tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post7172334003484806769..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Eugénie Grandet - my favorite Balzac novelAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-47309056286654955852021-01-17T11:20:53.597-06:002021-01-17T11:20:53.597-06:00Okay.
I'm checking out Zola for now, then I&#...Okay. <br />I'm checking out Zola for now, then I'll read more by Balzac. <br />Hai Di Nguyenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02230670162621139739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-49608312991196054632021-01-17T11:08:20.549-06:002021-01-17T11:08:20.549-06:00Goriot is the big "check it off the list"...<i>Goriot</i> is the big "check it off the list" book. Still, as usual, I'd recommend a rummage in one of the collections of Balzac's short fiction.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-26008635595371126192021-01-17T07:59:53.568-06:002021-01-17T07:59:53.568-06:00Now that I've read it and don't love it, I...Now that I've read it and don't love it, I'm worried about other books by Balzac lol. Hai Di Nguyenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02230670162621139739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-14520214278932539042014-02-15T22:26:34.212-06:002014-02-15T22:26:34.212-06:00What an interesting list of favorites. No one rea...What an interesting list of favorites. No one reading Balzac in English would ever come up with it. <i>Les illusions perdues</i> is a common favorite in English I guess. And <i>Le chef-d'œuvre inconnu</i> is one of mine, for conceptual reasons.<br /><br />So I am filing this list away - thanks.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-44204068267041161692014-02-15T17:10:39.704-06:002014-02-15T17:10:39.704-06:00Thanks, I'll put Béatrix at the top of my list...Thanks, I'll put <i>Béatrix</i> at the top of my list.Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-68741807440629792202014-02-15T05:17:00.610-06:002014-02-15T05:17:00.610-06:00Goriot is very good, Le Cousin Pons too. My favour...Goriot is very good, Le Cousin Pons too. My favourites are Béatrix, Le Lys dans la vallée, Les illusions perdues, Le cabinet des antiques, Les secrets de la princesse de Cadignan and La duchesse de Langeais. Some other novels are so badly written you should avoid them. Instead, try short novels/short stories: Le chef-d'œuvre inconnu first of all, or La maison Nucingen with its wonderful narration: the anonymous narrator is hidden with a lady in a private room in a restaurant. They hear people coming in the adjacent room, just behind a wooden partition, recognize their voices and stay silent no to be seen — so they listen to the dialogue, a dialogue full of digressions, anecdotes, etc.catherine darleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05693132012083884186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-51266346616323490092014-02-15T05:07:33.163-06:002014-02-15T05:07:33.163-06:00Goriot is really good, I like Le cousin Pons too, ...Goriot is really good, I like Le cousin Pons too, But my favourites are Béatrix, Le lys dans la vallée, Le cabinet des antiques, Les illusions perdues, Les secrets de la princesse de Cadignan or La duchesse de Langeais and some short novels / shorts stories like Le chef-d'œuvre inconnu or La maison Nucingen (with its wonderful narrative plan: an anonymous narrator, hidden with a lady he doesn't name in a restaurant private room, listens to the dialog behind the wooden partition, a dialogue between they both know and a dialogue full of digressions and no action at all).<br />Beatrix over all the others.catherine darleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05693132012083884186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-30772832343995988892014-02-14T21:50:31.483-06:002014-02-14T21:50:31.483-06:00It would be fun, taking a run at the whole big mas...It would be fun, taking a run at the whole big mass, despite the highly variable quality of the writing and ideas. But I'm not going to do it.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-46325643428043304562014-02-14T17:08:10.550-06:002014-02-14T17:08:10.550-06:00It's funny, if I were into French literature t...It's funny, if I were into French literature the way I'm into Russian, I'd be rubbing my hands and plunging into the whole Comedy, but as it is I'm just marking it down mentally for future reference.Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-3791031290840511712014-02-11T22:11:38.570-06:002014-02-11T22:11:38.570-06:00For a true Balzacian, Goriot is the entry into the...For a true Balzacian, <i>Goriot</i> is the entry into the big system of the Human Comedy, but as an individual work of art <i>Eugénie Grandet</i> is easily superior. <br /><br />Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-4312591395501697562014-02-11T16:24:24.326-06:002014-02-11T16:24:24.326-06:00I finished Goriot and wrote about it here. (Good,...I finished <i>Goriot</i> and wrote about it <a href="http://languagehat.com/balzacs-goriot/" rel="nofollow">here</a>. (Good, but not as good as <i>Grandet</i>.)Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-45569040099432472912014-01-18T14:41:51.600-06:002014-01-18T14:41:51.600-06:00La valise dans l'allée, that should be a Frenc...<i>La valise dans l'allée</i>, that <i>should</i> be a French novel, but not by Balzac. By Queneau, maybe. Or Simenon.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-19854760386820835392014-01-18T14:23:31.627-06:002014-01-18T14:23:31.627-06:00Having mentally perverted Le lys dans la vallée to...Having mentally perverted <i>Le lys dans la vallée</i> to <i>La valise dans l'allée</i>, I may never be able to remember its correct name, but I will try to keep it on my reading list.Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-36031359575883573492014-01-18T14:01:13.590-06:002014-01-18T14:01:13.590-06:00All right, Le lys dans la vallée is in the two-thi...All right, <i>Le lys dans la vallée</i> is in the two-thirds of Balzac I have not read. I have made a mental note.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-53420688118224268432014-01-17T23:59:26.861-06:002014-01-17T23:59:26.861-06:00I'm a great fan of Languagehat's blog. I&#...I'm a great fan of Languagehat's blog. I'm extremely grateful to him for introducing me to Hugh MacDiarmid's poetry and for many other wonderful things I found at his blog.<br />Since we're listing our favorite Balzac's novels, mine are:<br />La cousine Bette, Le lys dans la vallée and Pere Goriot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-10749174715868052512014-01-17T23:14:15.779-06:002014-01-17T23:14:15.779-06:00hat, if anybody's readers are always right, yo...hat, if anybody's readers are always right, yours are. I can hardly believe <i>Eugénie Grandet</i> and <i>La Peau de chagrin</i> are by the same writer.<br /><br />Thanks for the Chernyshevsky encouragement - I'm gonna need it.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-63884874357181131882014-01-17T16:15:57.785-06:002014-01-17T16:15:57.785-06:00And I have come upon this place by lost ways... er...And I have come upon this place by lost ways... er, I mean via <a href="http://xixvek.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/what-is-to-be-done-readalong/" rel="nofollow">XIX век</a>, and I was delighted to find your <i>Eugénie Grandet</i> posts, because I recently had to be dragged kicking and screaming to read it (I was <a href="http://languagehat.com/foedora/" rel="nofollow">underwhelmed</a> by <i>La Peau de chagrin</i>, but my readers insisted I give him another chance), and I thought it was just terrific. I'll probably try <i>Le père Goriot</i> next. I'm looking forward to your Chernyshevsky readalong, though I don't intend to read along; Nabokov put me off him for life. I agree with argumentativeoldgit (great moniker) in your announcement thread: "let me say that I'd be interested in what you all have to say about it, and keep it there!"Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-28992089658684815322010-10-26T15:21:16.770-05:002010-10-26T15:21:16.770-05:00Thanks for the tip - I will keep an eye put for yo...Thanks for the tip - I will keep an eye put for your Balzac post.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-55043197695759370162010-10-26T13:28:33.555-05:002010-10-26T13:28:33.555-05:00This was your favourite. Interesting to know what ...This was your favourite. Interesting to know what others prefer. Richard on Caravana de recuerdos mentioned that you don't like La fille aux yeux d'or either. It is the only Balzac I did not like. My favourite is Les illusions perdues, followed by La cousine Bette et peut-être Le père Goriot. I think I prefer his Parisian novels. I am planning on making a post on Balzac very soon. Hope you might come and have a look and comment. (I am French should you wonder). Maybe I will do it in a week or two.Carolinehttp://beautyisasleepingcat.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-30700135220826524732008-11-21T22:10:00.000-06:002008-11-21T22:10:00.000-06:00First, as to the headlines, I give all credit to B...First, as to the headlines, I give all credit to Balzac, et al. <BR/><BR/>Second, as to reading so much, I'll confess that for the Big Balzac Blowout, I am eating the seed corn to some degree. Some of these I haven't read for a couple of years.<BR/><BR/>Third, I think any Victorianist would get a kick out of Balzac. For example, the way he writes about money, a bit like Trollope, but more direct, more crass. Or the un-Victorian sexual frankness. Or the stories involving the super-criminal Vautrin, ancestors of the police procedural - Wilkie Collins certainly knew them.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-60253151586937204502008-11-20T12:53:00.000-06:002008-11-20T12:53:00.000-06:001. I'm with DreamQueen: I need to read some Balzac...1. I'm with DreamQueen: I need to read some Balzac.<BR/><BR/>2. How on earth do you read this much and still hold down a day job? Wow.<BR/><BR/>3. Your headlines are always super-tempting. I especially liked "At last he grew passionately fond of the panther." I mean, how can we <I>not</I> come over here to see what <I>that's</I> all about?Rohan Maitzenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12111722115617352412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-32300216649660845022008-11-20T11:59:00.000-06:002008-11-20T11:59:00.000-06:00verbivore, enjoy. I think there's actually a lot i...verbivore, enjoy. I think there's actually a lot in <EM>Eugénie Grandet</EM> for a contemporary writer - a lot of real craft. I try to get at some of that today.<BR/><BR/>Wow, an 18 volume set. Reading the whole thing doesn't seem as crazy to me now as it once did. Not that I'm going to do that. Although see Friday's post for more on that sunject. I mean, don't see it now, see it on Friday.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-32695096819599015862008-11-20T10:59:00.000-06:002008-11-20T10:59:00.000-06:00I have an 18-volume set of Balzac's novels and yet...I have an 18-volume set of Balzac's novels and yet haven't gotten to him. Your review has reminded me I need to do myself a favour and get on it! Thanks!Bookphiliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05155882653615842141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-58243009171987486542008-11-20T01:55:00.000-06:002008-11-20T01:55:00.000-06:00I'm planning this one for a holiday reread - it ha...I'm planning this one for a holiday reread - it has been nearly fifteen years since I read it the first time so I've forgotten much and my French wasn't good enough for the nuances at the time, I think, so it should be a really rewarding re-read. I look forward to what else you have to say!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com