"Swedenborg (1688–1772). As depicted in his works, Balzac's spiritual philosophy suggests that individuals have a limited quantity of spiritual energy and that this energy is dissipated through creative or intellectual work or through physical activity (including sex), and this is made emblematic in his philosophical tale ""La Peau de chagrin"", in which a magical wild ass's skin confers on its owner unlimited powers, but shrinks each time it is used in science. The following are some of the major themes that recur throughout the various volumes of the ""Comédie humaine"": Balzac frequently bemoans the loss of a pre-Revolutionary society of"
"the names of all the characters of Balzac's ""Comédie Humaine"", together with the salient points in their lives. Balzac made his characters appear again and again, thus creating out of his distinct novels a miniature world. The work of Cerfberr and Christophe is a guide to that world. Anatole Cerfberr Anatole Cerfberr (1835, Paris—1896, Neuilly) was a French journalist and author. Under various pseudonyms, among which were ""Arthur Clary,"" ""Antoine Cerlier,"" and ""Fulgence Ridal,"" he contributed to numerous papers. He was an admirer of Honoré de Balzac and Victor Hugo, an ardent socialist, and well versed in matters concerning the"
"died shortly after departing. The story is full of discussion about the meaning of relationships and Maurice acts throughout as interpreter for the two parties. There is also the implication that he had in fact fallen in love with Honorine himself, which is why he avoided marriage initially. Honorine (novel) Honorine is an 1843 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) and included in his series of novels (or ""Roman-fleuve"") known as ""La Comédie humaine"" (""The Human Comedy"") which parodies and depicts French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy (1815-1848). Balzac has"
"literature, the most prominent inheritor of Scott's style of the historical novel was Balzac. In 1829 Balzac published ""Les Chouans"", a historical work in the manner of Sir Walter Scott. This was subsequently incorporated into La Comédie Humaine. The bulk La Comédie Humaine, however, takes place during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, though there are several novels which take place during the French Revolution and others which take place of in the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, including ""About Catherine de Medici"" and ""The Elixir of Long Life"". Victor Hugo's ""The Hunchback of Notre Dame"" (1831) furnishes another"
"Honorine (novel) Honorine is an 1843 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) and included in his series of novels (or ""Roman-fleuve"") known as ""La Comédie humaine"" (""The Human Comedy"") which parodies and depicts French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy (1815-1848). Balzac has a subtle way of approaching his plot indirectly and embedding a story within a story. The story is perhaps a common one of a wife trapped in a marriage, but is approached in an interesting manner. Maurice is a Consul at Gênes/Genoa, a Mediterranean town where he has"
"Wharton and Henry James. Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) is the most prominent representative of 19th-century realism in fiction through the inclusion of specific detail and recurring characters. His ""La Comédie humaine"", a vast collection of nearly 100 novels, was the most ambitious scheme ever devised by a writer of fiction—nothing less than a complete contemporary history of his countrymen. Realism is also an important aspect of the works of Alexandre Dumas, fils (1824–1895). Many of the novels in this period, including Balzac's, were published in newspapers in serial form, and the immensely popular realist ""roman feuilleton"" tended to specialize in"
"The Man in the Iron Mask. http://ullagegroup.com/2008/12/13/pierre-cami/#more-322 Pierre Henri Cami Pierre Henri Cami (1884–1958) was a French humorist. ""Though blissfully ignored for most of his life by the English-speaking public, Cami (Pierre Henri) remained for four full decades one of France’s most prolific, and acclaimed, comic authors. Hailed by his idol and admirer Charlie Chaplin as “the greatest humorist in the world,” Cami was somewhat willfully omitted by André Breton from his Anthologie de l’Humour Noir—no doubt on account of his huge popular success—but admired by other Surrealists. Between 1910, when he founded Le Petit Corbillard Illustrè, the “humorous organ"
"the London publisher J. M. Dent that his firm embark on the first complete edition of Balzac's immense novel cycle ""La Comédie humaine"". Hitherto only a few of the novels had appeared in the United Kingdom singly. George Saintsbury was appointed editor and work began. Forty volumes duly appeared between 1895 and 1898, although five others were omitted as too shocking for Victorian English tastes. Marriage, under her own name and under the pseudonym ""James Waring"" for some of the ""bolder works"", did most of the translation, except for 13 volumes done by Clara Bell (1834–1927), and one volume done"
