attractive object of their affection. I personally know of someone who gave her young children鈥檚 savings to a man she had never met in person but had believed she would set up home with him. At least the Baron knew what he was willing to sacrifice everything for. Similarly Madame Marneffe seemed just too cruel and manipulative to be credible, and then I watched The Puppet Master on Netflix and realised that there are people who can strip people of family, finances, autonomy and care not a jot.
A painful but wonderful read.
February 26, 2019
SWEET LAND OF LIBERTINES
If you fancy yourself a moralist, you may wanna skip this one. As the undoubted precursor to/playbook for modern-day soap operas, Cousin Bette involves:
It seemed realistic and true to the human condition... an exploration of a society uninhibited. Balzac wrote Cousin Bette in 1847 in France at the height of the "libertine" philosophy holding that one need not be restrained by the morals of society, including monogamy and marriage, but should instead seek out and enjoy all of life's pleasures (particularly a variety of sexual partners) with no regard to harm done to others (Note: my uneducated synopsis of Libertinism, which also fits my idea of biblical Sodom and Gomorrah).
Here, money and sex are bartering and blackmail chips; virtues like honor and loyalty take second seat to instant gratification and debauchery. Guilt and regret are non-existent.
The name is somewhat misleading. Cousin Bette is the old maid jilted by her infatuation for Wenceslas in favor of her angelic cousin Hortense Hurlot. As a result, she schemes to ruin the Hurlot family through a temptress named Madame Marneffe, who is as easy as an old shoe. Daddy Hurlot and the Mayor are also sleeping with the Mdme. I cannot start describing the rest of the story without going down a path littered with raunch and degradation.
I wanted to read at least one Balzac novel so I picked this one and read it a few summers back [review updated from then]. I give it 4 stars because there is something to be said for keeping all this straight and being the primary trailblazer of realism in fiction. Plus this is just a part of a larger, loosely-tied sequence of novels and short stories, La Comedie humaine, in which Balzac presented his panoramic view of life in France after Napoleon's downfall in 1815. So many great authors followed his lead in the 20th century in Europe and America and set the world afire down so many different paths toward truth and humanity that are each so unique.
If you fancy yourself a moralist, you may wanna skip this one. As the undoubted precursor to/playbook for modern-day soap operas, Cousin Bette involves:
marital cruelty, sexual blackmail, spite-filled revenge, prostitution, unconscionable adultery, women with irresistible sexual allure to men, men and women having a number of different sexual partners (in a day), theft, poisons, passion-filled murder, and just about every other sin and demoralizing character defect one can imagine.
It seemed realistic and true to the human condition... an exploration of a society uninhibited. Balzac wrote Cousin Bette in 1847 in France at the height of the "libertine" philosophy holding that one need not be restrained by the morals of society, including monogamy and marriage, but should instead seek out and enjoy all of life's pleasures (particularly a variety of sexual partners) with no regard to harm done to others (Note: my uneducated synopsis of Libertinism, which also fits my idea of biblical Sodom and Gomorrah).
Here, money and sex are bartering and blackmail chips; virtues like honor and loyalty take second seat to instant gratification and debauchery. Guilt and regret are non-existent.
The name is somewhat misleading. Cousin Bette is the old maid jilted by her infatuation for Wenceslas in favor of her angelic cousin Hortense Hurlot. As a result, she schemes to ruin the Hurlot family through a temptress named Madame Marneffe, who is as easy as an old shoe. Daddy Hurlot and the Mayor are also sleeping with the Mdme. I cannot start describing the rest of the story without going down a path littered with raunch and degradation.
I wanted to read at least one Balzac novel so I picked this one and read it a few summers back [review updated from then]. I give it 4 stars because there is something to be said for keeping all this straight and being the primary trailblazer of realism in fiction. Plus this is just a part of a larger, loosely-tied sequence of novels and short stories, La Comedie humaine, in which Balzac presented his panoramic view of life in France after Napoleon's downfall in 1815. So many great authors followed his lead in the 20th century in Europe and America and set the world afire down so many different paths toward truth and humanity that are each so unique.
November 17, 2024
I really enjoyed this, it felt loosely Ferrante style in the city element and the family intrigue x Dark, political and rich writing heavy xx
November 6, 2020
I am no literary critic. I will merely try and express what I experienced while reading this book.
I am glad I read it, but I admire the author's opus more than I enjoyed it. Honestly, it was often a struggle.
It has a very slow start. The book's narrator, after a third of the way through, states that only now will the story begin. All that before had just been an introduction to the characters! That "introduction" doesn't read as a normal introduction; you are thrown into events that you scarcely comprehend. Often I was confused, and so also upset, but always I did eventually come to understand what was happening. There are lots of characters. Actually, the number is not the main problem. The confusion is caused by the immense amount of details thrown at you. When I begin a book, I have no idea where the book is leading so I try and remember e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. I was swamped. From all these details the author does periodically summarize and clarify so you do understand. These details do serve a purpose; they very accurately depict life in Paris in the early 1840s.
The book was first published in serial format in Le Constitutionanel. Balzac wrote it to compete against another popular feuilleton author, Eug猫ne Sue, of a socialist bent. Balzac supported the House of Bourbon and venerated Napol茅on Bonaparte as a champion of absolutist power. Balzac鈥檚 aim was to realistically describe life after Napol茅on鈥檚 fall. Given that it was published as a feuilleton, he was writing for people of his day. References are made to individuals and events that were the talk of the town. So they understood what he was referring to much better than we do! Much is left unexplained. In addition, the popularity and success of the writing depended upon keeping readers engaged. Melodrama, excitement, titillating scenes and moralistic elements pepper the writing. This very much affects the writing style. I think he magnificently depicts the different social classes vying against each other in Paris, but as with other books written in serial format something quick and exciting must happen in each episode. Do you see why I admire the writing, but don't really love it?
Then there are the characters. Some critics say his figures are complex. I didn鈥檛 see them that way. The reader easily spots different character types:
Bette - think of one seeking revenge. She is the cousin of Adeline.
Val茅rie Marneffe - the beautiful, seductive, greedy mistress of four. And she is married!
Baron Hector Hulot - consumed by sex. Let鈥檚 just call him the dirty old man.
Baroness Adeline Hulot - Hector鈥檚 saintly wife.
C茅lestin Crevel - the wealthy, retired tradesman and rival of Hulot. Here and elsewhere Balzac shows the importance of wealth.
Wenceslas Steinbock - the artist. Here Balzac has a chance to spell out what it takes to succeed in art 鈥� hard work! You can reflect on Balzac鈥檚 own efforts. He wrote this novel in two months! His health suffered.
There are several more figures in the families:
Hortense Hulot - daughter of the Hulots married to Wenceslas
Victorin Hulot - the Hulots' son married to Celestine.
Celestine - Crevel's daughter married to Victorin
Mar茅chal Hulot - Hector Hulot's honorable brother
Johann Fischer 鈥� an uncle of the Hulot family, someone handy to send to Algiers to embezzle funds
And mistresses and lovers:
Jos茅pha Mirah - singer, Jewish, abandoned child
Baron Henri Mont猫s de Mont茅janos - another Baron, another lover, but Brazilian this time
Agathe - kitchenmaid, mistress and........
I am listing the characters for two reasons. To help those planning on reading the book and to illustrate the caricature each represents. I prefer more complicated, complex characters. I don鈥檛 see them that way. There is a strong moral message conveyed.
Yet, Balzac did have a great idea in writing his Com茅die humaine, a multi-volume collection of interlinked novels sharing many of the same characters. He completed over 90 novels and had begun over 40 more. You hit upon characters that have turned up in other novels. You remember other things they have done and said. This added depth for me. In I met the criminal in-hiding, Vautrin. Here he is in the police force, and we meet more of his family! Doctor Bianchon was one of the diners at the lodging house Mason Vauque. We meet him here too. I liked this very much. You don鈥檛 have to read the books in a particular order, but the more you read and the more you know, the fuller the story becomes. As in real life, as with real people, the more you learn about each, the more interesting they become. You become curious for more.
The audiobook I listened to was narrated by Johanna Ward / Kate Reading. She knows how to pronounce French correctly. That is important. For me she spoke too quickly. She dramatizes, but she does this well. Me, I would give the narration four stars.
So the book IS worth reading, but it is difficult. You have to pay close attention. It is by no means an easy read. For me it was a bit too didactic, a bit to melodramatic, its characters a bit too simplified. The next I will read from the Com茅die humaine will be . My curiosity has been piqued and I do want more, but I need a breather first.
I am glad I read it, but I admire the author's opus more than I enjoyed it. Honestly, it was often a struggle.
It has a very slow start. The book's narrator, after a third of the way through, states that only now will the story begin. All that before had just been an introduction to the characters! That "introduction" doesn't read as a normal introduction; you are thrown into events that you scarcely comprehend. Often I was confused, and so also upset, but always I did eventually come to understand what was happening. There are lots of characters. Actually, the number is not the main problem. The confusion is caused by the immense amount of details thrown at you. When I begin a book, I have no idea where the book is leading so I try and remember e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. I was swamped. From all these details the author does periodically summarize and clarify so you do understand. These details do serve a purpose; they very accurately depict life in Paris in the early 1840s.