"His major works include ""Les Fausses Confidences"" (1737), ""le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard"" (1730), and ""l'Île des esclaves"" (1725). Jean-François Regnard et Alain-René Lesage (1668–1747) also had great success with comedies of manners, such as Regnard's ""Le Légataire universel"", and Lesage's ""Turcaret"" in 1709. But the greatest author of French comedies in the 18th century was Beaumarchais (1732–1799), who displayed a mastery of dialogue and intrigue combined with social and political satire through the character of Figaro, a valet who challenges the power of his master, who is featured in two major works; ""le Barbier de Séville"" (1775)"
"of Balzac's novel sequence ""La Comédie humaine"" (""The Human Comedy""). In the 1840s, a serial format known as the ""roman-feuilleton"" was highly popular in France, and the most acclaimed expression of it was the socialist writing of Eugène Sue. Balzac wanted to challenge Sue's supremacy, and prove himself the most capable ""feuilleton"" author in France. Writing quickly and with intense focus, Balzac produced ""La Cousine Bette"", one of his longest novels, in two months. It was published in ""Le Constitutionnel"" at the end of 1846, then collected with a companion work, ""Le Cousin Pons"", the following year. The novel's characters"
"La Bête humaine La Bête humaine (English: The Beast Within or The Beast in Man) is an 1890 novel by Émile Zola. The story has been adapted for the cinema on several occasions. The seventeenth book in Zola's ""Les Rougon-Macquart"" series, it is based upon the railway between Paris and Le Havre in the 19th century and is a tense, psychological thriller. The main characters are Roubaud, the deputy station master at Le Havre, his wife Séverine, and Jacques Lantier. Lantier is an engine driver on the line and the family link with the rest of ""Les Rougon-Macquart"" series. He"
"its upper echelons from modest backgrounds, much to the distaste of the established wealthy class. When Balzac began writing ""Le Père Goriot"" in 1834, he had written several dozen books, including a stream of pseudonymously published potboiler novels. In 1829 he published ""Les Chouans"", the first novel to which he signed his own name; this was followed by ""Louis Lambert"" (1832), ""Le Colonel Chabert"" (1832), and ""La Peau de chagrin"" (1831). Around this time, Balzac began organizing his work into a sequence of novels that he eventually called ""La Comédie humaine"", divided into sections representing various aspects of life in"
"deaths as the train full of happy, drunken, patriotic and doomed soldiers hurtles driverless through the night. (French) La Bête humaine La Bête humaine (English: The Beast Within or The Beast in Man) is an 1890 novel by Émile Zola. The story has been adapted for the cinema on several occasions. The seventeenth book in Zola's ""Les Rougon-Macquart"" series, it is based upon the railway between Paris and Le Havre in the 19th century and is a tense, psychological thriller. The main characters are Roubaud, the deputy station master at Le Havre, his wife Séverine, and Jacques Lantier. Lantier is"
"More than half of Zola's novels were part of a set of 20 collectively known as Les Rougon-Macquart. Unlike Balzac, who in the midst of his literary career resynthesized his work into ""La Comédie Humaine"", Zola from the start, at the age of 28, had thought of the complete layout of the series. Set in France's Second Empire, the series traces the ""environmental"" influences of violence, alcohol, and prostitution which became more prevalent during the second wave of the Industrial Revolution. The series examines two branches of a family—the respectable (that is, legitimate) Rougons and the disreputable (illegitimate) Macquarts—for five"
"devoted to Françoise de Graffigny and her works in the past thirty years. These surveys provide indications for further reading. Françoise de Graffigny Françoise de Graffigny, née Françoise d'Issembourg du Buisson d'Happoncourt (11 February 1695 - 12 December 1758), better known as Madame de Graffigny, was a French novelist, playwright and salon hostess. Initially famous as the author of ""Lettres d'une Péruvienne"", a novel published in 1747, she became the world's best-known living woman writer after the success of her sentimental comedy, ""Cénie"", in 1750. Her reputation as a dramatist suffered when her second play at the Comédie-Française, ""La Fille"
"world of business. When he finished school, Balzac was apprenticed in a law office, but he turned his back on the study of law after wearying of its inhumanity and banal routine. Before and during his career as a writer, he attempted to be a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician; he failed in all of these efforts. ""La Comédie Humaine"" reflects his real-life difficulties, and includes scenes from his own experience. Balzac suffered from health problems throughout his life, possibly due to his intense writing schedule. His relationship with his family was often strained by financial and personal drama,"
"Eugène de Rastignac Eugène de Rastignac is a fictional character from ""La Comédie humaine"", a series of novels by Honoré de Balzac. He appears as a main character in ""Le Père Goriot"" (1835), and his social advancement in the post-revolutionary French world depicted by Balzac can be followed through Rastignac's various appearances in other books of the series. Rastignac is initially portrayed as an ambitious young man of noble, albeit poor, extraction who is at times both envious of and naive about high society. Although he is ready to do anything to achieve his goals, he spurns the advice of"
"Pierre Henri Cami Pierre Henri Cami (1884–1958) was a French humorist. ""Though blissfully ignored for most of his life by the English-speaking public, Cami (Pierre Henri) remained for four full decades one of France’s most prolific, and acclaimed, comic authors. Hailed by his idol and admirer Charlie Chaplin as “the greatest humorist in the world,” Cami was somewhat willfully omitted by André Breton from his Anthologie de l’Humour Noir—no doubt on account of his huge popular success—but admired by other Surrealists. Between 1910, when he founded Le Petit Corbillard Illustrè, the “humorous organ of the corporation of undertakers,” and his"
"each novel) called ""La Grande Intrigue"" (The Big Plot), reviving a French classical literature tradition (La Comédie Humaine by Honoré de Balzac, Les Rougon-Macquart by Émile Zola). Following the evolution of five families through five generations, this work will be completed in 2010, celebrating the Taillandier's fifty-fifth anniversary. Telling, the second novel of this series was published in 2006. He currently writes for French newspapers Le Figaro, l'Humanité et la Montagne and keeps developing ""La Grande Intrigue"", writing """"only when everybody is sleeping"""". François Taillandier François Taillandier (born in 1955, Clermont-Ferrand, France) is a French writer portraying the French contemporary"
"considered when the Hulot family seek to have Wenceslas Steinbock's artistic talents recognised. Eugène de Rastignac Eugène de Rastignac is a fictional character from ""La Comédie humaine"", a series of novels by Honoré de Balzac. He appears as a main character in ""Le Père Goriot"" (1835), and his social advancement in the post-revolutionary French world depicted by Balzac can be followed through Rastignac's various appearances in other books of the series. Rastignac is initially portrayed as an ambitious young man of noble, albeit poor, extraction who is at times both envious of and naive about high society. Although he is"
"Pierre-Jules Hetzel Pierre-Jules Hetzel (January 15, 1814 – March 17, 1886) was a French editor and publisher. He is best known for his extraordinarily lavishly illustrated editions of Jules Verne's novels highly prized by collectors today. Born in Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, Hetzel studied law in Strasbourg, and founded a publishing company in 1837. He was the publisher of Honoré de Balzac, whose ""Comédie humaine"" began to be appear in 1841, and of Victor Hugo and Émile Zola. In 1843, he founded the ""Nouveau magazine des enfants"" (""New Children's Magazine""). Hetzel was a well-known republican, and in 1848 he became chief of"
"Les Rougon-Macquart Les Rougon-Macquart is the collective title given to a cycle of twenty novels by French writer Émile Zola. Subtitled Histoire naturelle et sociale d'une famille sous le Second Empire (""Natural and social history of a family under the Second Empire""), it follows the lives of the members of the two titular branches of a fictional family living during the Second French Empire (1852–1870) and is one of the most prominent works of the French naturalism literary movement. Early in his life, Zola discovered the work of Honoré de Balzac and his famous cycle ""La Comédie humaine"". This had"
"and transformation in meaning. For a more complete bibliography, see site littéraire André Malraux. André Malraux Georges André Malraux DSO (; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist and Minister of Cultural Affairs. Malraux's novel ""La Condition Humaine"" (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by President Charles de Gaulle as Minister of Information (1945–46) and subsequently as France's first Minister of Cultural Affairs during de Gaulle's presidency (1959–69). Malraux was born in Paris in 1901, the son of Fernand-Georges Malraux (1875-1930) and Berthe Félicie Lamy (1877-1932). His parents separated in"
"he would attend the . Armand Lapointe Armand Lapointe (1 May 1822 – 6 March 1810 ) was a French novelist, journalist and playwright. He also wrote the libretto of the opérette bouffe ""Mesdames de la Halle"" by Jacques Offenbach. He was a prolific popular author in the years 1850-1890 and still obviously remembered at the time of his death During the Second French Empire, his comedies were given in Paris, at the Théâtre des Variétés and his opéra bouffe was produced at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens. From 1860, Lapointe was devoted mainly to writing novels. He was a friend"
"Albert Savarus Albert Savarus is an 1842 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) and included in his series of novels (or ""Roman-fleuve"") known as ""La Comédie humaine"" (""The Human Comedy"") which parodies and depicts French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy (1815–1848). Rosalie is the only daughter of the Wattevilles, a distinguished family of Besançon. Her father is very timid and spends his time working on a lathe, while her mother is quite proud and domineering. Her mother is trying to encourage Rosalie to take an interest in M. de Soulas,"