The book was first published in serial format in Le Constitutionanel. Balzac wrote it to compete against another popular feuilleton author, Eug猫ne Sue, of a socialist bent. Balzac supported the House of Bourbon and venerated Napol茅on Bonaparte as a champion of absolutist power. Balzac鈥檚 aim was to realistically describe life after Napol茅on鈥檚 fall. Given that it was published as a feuilleton, he was writing for people of his day. References are made to individuals and events that were the talk of the town. So they understood what he was referring to much better than we do! Much is left unexplained. In addition, the popularity and success of the writing depended upon keeping readers engaged. Melodrama, excitement, titillating scenes and moralistic elements pepper the writing. This very much affects the writing style. I think he magnificently depicts the different social classes vying against each other in Paris, but as with other books written in serial format something quick and exciting must happen in each episode. Do you see why I admire the writing, but don't really love it?
Then there are the characters. Some critics say his figures are complex. I didn鈥檛 see them that way. The reader easily spots different character types:
Bette - think of one seeking revenge. She is the cousin of Adeline.
Val茅rie Marneffe - the beautiful, seductive, greedy mistress of four. And she is married!
Baron Hector Hulot - consumed by sex. Let鈥檚 just call him the dirty old man.
Baroness Adeline Hulot - Hector鈥檚 saintly wife.
C茅lestin Crevel - the wealthy, retired tradesman and rival of Hulot. Here and elsewhere Balzac shows the importance of wealth.
Wenceslas Steinbock - the artist. Here Balzac has a chance to spell out what it takes to succeed in art 鈥� hard work! You can reflect on Balzac鈥檚 own efforts. He wrote this novel in two months! His health suffered.
There are several more figures in the families:
Hortense Hulot - daughter of the Hulots married to Wenceslas
Victorin Hulot - the Hulots' son married to Celestine.
Celestine - Crevel's daughter married to Victorin
Mar茅chal Hulot - Hector Hulot's honorable brother
Johann Fischer 鈥� an uncle of the Hulot family, someone handy to send to Algiers to embezzle funds
And mistresses and lovers:
Jos茅pha Mirah - singer, Jewish, abandoned child
Baron Henri Mont猫s de Mont茅janos - another Baron, another lover, but Brazilian this time
Agathe - kitchenmaid, mistress and........
I am listing the characters for two reasons. To help those planning on reading the book and to illustrate the caricature each represents. I prefer more complicated, complex characters. I don鈥檛 see them that way. There is a strong moral message conveyed.
Yet, Balzac did have a great idea in writing his Com茅die humaine, a multi-volume collection of interlinked novels sharing many of the same characters. He completed over 90 novels and had begun over 40 more. You hit upon characters that have turned up in other novels. You remember other things they have done and said. This added depth for me. In I met the criminal in-hiding, Vautrin. Here he is in the police force, and we meet more of his family! Doctor Bianchon was one of the diners at the lodging house Mason Vauque. We meet him here too. I liked this very much. You don鈥檛 have to read the books in a particular order, but the more you read and the more you know, the fuller the story becomes. As in real life, as with real people, the more you learn about each, the more interesting they become. You become curious for more.
The audiobook I listened to was narrated by Johanna Ward / Kate Reading. She knows how to pronounce French correctly. That is important. For me she spoke too quickly. She dramatizes, but she does this well. Me, I would give the narration four stars.
So the book IS worth reading, but it is difficult. You have to pay close attention. It is by no means an easy read. For me it was a bit too didactic, a bit to melodramatic, its characters a bit too simplified. The next I will read from the Com茅die humaine will be . My curiosity has been piqued and I do want more, but I need a breather first.
May 13, 2024
The blurb says that the nasty old spinster Cousin Bette goes on a mission to destroy her supercilious condescending family, so I though well, that sounds fun!
It also says 鈥淐ousin Bette is a book in which Balzac is most characteristically and triumphantly himself鈥�. That turned out to be not so much fun because Balzac is an insufferable know it all who obsesses about a) people鈥檚 income; b) married men spending fortunes on their various mistresses, some of whom are more than somewhat young looking; and c) the quality of interior furnishing.
Well you might say this applies to most authors 鈥� they are knowitalls about the world they鈥檙e writing about, and they do love to describe rooms and furniture, especially in the olden days because due to a lack of tv nobody knew what anything looked like.
When I checked my review of the only other Balzac I read 鈥� Old Goriot 鈥� I see it began very badly and tediously and then warmed up and I liked it in the end. But after dozens and dozens of pages of Cousin Bette he was still describing jewelery and mistresses and how if you could flash enough cash you could get yourself any pretty woman you cared to in France in the 1830s. Yourself being a man, of course.
So this is going to be all about hypocrisy and double standards and the awfulness of the rich and the even more awfulness of the many people trying to become rich or trying to pretend they鈥檙e still rich. I kind of ran out of patience before the plot got going. This book got to feel like medicine for an ailment I didn't have.
I hope Cousin Bette and her monobrow utterly wrecked this ghastly family and she shouldn鈥檛 have stopped there either. She should have formed a group of ninja guerrilla spinsters who could bring down all these lofty misstresstaking grandees with well-aimed poison darts. But I will never know.
As Elvis said
A little less conversation, a little more action, please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
It also says 鈥淐ousin Bette is a book in which Balzac is most characteristically and triumphantly himself鈥�. That turned out to be not so much fun because Balzac is an insufferable know it all who obsesses about a) people鈥檚 income; b) married men spending fortunes on their various mistresses, some of whom are more than somewhat young looking; and c) the quality of interior furnishing.
Well you might say this applies to most authors 鈥� they are knowitalls about the world they鈥檙e writing about, and they do love to describe rooms and furniture, especially in the olden days because due to a lack of tv nobody knew what anything looked like.
When I checked my review of the only other Balzac I read 鈥� Old Goriot 鈥� I see it began very badly and tediously and then warmed up and I liked it in the end. But after dozens and dozens of pages of Cousin Bette he was still describing jewelery and mistresses and how if you could flash enough cash you could get yourself any pretty woman you cared to in France in the 1830s. Yourself being a man, of course.
So this is going to be all about hypocrisy and double standards and the awfulness of the rich and the even more awfulness of the many people trying to become rich or trying to pretend they鈥檙e still rich. I kind of ran out of patience before the plot got going. This book got to feel like medicine for an ailment I didn't have.
I hope Cousin Bette and her monobrow utterly wrecked this ghastly family and she shouldn鈥檛 have stopped there either. She should have formed a group of ninja guerrilla spinsters who could bring down all these lofty misstresstaking grandees with well-aimed poison darts. But I will never know.
As Elvis said
A little less conversation, a little more action, please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
September 13, 2017
Despite some narrative leaps and a reversal of fortune for several of the characters, I truly loved this novel. It was a perfect, snowy weekend for such. The pacing, except for the end, was sublime and supported with equal measures of vitriol and detail.
There is much to say about a family in decline, if not peril. I rank Cousin Bette with Buddenbrooks and The Sound and the Fury.
There is much to say about a family in decline, if not peril. I rank Cousin Bette with Buddenbrooks and The Sound and the Fury.