"Françoise de Graffigny Françoise de Graffigny, née Françoise d'Issembourg du Buisson d'Happoncourt (11 February 1695 - 12 December 1758), better known as Madame de Graffigny, was a French novelist, playwright and salon hostess. Initially famous as the author of ""Lettres d'une Péruvienne"", a novel published in 1747, she became the world's best-known living woman writer after the success of her sentimental comedy, ""Cénie"", in 1750. Her reputation as a dramatist suffered when her second play at the Comédie-Française, ""La Fille d'Aristide"", was a flop in 1758, and even her novel fell out of favor after 1830. From then until the"
"writing several novels, in 1832 Balzac conceived the idea for an enormous series of books that would paint a panoramic portrait of ""all aspects of society"". The moment the idea came to him, Balzac raced to his sister's apartment and proclaimed: ""I am about to become a genius""! Although he originally called it ""Etudes des Mœurs"" ( literally 'Studies of manners', or 'The Ways of the World ' ) it eventually became known as ""La Comédie Humaine"", and he included in it all the fiction that he had published in his lifetime under his own name. This was to be"
"Armand Lapointe Armand Lapointe (1 May 1822 – 6 March 1810 ) was a French novelist, journalist and playwright. He also wrote the libretto of the opérette bouffe ""Mesdames de la Halle"" by Jacques Offenbach. He was a prolific popular author in the years 1850-1890 and still obviously remembered at the time of his death During the Second French Empire, his comedies were given in Paris, at the Théâtre des Variétés and his opéra bouffe was produced at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens. From 1860, Lapointe was devoted mainly to writing novels. He was a friend of Gustave Aimard, with whom"
"Abel Hermant Abel Hermant (3 February 1862 – 29 September 1950) was a French novelist, playwright, essayist and writer, and member of the Académie française. Hermant was born in Paris, the son of an architect. He received a degree from the École Normale Supérieure in 1880, and published his first volume of verse in 1883, ""The Contempt"". After several youthful novels, he moved to ironic analysis of the popular mores of the Belle Époque and achieved popular success. His first semi-autobiographical novel, ""Monsieur Rabosson"" of 1884, established his reputation as a satirical social observer. Its follow-up ""Le Cavalier Miserey"" of"
"turmoil is in a sense the Romantic dimension of the novel. Yet the dominant tone of ""Ursule Mirouët"" is projected at the very outset of the work, when Balzac compares its Nemours setting to the beauty and simplicity of a seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painting. ""Ursule Mirouët"" has that “noble simplicity, and ... tranquil greatness” which, in Winckelmann’s words, were the defining characteristics of Classicism. Ursule Mirouët Ursule Mirouët, an often overlooked novel, belongs to Honoré de Balzac’s great series of 94 novels and short stories ""La Comédie humaine"". First published in 1841, it forms part of his ""Scènes de la"
"Jean-Pierre Lesguillon Jean-Pierre-François Lesguillon, (1800 – January 1873) was a 19th-century French poet, novelist, playwright and librettist. Lesguillon wrote comédies en vaudeville, comedies and dramas, in prose and in verse, novels, and a great number of pieces in verse crowned at the floral games and in the competitions of all departmental academies. In 1830 he succeeded Justin Gensoul at the head of the ""Almanach des Muses"" which he directed until 1833, the year when he started publishing the periodical ""La Lanterne magique"". His ""Épître à M. N.-L. Lemercier"" earned him three months' imprisonment and a 300 francs fine in 1826"
"three of his films on Giono's work of this period: ""Regain"", with Fernandel and music by Honegger, ""Angèle"", and ""La Femme du boulanger"", with Raimu. After World War II he planned on writing a sequence of ten novels inspired by Balzac’s La Comédie humaine, in which he would depict characters from all strata of society rather than peasants, and contrast different moments in history by depicting the experiences of members of the same family a hundred years apart. But Giono only completed the four Hussard novels, ""Mort d’un personnage"" (1948)), ""Le Hussard sur le Toit"" (1951), ""Le Bonheur fou"" (1957),"
"the pictures featured in the books: Pierre-Jules Hetzel Pierre-Jules Hetzel (January 15, 1814 – March 17, 1886) was a French editor and publisher. He is best known for his extraordinarily lavishly illustrated editions of Jules Verne's novels highly prized by collectors today. Born in Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, Hetzel studied law in Strasbourg, and founded a publishing company in 1837. He was the publisher of Honoré de Balzac, whose ""Comédie humaine"" began to be appear in 1841, and of Victor Hugo and Émile Zola. In 1843, he founded the ""Nouveau magazine des enfants"" (""New Children's Magazine""). Hetzel was a well-known republican, and"