November 18, 2022
袩褉懈蟹薪邪褞褋褜, 锌芯薪邪褔邪谢褍 屑械薪褟 斜械褋懈谢懈 袗写械谢懈薪邪 懈 袚芯褉褌械薪蟹懈褟, 锌褉邪蟹写薪褘械 卸械薪褖懈薪褘, 泻芯褌芯褉褘褏 袘邪谢褜蟹邪泻 懈蟹芯斜褉邪卸邪谢 懈写械邪谢邪屑懈, 薪械懈蟹屑械薪薪芯 薪邪谐褉邪卸写邪褟 褝锌懈褌械褌邪屑懈 芦褝褌邪 褋胁褟锟斤拷邪褟 卸械薪褖懈薪邪禄 锌褉芯 屑邪褌褜 懈 芦锌褉械泻褉邪褋薪邪褟禄 锌褉芯 写芯褔褜. 袘械褌褌邪 芯泻邪蟹邪谢邪褋褜 褍屑薪芯泄 卸械薪褖懈薪芯泄, 薪械 褋褌邪胁褕械泄 胁褋褌褍锌邪褌褜 胁 薪械褉邪胁薪褍褞 芯褌泻褉褘褌褍褞 斜芯褉褜斜褍, 芯薪邪 褋写械谢邪谢邪 褋械斜褟 褋邪屑邪, 褉邪斜芯褌邪谢邪 屑邪褋褌械褉懈褑械泄-蟹芯谢芯褌芯褕胁械泄泻芯泄 懈 蟹邪褉邪斜邪褌褘胁邪谢邪 褋械斜械 褝褌懈屑 褉械屑械褋谢芯屑 薪邪 褏谢械斜. 校 薪械械 斜褘谢 褋懈谢褜薪褘泄 褏邪褉邪泻褌械褉, 锌芯褋泻芯谢褜泻褍 芯薪邪 薪械 蟹邪褏芯褌械谢邪 胁褘泄褌懈 蟹邪屑褍卸 蟹邪 褔械褌褘褉械褏 屑褍卸褔懈薪, 泻芯褌芯褉褘褏 械泄 褋胁邪褌邪谢懈, 邪 胁褘斜褉邪谢邪 褋邪屑邪 褋胁芯械谐芯 胁芯蟹谢褞斜谢械薪薪芯谐芯. 袝械 褋懈谢褘 写褍褏邪 褏胁邪褌懈谢芯 蟹邪 薪懈褏 芯斜芯懈褏, 芯薪邪 屑芯褉邪谢褜薪芯 锌芯屑芯谐邪谢邪 械屑褍 褌邪泻, 褔褌芯 芯薪 薪邪褔邪谢 写械谢邪褌褜 褍褋锌械褏懈 懈 斜褘谢 蟹邪屑械褔械薪. 袦薪械 薪械 锌芯薪褉邪胁懈谢芯褋褜, 褔褌芯 袘邪谢褜蟹邪泻 芯褋褍卸写邪械褌 械械 懈 褋褔懈褌邪械褌, 褔褌芯 褍 袚芯褉褌械薪蟹懈懈 械褋褌褜 屑芯褉邪谢褜薪芯械 锌褉邪胁芯, 芯褌斜懈胁 胁芯蟹谢褞斜谢械薪薪芯谐芯 褍 袘械褌褌褘, 卸械薪懈褌褜 械谐芯 薪邪 褋械斜械, 邪 褍 袘械褌褌褘 薪械褌 屑芯褉邪谢褜薪芯谐芯 锌褉邪胁邪 屑褋褌懈褌褜 蟹邪 褝褌芯, 泻邪泻 懈 褍 袙邪谢械褉懈 薪械褌 屑芯褉邪谢褜薪芯谐芯 锌褉邪胁邪 芯褌斜懈褌褜 褍 袚芯褉褌械薪蟹懈懈 袙械薪褑械褋谢邪胁邪. 协褌芯 写械泄褋褌胁懈褌械谢褜薪芯, 褉芯屑邪薪 芯 薪褉邪胁邪褏, 泻芯谐写邪 芯褌褑褘 褋械屑械泄褋褌胁 锌褉芯屑邪褌褘胁邪谢懈 褋芯褋褌芯褟薪懈褟 薪邪 褋芯写械褉卸邪薪芯泻, 懈 褍 芯写薪芯泄 褋芯写械褉卸邪薪泻懈 斜褘谢芯 锌芯 薪械褋泻芯谢褜泻褍 褋芯锌械褉薪懈褔邪褞褖懈褏 屑械卸写褍 褋芯斜芯泄 谢褞斜芯胁薪懈泻芯胁, 褔邪褋褌芯 蟹薪邪胁褕懈褏 芯 褋褍褖械褋褌胁芯胁邪薪懈懈 写褉褍谐 写褉褍谐邪. 袙 泻芯薪褑械, 泻芯谐写邪 袗写械谢懈薪邪 薪邪褔邪谢邪 蟹邪薪懈屑邪褌褜褋褟 斜谢邪谐芯褌胁芯褉懈褌械谢褜薪芯褋褌褜褞 懈 锌芯谢褍褔邪褌褜 蟹邪 褝褌芯 蟹邪褉锌谢邪褌褍, 芯薪邪 褋褌邪谢邪 蟹邪褋谢褍卸懈胁邪褌褜 斜芯谢褜褕械谐芯 褍胁邪卸械薪懈褟, 薪芯 褝锌懈褌械褌褘 芦褋胁褟褌邪褟 卸械薪褖懈薪邪禄 胁褋械 褉邪胁薪芯 泻邪蟹邪谢懈褋褜 薪械褍屑械褋褌薪褘屑懈. 袠 胁褋械 卸械, 褝褌芯 褉芯屑邪薪 薪械 芯 袘械褌褌械, 邪 芯 褋械屑械泄薪芯泄 写褉邪屑械 袗写械谢懈薪褘.
October 3, 2023
This book is about extreme vice versus extreme virtue. There is no middle! The characters are either very bad or very good. How can a serial adulterer who was the cause of at least 3 people's death due to his actions be called a victim? How can all the fault be with the woman who "seduced" the man??
This book is mainly about cousin Bette's jealousy of her relatives and her hatred and decision to ruin them; but the problem is that the relatives ruin themselves by their own idiotic or selfish actions. Throughout the story the only role of cousin Bette was spying and putting oil on fire!!!
And in the end what happens? Vice wins!
And why should we call a wife who doesn't mind her husband having several mistresses (including 15 year old girls), even to the extent of ruining her and her daughter's life, "virtuous", only the writer knows!
Update: Recently I got my answers to the above questions: Balzac was a chauvinist.
This book is mainly about cousin Bette's jealousy of her relatives and her hatred and decision to ruin them; but the problem is that the relatives ruin themselves by their own idiotic or selfish actions. Throughout the story the only role of cousin Bette was spying and putting oil on fire!!!
And in the end what happens? Vice wins!
And why should we call a wife who doesn't mind her husband having several mistresses (including 15 year old girls), even to the extent of ruining her and her daughter's life, "virtuous", only the writer knows!
Update: Recently I got my answers to the above questions: Balzac was a chauvinist.
Read
October 3, 2023Despite the title, cousin Bette does not, at least apparently, play the lead role. Balzac's attention is not so much draw to the biography of a character, as to the biography of that epoch.
Intriguing, voluntary, sadistic, tenacious, hypocritical, the modest cousin embodies in a synthetic portrait the features of the class of the time she is going through. It can be said that, as the presence of a virus unleashes the plague, the ambitious woman radiates evil, giving the whole picture a gloomy meaning. Under her seemingly innocence, Bette disguises a ferocious soul.
Ancient rages did not cover their faces, but this modern Fury wears an angelic mask.
The realist Balzac folows the alternations between the apparent and the hidden content, the interest going beyond the plastic of the picture, to the depth, in fact, in such pictures the history of the French bourgeoisie appears critically reconstructed, its morals being seen from within by a bourgeois for whom there is no secret, the pen of the realist reaching deep wounds , the word becoming an act of accusation against the bourgeois order and false values.
The anatomist concerned with the dissection sees the details, the physiologist Balzac sees the relation between phenomena, he studies morals, seeking like a scientist, performance and laws.
It would be difficult to judge a man only on his own, for the honest Mrs.Hulot, Bette is a kind of idol, but Bette is an idol who - unable to reach - will rejoice in the ruin of the rich. Baron Hulot ruins his family, and Bette offers him all the support in that direction, but playing the role of a guardian-angel. She leads a surprisingly natural double life.
Here, is a fundamental feature of the balzacian technique : one single side of the heroes, defining for a character, appears exaggerated to the point of monstrosity. You could have the impression of a journey through the lands of Dante, among dehumanized apparitions.
Here I see the Human Comedy just like it is, of a crisp realism. Glacially in appearance, Balzac penetrates the intimacy of things, beyond what a photographic plate offers. As a writer, he addresses intelligence, the whole epic seeking to highlight meanings, inapparent connections . How does " the one who studies society" explain Bette's wickedness ? In an old-girl, only one side of character develops, to the detriment of the others, virginity favoring the imbalance :))
With such beings, idealized in the opposite direction, we are co-opted into a world that, if it weren't outrageously real, it would seem like a tragic fairy tale.
In fairy tales, takes place the battle between good and evil, but here, on a large stretch, the darkness persists.
Like other balzacian novels, " Cousin Bette " - has a moving, dramatic structure. In the Dante's comedy shadows and ghosts dialogued, here - we meet people, people of rare vitality.
What I noticed about the creator of Human Comedy - is that the future does not exists, everything represents the present.
Intriguing, voluntary, sadistic, tenacious, hypocritical, the modest cousin embodies in a synthetic portrait the features of the class of the time she is going through. It can be said that, as the presence of a virus unleashes the plague, the ambitious woman radiates evil, giving the whole picture a gloomy meaning. Under her seemingly innocence, Bette disguises a ferocious soul.
Ancient rages did not cover their faces, but this modern Fury wears an angelic mask.
The realist Balzac folows the alternations between the apparent and the hidden content, the interest going beyond the plastic of the picture, to the depth, in fact, in such pictures the history of the French bourgeoisie appears critically reconstructed, its morals being seen from within by a bourgeois for whom there is no secret, the pen of the realist reaching deep wounds , the word becoming an act of accusation against the bourgeois order and false values.
The anatomist concerned with the dissection sees the details, the physiologist Balzac sees the relation between phenomena, he studies morals, seeking like a scientist, performance and laws.
It would be difficult to judge a man only on his own, for the honest Mrs.Hulot, Bette is a kind of idol, but Bette is an idol who - unable to reach - will rejoice in the ruin of the rich. Baron Hulot ruins his family, and Bette offers him all the support in that direction, but playing the role of a guardian-angel. She leads a surprisingly natural double life.
Here, is a fundamental feature of the balzacian technique : one single side of the heroes, defining for a character, appears exaggerated to the point of monstrosity. You could have the impression of a journey through the lands of Dante, among dehumanized apparitions.
Here I see the Human Comedy just like it is, of a crisp realism. Glacially in appearance, Balzac penetrates the intimacy of things, beyond what a photographic plate offers. As a writer, he addresses intelligence, the whole epic seeking to highlight meanings, inapparent connections . How does " the one who studies society" explain Bette's wickedness ? In an old-girl, only one side of character develops, to the detriment of the others, virginity favoring the imbalance :))
With such beings, idealized in the opposite direction, we are co-opted into a world that, if it weren't outrageously real, it would seem like a tragic fairy tale.
In fairy tales, takes place the battle between good and evil, but here, on a large stretch, the darkness persists.
Like other balzacian novels, " Cousin Bette " - has a moving, dramatic structure. In the Dante's comedy shadows and ghosts dialogued, here - we meet people, people of rare vitality.
What I noticed about the creator of Human Comedy - is that the future does not exists, everything represents the present.
June 25, 2019
My first Balzac.
I had the impression, somewhere, that I would have to sit through some dreary pompous horrorshow, perhaps pulpy purple prose with a plethora of prodigious penuries.
But to be sure, I did get a horrorshow, but not the kind I expected. Indeed, I had a great time once I fell into a certain kind of groove. You know what I mean. The kind that you get into when reading a good Stephen King novel, revving up with a huge cast of dispicable human beings whom you have a great time rooting for their ultimate demises. Hopefully with some supernatural beastie tormenting them to their dooms. Or devils dragging them to suddenly opening graves. Something like that.
To think that this was considered one of the great REALIST novels! By a realist novelist! In all honesty, it reads like the plot of some 1980's daytime soap opera but placed in post-Napoleonic France.
Enter the mass-philandering Baron and his wife who doesn't care! Enter the disgruntled spinster who, just after finding a taste of love, has her younger cousin come in like a bitch to scoop him up, sending the spinster into a whirlwind of Italian rage and vengeance that will last the rest of their lives.
Is this total preoccupation with Sex and Death funny? Yep. As I said, I'm a fan of Stephen King. I rooted for EVERYONE'S ultimate tragedy. :)
If this is realism, then what does that say about me? Hmmmm... oh my.
I had the impression, somewhere, that I would have to sit through some dreary pompous horrorshow, perhaps pulpy purple prose with a plethora of prodigious penuries.
But to be sure, I did get a horrorshow, but not the kind I expected. Indeed, I had a great time once I fell into a certain kind of groove. You know what I mean. The kind that you get into when reading a good Stephen King novel, revving up with a huge cast of dispicable human beings whom you have a great time rooting for their ultimate demises. Hopefully with some supernatural beastie tormenting them to their dooms. Or devils dragging them to suddenly opening graves. Something like that.
To think that this was considered one of the great REALIST novels! By a realist novelist! In all honesty, it reads like the plot of some 1980's daytime soap opera but placed in post-Napoleonic France.
Enter the mass-philandering Baron and his wife who doesn't care! Enter the disgruntled spinster who, just after finding a taste of love, has her younger cousin come in like a bitch to scoop him up, sending the spinster into a whirlwind of Italian rage and vengeance that will last the rest of their lives.
Is this total preoccupation with Sex and Death funny? Yep. As I said, I'm a fan of Stephen King. I rooted for EVERYONE'S ultimate tragedy. :)
If this is realism, then what does that say about me? Hmmmm... oh my.
April 5, 2024
2024/20
I am starting to believe that Balzac is already my favorite French author. So is Zola, don鈥檛 get me wrong, but the more I read Balzac鈥檚 books, the more I realize it鈥檚 nearly impossible not to have an extraordinary experience. It doesn鈥檛 matter if it鈥檚 a short story, a novella, or a novel, Balzac always does a good job at depicting the society of his time, and showing the conflicts some people (characters) had to face back then. Thus, Cousin Bette is undoubtedly one of his greatest works.
Not only does Cousin Bette have a very intriguing, compelling plot, that shows how despicable and evil some individuals may be, but it is also beautifully written and meticulously crafted from cover to cover. It is right to say this is Balzac at his finest. Content-wise, it reminds me of Cousin Pons鈥攁nother book of Balzac鈥檚 I would highly recommend鈥攂ecause of the depiction of society and its customs, the characters and their cruel behavior towards others (though I must confess Cousin Bette has the most loathsome beings I have found, not only in a Balzac鈥檚 book, but in a novel overall, as far as I can remember), and their protagonists, notwithstanding their different personalities and beliefs.
Talking to a French friend of mine, I asked him if he had read some French classics in high school, if it is compulsory to read certain authors in France, such as Zola, Proust, Camus, etc., and he said that indeed you have to read lots of books during that period; he said that Balzac was one of his favorites and that Cousin Bette taught him that you shouldn鈥檛 trust someone who has once betrayed you that easily, that someone who is supposed to be in love with you shouldn鈥檛 hurt you to begin with, and that you should always be a good person, not because you are waiting for something in return, just for the sake of it. 鈥淒on鈥檛 be Bette,鈥� he laughed when saying it; 鈥渨hy?鈥� I asked. I had just started the novel when we had this conversation. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l find it out; in fact, don鈥檛 be like any of the characters in that book. Perhaps you will regret it.鈥� Now I know why he said what he said.
All in all, you should read Cousin Bette if:
鈥� you are up for a lot of drama,
鈥� you don鈥檛 mind reading a story with lots of despicable characters, especially when you can鈥檛 make up your mind as to who the worst is,
鈥� patience is a trait of yours, meaning that you鈥檒l have to wait a little so that the plot thickens,
鈥� you are a sucker for 19th-century French literature. In a nutshell, this is French literature through and through.
My rating on a scale of 1 to 5:
Quality of writing [4.5/5]
Pace [5/5]
Plot development [5/5]
Characters [4/5]
Enjoyability [4.5/5]
Insightfulness [4.5/5]
Easy of reading [5/5]
Photos/Illustrations [N/A]
Total [32.5/7] = 4.64
I am starting to believe that Balzac is already my favorite French author. So is Zola, don鈥檛 get me wrong, but the more I read Balzac鈥檚 books, the more I realize it鈥檚 nearly impossible not to have an extraordinary experience. It doesn鈥檛 matter if it鈥檚 a short story, a novella, or a novel, Balzac always does a good job at depicting the society of his time, and showing the conflicts some people (characters) had to face back then. Thus, Cousin Bette is undoubtedly one of his greatest works.
Not only does Cousin Bette have a very intriguing, compelling plot, that shows how despicable and evil some individuals may be, but it is also beautifully written and meticulously crafted from cover to cover. It is right to say this is Balzac at his finest. Content-wise, it reminds me of Cousin Pons鈥攁nother book of Balzac鈥檚 I would highly recommend鈥攂ecause of the depiction of society and its customs, the characters and their cruel behavior towards others (though I must confess Cousin Bette has the most loathsome beings I have found, not only in a Balzac鈥檚 book, but in a novel overall, as far as I can remember), and their protagonists, notwithstanding their different personalities and beliefs.
Talking to a French friend of mine, I asked him if he had read some French classics in high school, if it is compulsory to read certain authors in France, such as Zola, Proust, Camus, etc., and he said that indeed you have to read lots of books during that period; he said that Balzac was one of his favorites and that Cousin Bette taught him that you shouldn鈥檛 trust someone who has once betrayed you that easily, that someone who is supposed to be in love with you shouldn鈥檛 hurt you to begin with, and that you should always be a good person, not because you are waiting for something in return, just for the sake of it. 鈥淒on鈥檛 be Bette,鈥� he laughed when saying it; 鈥渨hy?鈥� I asked. I had just started the novel when we had this conversation. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l find it out; in fact, don鈥檛 be like any of the characters in that book. Perhaps you will regret it.鈥� Now I know why he said what he said.
All in all, you should read Cousin Bette if:
鈥� you are up for a lot of drama,
鈥� you don鈥檛 mind reading a story with lots of despicable characters, especially when you can鈥檛 make up your mind as to who the worst is,
鈥� patience is a trait of yours, meaning that you鈥檒l have to wait a little so that the plot thickens,
鈥� you are a sucker for 19th-century French literature. In a nutshell, this is French literature through and through.
My rating on a scale of 1 to 5:
Quality of writing [4.5/5]
Pace [5/5]
Plot development [5/5]
Characters [4/5]
Enjoyability [4.5/5]
Insightfulness [4.5/5]
Easy of reading [5/5]
Photos/Illustrations [N/A]
Total [32.5/7] = 4.64
April 12, 2017
螣 螠蟺伪位味伪魏 纬位伪蠁蠀蟻伪 魏伪喂 魏蠀谓喂魏伪 尉蔚渭蟺蟻慰蟽蟿喂伪味蔚喂 蟿畏谓 纬伪位位喂魏畏 魏慰喂谓蠅谓喂伪 未喂谓慰谓蟿伪蟼 蟽蟿慰 蔚蟻纬慰 蟿慰蠀 未喂伪蠂蟻慰谓喂魏畏 蟺慰喂慰蟿畏蟿伪. 螠蔚 魏伪胃蔚 蟺喂胃伪谓畏 渭慰蟻蠁畏 魏伪喂 蟿蟻慰蟺慰, 畏 螒蟻蔚蟿畏 魏伪喂 畏 螝伪魏喂伪 伪谓蟿喂渭伪蠂慰谓蟿伪喂 畏 渭喂伪 蟿畏谓 伪位位畏 渭蔚蠂蟻喂 胃伪谓伪蟿慰蠀 伪蟺慰蟿蔚位蠅谓蟿伪蟼 蟿喂蟼 未蠀慰 魏蠀蟻喂伪蟻蠂蔚蟼 未蠀谓伪渭蔚喂蟼 蟺慰蠀 魏伪谓慰蠀谓 伪蠀蟿慰谓 蟿慰谓 魏慰蟽渭慰 谓伪 纬蠀蟻喂味蔚喂. 围伪蟻伪魏蟿畏蟻蔚蟼 蟺蠅蟻蠅渭蔚谓慰喂, 蠁喂位畏未慰谓慰喂, 伪纬伪胃慰喂, 蔚魏未喂魏畏蟿喂魏慰喂, 渭喂味蔚蟻慰喂, 渭喂魏蟻慰蟺蟻蔚蟺蔚喂蟼, 纬慰畏蟿蔚蠀蟿喂魏慰喂, 蟺蔚蟻畏蠁伪谓慰喂, 伪谓喂蔚蟻慰喂, 蟺慰蟿伪蟺慰喂 魏伪喂 蟿伪蟺蔚喂谓慰喂 魏伪蟿伪魏位蠀味慰蠀谓 蟿喂蟼 蟽蔚位喂未蔚蟼 伪蠀蟿慰蠀 蟿慰蠀 慰喂魏慰纬蔚谓蔚喂伪魏慰蠀 未蟻伪渭伪蟿慰蟼 蟺慰蠀 蟺伪喂蟻谓蔚喂 未喂伪蟽蟿伪蟽蔚喂蟼 蟿蟻伪纬蠅未喂伪蟼 慰蟿伪谓 畏 蔚尉伪未蔚位蠁畏 螠蟺蔚蟿蟿蠀 蟺伪喂蟻谓蔚喂 蟿畏谓 伪蟺慰蠁伪蟽畏 谓伪 蔚魏未喂魏畏胃蔚喂 纬喂伪 慰位伪 蔚魏蔚喂谓伪 蟺慰蠀 蟿畏蟼 蟽蟿蔚蟻畏蟽伪谓. 危伪谓 蠁喂未喂 未喂谓蔚喂 胃伪谓伪蟽喂渭蔚蟼 未伪纬魏蠅渭伪蟿喂蔚蟼 魏伪喂 伪蟺蔚喂位蔚喂 谓伪 纬魏蟻蔚渭喂蟽蔚喂 蟿伪 胃蔚渭蔚位喂伪 蟿畏蟼 慰喂魏慰纬蔚谓蔚喂伪蟼 违位慰 蟺慰蠀 味蔚喂 渭蔚 伪蠀蟿伪蟺伪蟿蔚蟼 渭喂伪蟼 蠂伪渭蔚谓畏蟼 伪喂纬位畏蟼 魏伪喂 蟿蟻蔚蠁蔚喂 蟽蟿慰谓 魏慰蟻蠁慰 蟿畏蟼 蟿畏谓 蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟺慰蟺慰喂畏蟽畏 蟿慰蠀 伪蠂伪位喂谓蠅蟿慰蠀 蟺伪胃慰蠀蟼 (慰 伪蟽蠅蟿慰蟼 蟺伪蟿畏蟻). 螣 螠蟺伪位味伪魏 蟺位伪胃蔚喂 渭蔚 蟿蔚蟿慰喂慰 慰位慰魏位畏蟻蠅蟿喂魏慰(魏慰喂谓蠅谓喂魏伪, 未喂慰喂魏畏蟿喂魏伪,慰喂魏慰谓慰渭喂魏伪) 魏伪喂 伪蟺慰位伪蠀蟽蟿喂魏慰 蟿蟻慰蟺慰 蟿慰 蟺慰蟻蟿蟻伪喂蟿慰 蟿畏蟼 纬伪位位喂魏畏蟼 魏慰喂谓蠅谓喂伪蟼 蟿慰蠀 19慰蠀 伪喂蠅谓伪 蟺慰蠀 蟽蔚 蟽蠀谓伪蟻蟺伪味蔚喂 魏伪喂 蟽蔚 蟿伪蟻伪蟽蟽蔚喂 渭蔚 蟿畏谓 伪位畏胃蔚喂伪 蟿慰蠀 魏伪喂 蟿慰谓 蟻蔚伪位喂蟽渭慰 蟿慰蠀. 螤慰位喂蟿喂魏蔚蟼 渭畏蠂伪谓慰蟻蟻伪蠁喂蔚蟼 魏伪喂 渭喂伪 纬喂伪纬喂伪 蟺位畏蟻蠅渭蔚谓畏 未慰位慰蠁慰谓慰蟼 伪蟺慰蟿蔚位慰蠀谓 蟿慰 魏蔚蟻伪蟽伪魏喂 蟽蟿畏谓 蟿慰蠀蟻蟿伪. 螠蠀胃喂蟽蟿慰蟻喂慰纬蟻伪蠁喂伪 蟽蟿伪 魏伪位蠀蟿蔚蟻伪 蟿畏蟼, 纬蔚渭伪蟿畏 慰位慰味蠅谓蟿伪谓慰蠀蟼 未喂伪位慰纬慰蠀蟼.
July 9, 2011
This is the third time I have read this late masterpiece of Balzac's -- and it got better with each reading. There have been other novels (mostly European) about men who have ruined themselves for illicit love of other women, but Balzac's Baron Hector Hulot goes further than any of them. At the beginning of Cousin Bette, he is at his apogee: married to a loving woman, with two loving adult children -- and an incredible itch for what willing young women have to offer. I will not say what happens to him in the end, but his fall is precipitous and involves the ruin of his brother, his uncle (who commits suicide), and numerous others who are tangentially affected by his ways.
Rather than summarize the story, which the author handles masterfully, I thought I would discuss what makes for a great Balzac novel:
1. The best Balzac stories show temptations or character weaknesses to which the hero or heroine yields, and for which he or she suffers grievously. This ranges from the lecherousness of Hulot to the improvidence of C茅sar Birotteau the perfumer to the excessive indulgence of Old Goriot to his daughters to the blind ambition of Balthazar Claes in The Quest for the Absolute to find the alchemist's stone. Perhaps the classical plot in this respect is The Wild Ass's Skin.
2. Behind the best Balzac plots are demoniacal moneylenders who are never, ever bested in their transactions with mere mortals. In Cousin Bette, there is Vauvinet, but the best moneylender in his work is the eponymous hero of Gobseck.
3. Balzac's Paris is full of young dandies on the make who act as a kind of Greek chorus to the story. Perhaps the best depiction of them is in Lost Illusions.
4. Envy plays an outsize role in the world of Balzac. Whenever someone looks to be doing well, often one finds a sort of cabal forming to do him or her in. And this cabal is every bit as relentless as the moneylenders, with whom they are frequently in cahoots. Again, Lost Illusions is a prime example. This is related to the extreme vengeance that plays such a large part in Cousin Bette and Cousin Pons.
5. Not only evil, but good, sometimes acts under the cover of a seemingly all-powerful secret society. The classical case are the three stories collected under the title The Thirteen. For good, there is Mme de la Chanterie, who appears in the current novel and also, at greater length, in The Wrong Side of Paris. In Cousin Bette, we see the archvillain Vautrin, now become chief of police, working with dubious villains like Mme Nourrisson, to help Victorine Hulot wreak revenge on Mme de Marneffe.
6. There is something Mephistophelian in Balzac's best villains, especially Vautrin in the three or four novels in which he figures as a major character. I would have to include Mme de Marneffe, whose avarice is matched only by the unbridled lust of her lovers.
7. Although Balzac keeps returning to the balm of the Catholic Church, he likes to let his victims twist in the wind before they get any of the Church's benefits.
8. There are frequently large sums of money involved in highly complex financial transactions that defy anyone whose knowledge of French economics of the July monarchy is less than professorial. In this edition, in fact, there is an appendix entitled "Money Plot of Cousin Bette." Having read it, I'm still in the dark.
9. Balzac virtually invented the idea of the same characters appearing in two or more or even a dozen stories. Doctor Bianchon is, I believe, in over thirty of them. The more Balzac you read -- including the minor works and the shorter stories -- the more you will appreciate novels like this one, in which dozens of characters reappear elsewhere.
In short, looking back at the many Balzac novels I have read -- and I have read most of them -- I find myself looking at what its author called "The Human Comedy" -- men and women who fall far short of the ideal and are grievously punished for it.
The five novels I will list here are among the greatest works from the mind of man and well-deserving of close study by anyone who is interested in how human beings fall short of their hopes and aspirations: (a) P猫re Goriot; (b) Lost Illusions; (c) A Harlot High and Low; (d) Cousin Bette; and (e) Cousin Pons. I could easily have expanded the number to ten, or fifteen, or even more.
Rather than summarize the story, which the author handles masterfully, I thought I would discuss what makes for a great Balzac novel:
1. The best Balzac stories show temptations or character weaknesses to which the hero or heroine yields, and for which he or she suffers grievously. This ranges from the lecherousness of Hulot to the improvidence of C茅sar Birotteau the perfumer to the excessive indulgence of Old Goriot to his daughters to the blind ambition of Balthazar Claes in The Quest for the Absolute to find the alchemist's stone. Perhaps the classical plot in this respect is The Wild Ass's Skin.
2. Behind the best Balzac plots are demoniacal moneylenders who are never, ever bested in their transactions with mere mortals. In Cousin Bette, there is Vauvinet, but the best moneylender in his work is the eponymous hero of Gobseck.
3. Balzac's Paris is full of young dandies on the make who act as a kind of Greek chorus to the story. Perhaps the best depiction of them is in Lost Illusions.
4. Envy plays an outsize role in the world of Balzac. Whenever someone looks to be doing well, often one finds a sort of cabal forming to do him or her in. And this cabal is every bit as relentless as the moneylenders, with whom they are frequently in cahoots. Again, Lost Illusions is a prime example. This is related to the extreme vengeance that plays such a large part in Cousin Bette and Cousin Pons.
5. Not only evil, but good, sometimes acts under the cover of a seemingly all-powerful secret society. The classical case are the three stories collected under the title The Thirteen. For good, there is Mme de la Chanterie, who appears in the current novel and also, at greater length, in The Wrong Side of Paris. In Cousin Bette, we see the archvillain Vautrin, now become chief of police, working with dubious villains like Mme Nourrisson, to help Victorine Hulot wreak revenge on Mme de Marneffe.
6. There is something Mephistophelian in Balzac's best villains, especially Vautrin in the three or four novels in which he figures as a major character. I would have to include Mme de Marneffe, whose avarice is matched only by the unbridled lust of her lovers.
7. Although Balzac keeps returning to the balm of the Catholic Church, he likes to let his victims twist in the wind before they get any of the Church's benefits.
8. There are frequently large sums of money involved in highly complex financial transactions that defy anyone whose knowledge of French economics of the July monarchy is less than professorial. In this edition, in fact, there is an appendix entitled "Money Plot of Cousin Bette." Having read it, I'm still in the dark.
9. Balzac virtually invented the idea of the same characters appearing in two or more or even a dozen stories. Doctor Bianchon is, I believe, in over thirty of them. The more Balzac you read -- including the minor works and the shorter stories -- the more you will appreciate novels like this one, in which dozens of characters reappear elsewhere.
In short, looking back at the many Balzac novels I have read -- and I have read most of them -- I find myself looking at what its author called "The Human Comedy" -- men and women who fall far short of the ideal and are grievously punished for it.
The five novels I will list here are among the greatest works from the mind of man and well-deserving of close study by anyone who is interested in how human beings fall short of their hopes and aspirations: (a) P猫re Goriot; (b) Lost Illusions; (c) A Harlot High and Low; (d) Cousin Bette; and (e) Cousin Pons. I could easily have expanded the number to ten, or fifteen, or even more.
January 22, 2010
*Spoilers Inside* Sigh. It is a shame to give only 3 stars to a book so eloquently written, but what will linger in my mind about Cousin Bette 30 years from now will most likely be the rotten taste it has left in my mouth, not the honey-dipped words.
The first star was lost because I had to suffer through long sections of Balzac's rambling, misguided moralizing. His sermons seem to cover all topics, from the high-handed judgment of a variety of races to the merits of "good breeding." I like an author to fascinate me such that I feel like I would not be worthy to hold a conversation with them, if we were to meet. Unfortunately, I got the feeling that Balzac would be a remarkably loud and boring dinner guest who liked to listen to himself better than anyone else.
The second star was lost because I was left completely unsatisfied. Now don't tell me that if I want a happy ending I should go find a children's book. Here's the deal: the character who is "punished by the vengeance of God," as it was painted, Madame Marneffe of course, is not really the one I cared to see brought to justice. Yes, she was terrible and cruel. But who is to blame: the woman who mercilessly steals a family's honor and fortune, or the stupid and selfish man who hands it over to her willingly? No, I didn't really care about the Madame's fate. And Bette couldn't have been punished any more judiciously than she was in the end. But the Baron? What justice did he receive? None, of course. And while Adeline's character was honorable, on some level I see her impassioned hunt for him through the slums of Paris to be one of complete selfishness. He didn't want to come home, as he said and demonstrated to the very end. He even wished her dead, even more so when he came home, so she couldn't very well have saved him from God's wrath. I realize that she was supposed to have not seen this, but it certainly doesn't leave one impressed with Balzac's idea of perfect virtue. It seems that his definition of virtue boils down to martyrdom. And what a convenient bar to set for a woman of 19th century Paris. Furthermore, in the end Balzac glorifies Crevel, putting his vanity up on a pedestal as some mark of greatness. Well then, take me to the nearest Porsche dealer and find me a real genius! Really, the only two characters I respected in the whole thing were Hortense and Victorin. Hortense, for the most part, nips her husband's insults in the bud. She has the wherewithal to throw him to his transparent Madame and not suffer a lifetime of pointless martyrdom that makes no one the better. And Victorin pulls his family together in their time of "disgrace," proving to be the only thing standing between Lisbeth and her vengeance. So I feel that mine and Balzac's definitions of vice and virtue differ markedly, and not in ways that can be accounted for simply by the passage of 150 years.
The first star was lost because I had to suffer through long sections of Balzac's rambling, misguided moralizing. His sermons seem to cover all topics, from the high-handed judgment of a variety of races to the merits of "good breeding." I like an author to fascinate me such that I feel like I would not be worthy to hold a conversation with them, if we were to meet. Unfortunately, I got the feeling that Balzac would be a remarkably loud and boring dinner guest who liked to listen to himself better than anyone else.
The second star was lost because I was left completely unsatisfied. Now don't tell me that if I want a happy ending I should go find a children's book. Here's the deal: the character who is "punished by the vengeance of God," as it was painted, Madame Marneffe of course, is not really the one I cared to see brought to justice. Yes, she was terrible and cruel. But who is to blame: the woman who mercilessly steals a family's honor and fortune, or the stupid and selfish man who hands it over to her willingly? No, I didn't really care about the Madame's fate. And Bette couldn't have been punished any more judiciously than she was in the end. But the Baron? What justice did he receive? None, of course. And while Adeline's character was honorable, on some level I see her impassioned hunt for him through the slums of Paris to be one of complete selfishness. He didn't want to come home, as he said and demonstrated to the very end. He even wished her dead, even more so when he came home, so she couldn't very well have saved him from God's wrath. I realize that she was supposed to have not seen this, but it certainly doesn't leave one impressed with Balzac's idea of perfect virtue. It seems that his definition of virtue boils down to martyrdom. And what a convenient bar to set for a woman of 19th century Paris. Furthermore, in the end Balzac glorifies Crevel, putting his vanity up on a pedestal as some mark of greatness. Well then, take me to the nearest Porsche dealer and find me a real genius! Really, the only two characters I respected in the whole thing were Hortense and Victorin. Hortense, for the most part, nips her husband's insults in the bud. She has the wherewithal to throw him to his transparent Madame and not suffer a lifetime of pointless martyrdom that makes no one the better. And Victorin pulls his family together in their time of "disgrace," proving to be the only thing standing between Lisbeth and her vengeance. So I feel that mine and Balzac's definitions of vice and virtue differ markedly, and not in ways that can be accounted for simply by the passage of 150 years.
November 22, 2018
This tale involves a byzantine plan of revenge by old maid Bette over the theft of a young sculptor she had designs for. It was a great device for all the greedy aristocratic people to achieve their just deserts. There is also a satisfying comic touch in the way her courtesan confidante is able to juggle four lovers and play them off against each other. But the narrative bogs down for me a lot over the repetitive competition for each others' mistresses and arcane schemes for money. Still, as an audiobook experience with a free Librivox recording on my commutes to work, it was a diverting sociological experience with Paris society circa 1830 and a nice window on the French tradition of blending realism with romanticism.
July 14, 2018
Lussuria, invidia, avidit脿, sete di potere, corruzione, odio e VENDETTA: le passioni che imbrigliano l'umanit脿.
Il tutto amalgamato sullo sfondo di una Parigi post napoleonica, descritto minuziosamente ed in modo vivido, tanto da non essere solo Parigi ma il mondo intero.
Insomma, il peggio del meglio (o il meglio del peggio, come ci pare).
Uno dei capolavori di Balzac.
Il tutto amalgamato sullo sfondo di una Parigi post napoleonica, descritto minuziosamente ed in modo vivido, tanto da non essere solo Parigi ma il mondo intero.
Insomma, il peggio del meglio (o il meglio del peggio, come ci pare).
Uno dei capolavori di Balzac.
December 26, 2020
Ich w眉rde gerne Balzac m枚gen, denn ich kann durchaus seine Bedeutung f眉r die Literaturgeschichte erkennen. Sein unb盲ndiger Drang, dem Mensch und der Gesellschaft den Spiegel vorzuhalten, ist beachtlich. In den beiden bislang von mir gelesenen Werken Eugenie Grandet und Tante Lisbeth ist die Darstellung der Realit盲t im Frankreich der ersten H盲lfte des 19. Jahrhunderts wahrscheinlich so treffend und schonungslos 眉berspitzt, dass es fast schon unwirklich wirkt. Der Vater Grandet ist nicht nur geizig, er ist krankhaft aufs Geld fixiert. Die M盲nnerfiguren in Tante Lisbeth sind nicht verlogen, sie sind pathologisch selbstverliebt und schwanzgesteuert.
Und damit ist mein Problem schon angesprochen. Mir ist die Handlung einfach zu 眉berdreht bei Tante Lisbeth, so dass es wirkt wie eine Mischung aus Big Brother und billiger Soap Opera. Ich h盲tte gerne, dass Balzac f眉r mich wie arte schauen w盲re und nicht wie RTL 2. Vielleicht gehe ich mit falschen Erwartungen an seine Romane, aber ich finde, dass die Geschichten sich als B眉hnenst眉cke besser eigenen w眉rden. Sie enthalten alles, was ein Drama ben枚tigt.
Wom枚glich ist die Handlung in Paris zwischen Dirnen, Kurtisanen, Aristokraten und hinterh盲ltigen, alten Jungfern auch nicht das, was mich fesselt. Das war bereits bei Zolas Nana so. Aber die Tatsache, dass h盲ssliche, alte M盲nner, teilweise auf die 80 zugehend, ihre sexuelle Anziehungsf盲higkeit so hoch einsch盲tzen, dass es sie nach jeder Ertappung sofort wieder so einem unbescholtenen Fr盲ulein hinzieht und die Ehefrau dies so gar noch zum x-ten mal entschuldigt, l盲sst mich kopfsch眉ttelnd zur眉ck. Aus heutiger Sicht wirkt das alles klischeehaft und 眉berzeichnet.
Balzac bleibt trotzdem in meinem Fokus, denn wom枚glich bin ich einfach noch nicht reif genug, seine Genialit盲t zu erkennen, die alle schriftstellerischen Gr枚脽en der letzten 150 Jahre so stark hervorheben.
Und damit ist mein Problem schon angesprochen. Mir ist die Handlung einfach zu 眉berdreht bei Tante Lisbeth, so dass es wirkt wie eine Mischung aus Big Brother und billiger Soap Opera. Ich h盲tte gerne, dass Balzac f眉r mich wie arte schauen w盲re und nicht wie RTL 2. Vielleicht gehe ich mit falschen Erwartungen an seine Romane, aber ich finde, dass die Geschichten sich als B眉hnenst眉cke besser eigenen w眉rden. Sie enthalten alles, was ein Drama ben枚tigt.
Wom枚glich ist die Handlung in Paris zwischen Dirnen, Kurtisanen, Aristokraten und hinterh盲ltigen, alten Jungfern auch nicht das, was mich fesselt. Das war bereits bei Zolas Nana so. Aber die Tatsache, dass h盲ssliche, alte M盲nner, teilweise auf die 80 zugehend, ihre sexuelle Anziehungsf盲higkeit so hoch einsch盲tzen, dass es sie nach jeder Ertappung sofort wieder so einem unbescholtenen Fr盲ulein hinzieht und die Ehefrau dies so gar noch zum x-ten mal entschuldigt, l盲sst mich kopfsch眉ttelnd zur眉ck. Aus heutiger Sicht wirkt das alles klischeehaft und 眉berzeichnet.
Balzac bleibt trotzdem in meinem Fokus, denn wom枚glich bin ich einfach noch nicht reif genug, seine Genialit盲t zu erkennen, die alle schriftstellerischen Gr枚脽en der letzten 150 Jahre so stark hervorheben.
September 26, 2018
"I!" said Lisbeth. "I see vengeance wherever I turn in nature; insects even die to satisfy the craving for revenge when they are attacked."
For some reason, Balzac is the French novelist I've always struggled with and his vast La Comedie Humaine series just doesn't compete, for me, with Zola's Rougon-Macquart. La Cousine Bette, often noted as one of the best in the sequence, feels to me like a quirky mix of soap opera, dark comedy, farce and polemic. Don't expect subtlety here: from the angelic Adeline to the ugly, Machiavellian Bette consumed with a voracious appetite for revenge, characters are defined by one or two key characteristics.
Money permeates the text as Balzac quantifies emotions and human relationships in terms of financial transactions - everything, he seems to be saying, has a price. His cynical vision of French bourgeois capitalist society where everyone is consumed with self interest (except Adeline? but then look what happens to her...), where public figures are corrupt and self-serving, where love is sexual obsession, punctuated by money and, largely, exploitative is not that far from that of Zola - yet how differently I respond to their books. This one had me laughing somewhat derisively and while I don't want to include spoilers let me just say that any book that seriously includes an incurable native poison from Brazil has a hard job compensating for that low point!
The two most interesting characters are Bette herself and Valerie, a toned down version, in some ways, of Zola's Nana - a kind of unofficial courtesan with whom every man is obsessed. Their relationship, rather crudely, is articulated as a quasi-marriage as they scheme, plot and share confidences. All the same, they don't have quite the same pull as other manipulative women: Becky Sharp, say, or Madame de Merteuil.
I might give Balzac a further try (I've previously only read his but the fact that this took about 3 weeks for me to get through it is saying something.
May 19, 2018
Lisbeth Fischer is consumed with hatred for her cousin, Adeline Hulot. Cousin Adeline has married a Baron and come up in the world, and Bette is the poor spinster relation, who has to work for part of her living and depends on the charity of the family for the remainder. Cousin Adeline鈥檚 husband, the Baron Hulot, is a despicable womanizer who ruins himself for 鈥渓ove鈥�, uh make that lust. Nothing to envy in Adeline鈥檚 life at all...I鈥檇 have rather had the independence of Lisbeth, but then Lisbeth never bothers to enjoy her independence except in the ways that it gives her opportunity to take revenge and help to destroy her family.
Balzac does some great character development, especially with his female characters. Valerie Marneffe is the epitome of the beautiful woman who manipulates men for money, her husband the consummate cur, Bette the picture of a soul driven by jealousy and pettiness, and Steinbock is all the artist who squanders his talent and good fortunes might ever be. His good characters are weaker, in my mind. Adeline becomes almost a caricature, and does all the fainting, enduring and praying to excess, Victorin is almost too willing to sacrifice for his father鈥檚 sake, and Clementine too forgiving of hers.
I did enjoy parts of this novel immensely, at other times I wished to speed up the narrative and push Balzac toward some conclusion. I was troubled by the ages of the girls that Hulot pursues, fourteen and sixteen year olds who are often already overly acquainted with the world. But, I kept reminding myself that this is Paris of the early 1800s and seventy year old men bedding fourteen year old girls might not have shocked a soul, particularly if the old men were Barons.
I debated long about whether my 3.5 star rating should be rounded up or down, finally settling for down. While there was much I did like about the novel, it falls short of being a truly captivating read. I am glad to have read it, however, since it is only the second Balzac I have tackled.
Balzac does some great character development, especially with his female characters. Valerie Marneffe is the epitome of the beautiful woman who manipulates men for money, her husband the consummate cur, Bette the picture of a soul driven by jealousy and pettiness, and Steinbock is all the artist who squanders his talent and good fortunes might ever be. His good characters are weaker, in my mind. Adeline becomes almost a caricature, and does all the fainting, enduring and praying to excess, Victorin is almost too willing to sacrifice for his father鈥檚 sake, and Clementine too forgiving of hers.
I did enjoy parts of this novel immensely, at other times I wished to speed up the narrative and push Balzac toward some conclusion. I was troubled by the ages of the girls that Hulot pursues, fourteen and sixteen year olds who are often already overly acquainted with the world. But, I kept reminding myself that this is Paris of the early 1800s and seventy year old men bedding fourteen year old girls might not have shocked a soul, particularly if the old men were Barons.
I debated long about whether my 3.5 star rating should be rounded up or down, finally settling for down. While there was much I did like about the novel, it falls short of being a truly captivating read. I am glad to have read it, however, since it is only the second Balzac I have tackled.
June 25, 2009
Plain, spinsterish Lisbeth has become insanely jealous of her beautiful cousin Adeline, and decides that she will finally get even with her. She knows that Adeline's husband is unable to resist feminine charm, so she forms an alliance with the gorgeous and completely amoral Madame Marneffe. I love the following quote; a slightly adapted form even found its way into the dreadful movie version.
芦 Madame Marneffe 茅tait la hache, et Lisbeth 茅tait la main qui la manie, et la main d茅molissait 脿 coup press茅s cette famille qui, de jour en jour, lui devenait de plus en plus odieuse 禄Madame Marneffe was the axe, and Lisbeth was the hand that wielded it, and, with rapid strokes, the hand demolished the family which, every day, she came to hate more and more.
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
November 30, 2019I read a couple hundred pages of this and realized I didn鈥檛 care very much about these awful people and the intricacies of how money bound them all up to one another in such a cynical way. I didn鈥檛 hate it, but I certainly didn鈥檛 like it well enough to finish.
April 13, 2020
So, I have attempted my first read, and it didn't go well for me at all! Balzac's 'gripping tale of violent jealousy, sexual passion and treachery, and a brilliant portrayal of the grasping, bourgeois society of 1840's Paris (The culmination of the Comedie humaine).' just didn't grab me at all. I n hindsight I should have tried some of his earlier work first maybe? 2 out of 12.
March 16, 2020
I loved this book. And I鈥檓 taken with the mystery of Balzac. What was he doing? What was his aim? What motivated him?
I think that the answer is that Balzac loved to tell stories and he loved to spin them out like a silk scarf being drawn out, and drawn out some more, from a magician鈥檚 top hat. And he must have loved to talk because his written conversations are so good and because his wit is so delicious. (For example, 鈥淰ice, Hulot found, could forgive him; vice smiled on him from the midst of unbridled luxury. Here, as before a jury, the magnitude of a crime was an extenuating circumstance.鈥�) He was in love with words, I think, with the tumble of language. But he never creates mountains of language and of pages as in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo; Hugo is in love with subject matter and can sometimes bore.
Balzac is neither a total realist or a satirist. He writes about real human events in a real 1840鈥檚 context, but I think he can be sometimes over-the-top because he鈥檚 entertaining himself. So, it鈥檚 not realism though it looks that way. It鈥檚 not satire either. I鈥檓 not sure that Balzac is so cruel or so devoted to social criticism and social change. He is like a Dickens without the need to show us grief, poverty, goodness, etc. linked to the idea of inspiring better conduct or a better world or a frisson of compassion. Balzac is just not that warm-hearted either.
I wish I knew more about later French writers because I sense that Balzac must have been a great influence. Zola had to have read and absorbed Cousin Betty because his Nana has similarities to Balzac鈥檚 Valerie Marneffe, including her end. But I don鈥檛 think Zola has the same lightness of touch, the same attitude of observation, the same urge to storytelling for its own sake.
If you want to read what Cousin Betty is about, there are plenty of summaries. I鈥檓 more interested, as I said, in what Balzac was about. But I want you to know that I think Cousin Betty is a good read!
Oh . . . I read the copy out of the online Gutenberg Project which I put on my Kindle. (Check out that website!) The translation is from the nineteenth century and is really straightforward and good (which tells me also that Balzac really could drive a story well). The translator is given as James Waring. But that is a pseudonym for Ellen Marriage who translated almost all of Balzac鈥檚 90 novels for the English publisher. She often used her own name on the title page. But she used the pseudonym when the subject matter was a little more 鈥渂old鈥� as in Cousin Betty which is full of courtesans and wannabe courtesans and courtesans-in-training.
As I鈥檓 writing, I realize how much I liked this book! Bravo, M. Balzac!
I think that the answer is that Balzac loved to tell stories and he loved to spin them out like a silk scarf being drawn out, and drawn out some more, from a magician鈥檚 top hat. And he must have loved to talk because his written conversations are so good and because his wit is so delicious. (For example, 鈥淰ice, Hulot found, could forgive him; vice smiled on him from the midst of unbridled luxury. Here, as before a jury, the magnitude of a crime was an extenuating circumstance.鈥�) He was in love with words, I think, with the tumble of language. But he never creates mountains of language and of pages as in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo; Hugo is in love with subject matter and can sometimes bore.
Balzac is neither a total realist or a satirist. He writes about real human events in a real 1840鈥檚 context, but I think he can be sometimes over-the-top because he鈥檚 entertaining himself. So, it鈥檚 not realism though it looks that way. It鈥檚 not satire either. I鈥檓 not sure that Balzac is so cruel or so devoted to social criticism and social change. He is like a Dickens without the need to show us grief, poverty, goodness, etc. linked to the idea of inspiring better conduct or a better world or a frisson of compassion. Balzac is just not that warm-hearted either.
I wish I knew more about later French writers because I sense that Balzac must have been a great influence. Zola had to have read and absorbed Cousin Betty because his Nana has similarities to Balzac鈥檚 Valerie Marneffe, including her end. But I don鈥檛 think Zola has the same lightness of touch, the same attitude of observation, the same urge to storytelling for its own sake.
If you want to read what Cousin Betty is about, there are plenty of summaries. I鈥檓 more interested, as I said, in what Balzac was about. But I want you to know that I think Cousin Betty is a good read!
Oh . . . I read the copy out of the online Gutenberg Project which I put on my Kindle. (Check out that website!) The translation is from the nineteenth century and is really straightforward and good (which tells me also that Balzac really could drive a story well). The translator is given as James Waring. But that is a pseudonym for Ellen Marriage who translated almost all of Balzac鈥檚 90 novels for the English publisher. She often used her own name on the title page. But she used the pseudonym when the subject matter was a little more 鈥渂old鈥� as in Cousin Betty which is full of courtesans and wannabe courtesans and courtesans-in-training.
As I鈥檓 writing, I realize how much I liked this book! Bravo, M. Balzac!
April 8, 2020
You have to be in the right mood for this book. If you're interested in French society during this historical period (Romantic era-ish, post-Napoleon) and you're prepared to (more or less) dislike the characters, then few books will more effortlessly reveal the petty and vindictive nature of Paris social life. I recently found a fascinating (I don't use the term lightly) book about Old Regime France by Clare Haru Crowston, . I haven't been able to finish it quite yet, but what I did read went a long way toward convincing me that the sordid and debauched lifestyles that Balzac portrays were actually fairly realistic. I guess I grew up reading Duma's Count of Monte Cristo where the evil are punished and the good are rewarded-pretty much with systematic regularity. So reading Balzac, where every character was self-serving (save the impossible to like/too weak/enabler Madame Hulot) seemed almost shocking. But it was also refreshing in a way. Balzac didn't really seem to be judging any of these characters. And for all their vindictive plotting and vengeful schemes, (that unlike Duma's Count were motivated by their ego and sexual appetite, rather than say, being wrongfully imprisoned for the entirety of one's youth) some of them show a complexity that does remind us that while humans are often horrible- sometimes we can understand why. Balzac doesn't mince words about Cousin Bette...she is basically an unattractive and lonely woman whose jealousy toward her (beautiful and sweet) cousin directs the course of events in her life. Who can blame her?! Not Balzac. Nor does he seem to censure any of the weak-willed or calculating schemers in this novel. In fact, this work leads one to speculate a bit about Balzac's life. Like many authors who wrote these long plot-driven serials/novels you wonder how many of these characters were based on people known to said author. Especially since Balzac himself was almost obscenely prolific. Recommend if you want to be totally enveloped into mid 19th century Paris, and with a less-than-scrupulous crowd.
June 26, 2020
Vice Conquers All
Mme Marneffe
While reading this novel I felt as if I was experiencing a social economic history of Paris in the disguise of a romantic drama. Balzac never neglects to inform the reader about interest rates, loans, deals etc and, frankly, at times it becomes a bit much. If I was a historian studying the economic infrastructure of social life of Paris in the mid-19th century this would be an excellent starting point. ; -) In contrast, I find his characterizations and conversations very enjoyable. The novel is a bit dark with a juggernaut of vice permeating every nook and cranny of the storyline. I really wanted to like this novel, but it became more of a quest in terms of completing it. I did enjoy parts of it, but at times felt as if I was experiencing a mid 19th century soap opera. I definitely would not begin with this novel if I was approaching Balzac for the first time. Regardless, I am still pursuing Balzac's works as I find them intriguing.
I read Balzac's last year, which I found much more agreeable. However, Balzac is definitely on a mission to convey the French lives of the 19th century in his works; Carefully embedded facts wrap around the characters and their actions. Recommended to Balzac fans!
Mme Marneffe
While reading this novel I felt as if I was experiencing a social economic history of Paris in the disguise of a romantic drama. Balzac never neglects to inform the reader about interest rates, loans, deals etc and, frankly, at times it becomes a bit much. If I was a historian studying the economic infrastructure of social life of Paris in the mid-19th century this would be an excellent starting point. ; -) In contrast, I find his characterizations and conversations very enjoyable. The novel is a bit dark with a juggernaut of vice permeating every nook and cranny of the storyline. I really wanted to like this novel, but it became more of a quest in terms of completing it. I did enjoy parts of it, but at times felt as if I was experiencing a mid 19th century soap opera. I definitely would not begin with this novel if I was approaching Balzac for the first time. Regardless, I am still pursuing Balzac's works as I find them intriguing.
I read Balzac's last year, which I found much more agreeable. However, Balzac is definitely on a mission to convey the French lives of the 19th century in his works; Carefully embedded facts wrap around the characters and their actions. Recommended to Balzac fans!
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