Books by Honore De Balzac

Book Synopsis''Who possesses me will possess all things,But his life will belong to me...''Raphael de Valentin, a young aristocrat, has lost all his money in the gaming parlours of the Palais Royal in Paris, and contemplates ending his life by throwing himself into the Seine. He is distracted by the bizarre array of objects in a chaotic antique shop, among them a strange animal skin, a piece of shagreen with magical properties. It will grant its possessor his every wish, but each time a wish is bestowed the skin shrinks, hastening its owner''s death. Around this fantastic premise Balzac weaves a compelling psychological portrait of his hero, a prisoner of his own Promethean imagination, and explores profound ideas about the human will, vice and virtue, love and death. Helen Constantine''s new translation captures the energy and exuberance of Balzac''s novel, one of the most engaging of his ''Études philosophiques'' from the Comédie humaine. The accompanying introduction and notes offer fresh insights into this remarkable work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewThe novel has been elegantly translated by Helen Constantine, who is both faithful and creative * Nicholas White, Times Literary Supplement *A model of its kind * Nineteenth-Century French Studies *

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Book SynopsisMild, harmless and ugly to behold, the impoverished Pons is an ageing musician whose brief fame has fallen to nothing. Living a placid Parisian life as a bachelor in a shared apartment with his friend Schmucke, he maintains only two passions: a devotion to fine dining in the company of wealthy but disdainful relatives, and a dedication to the collection of antiques. When these relatives become aware of the true value of his art collection, however, their sneering contempt for the parasitic Pons rapidly falls away as they struggle to obtain a piece of the weakening man''s inheritance. Taking its place in the Human Comedy as a companion to Cousin Bette, the darkly humorous Cousin Pons is among of the last and greatest of Balzac''s novels concerning French urban society: a cynical, pessimistic but never despairing consideration of human nature.

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Book Synopsis''Who is going to marry Eugénie Grandet?''This is the question that fills the minds of the inhabitants of Saumur, the setting for Eugénie Grandet (1833), one of the the earliest and most famous novels in Balzac''s Comédie humaine. The Grandet household, oppressed by the exacting miserliness of Grandet himself, is jerked violently out of routine by the sudden arrival of Eugénie''s cousin Charles, recently orphaned and penniless. Eugénie''s emotional awakening, stimulated by her love for her cousin, brings her into direct conflict with her father, whose cunning and financial success are matched against her determination to rebel. Eugénie''s moving story is set against the backdrop of provincial oppression, the vicissitudes of the wine trade, and the workings of the financial system in the aftermath of the French Revolution. It is both a poignant portrayal of private life and a vigorous fictional document of its age. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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Book SynopsisAfter Vautrin helps Lucien overcome a mental breakdown, the two men decide to align forces in pursuit of social status and wealth. Operating under an alias, Vautrin offers to help Lucien redeem himself and move back to Paris, with the condition that Lucien follows his orders exactly. Happy to comply, the pair return to the capital city, living in excess and racking up a debt as they pretend they can afford this luxurious lifestyle. With a goal of gaining the attention and love of a wealthy woman, Vautrin helps Lucien appear to be an eligible and desirable bachelor. However, his plan is compromised when Lucien instead meets Esther, a beautiful sex worker. First trying to keep their relationship a secret from Vautrin, Lucien and Esther share an amorous connection. However, as the relationship continues, Lucien must choose between his newfound love, or the shallow charade he and Vautrin have cultivated. Though, the decision may not be his to make, and as always, Vautrin always has a plan. With intricate descriptions of the buildings, culture, and people of Paris, Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life by Honoré de Balzac provides invaluable insight to into the social history of France. This observation of the time allows readers a rare and unfiltered perspective on the 19th century Parisian society, particularly on their values and class distinctions. With themes of morality, romance, and class, Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life explores the dark and unspoken aspects of society while entertaining with a thrilling storyline and compelling characters. First published as a serial in four parts in 1838, this Balzac classic is captivating and clever. With surprises and twists, there is never a dull moment in Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life This edition of Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life by Honoré de Balzac features a stunning new cover design and is presented in a font that is both stylish and readable. With these accommodations, this edition is accessible and appealing to contemporary audiences, restoring Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life to modern standards while preserving the intricacy and value of Honoré de Balzac’s work.

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Book SynopsisLost Illusions (1837-1843) is a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Written as part of his La Comédie humaine sequence, Lost Illusions looks at scenes of Parisian and provincial life involving friendship, desire, and literary ambition. Inspired by his own experiences as a journalist and publisher, Balzac sought to tell a story adjacent to his own, a story concerning a young man for whom talent is abundant but recognition is woefully scarce. The novel’s protagonist, Lucien Chardon, features in Balzac’s work A Harlot High and Low, as does the villain Vautrin, who appears toward the end of Lost Illusions and throughout Father Goriot, one of author’s most popular and enduring works. The son of a middle-class father and aristocratic mother, Lucien Chardon is a promising young poet. He lives in Angoulême with his now-impoverished mother—who is also a widow—and his sister Ève. In the province, he spends his days with his loyal friend David Séchard, who encourages his literary lifestyle while studying to be a scientist. David’s eventual marriage to Ève only brings the two friends closer together, but when Lucien meets the wealthy and influential Mme. de Bargeton, with whom he flees to Paris, their friendship is lost to Lucien’s unstoppable ambition. In the city, abandoned by Mme. de Bargeton and living under his mother’s maiden name, Lucien de Rubempré sacrifices morality, friendship, and family at the altar of poetry, slowly becoming another person altogether. Lost Illusions is one of Balzac’s most sustained character studies, a novel which critiques humanity and high society as much as it does his own commercial interests as a professional writer. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Honoré de Balzac’s Lost Illusions is a classic of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisCousin Bette (1846) is a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Part of Balzac’s La Comédie humaine sequence, the novel is recognized as being the author’s last fully-realized work, and features several characters who appear elsewhere throughout his legendary series. It has inspired several film and television adaptations, as well as earned comparisons to Shakespeare’s Othello and Tolstoy’s War and Peace. The novel focuses on the life and exploits of Bette Fischer, a 42-year-old woman whose bitterness at remaining unmarried—despite several proposals by men she deemed unworthy—drives her to ruin the reputations and lives of her extended family. After rescuing the young sculptor Wenceslas Steinbock from suicide, Bette develops a complex affection for the man. When he falls in love with Hortense, the daughter of Bette’s cousin Adeline, she hatches a plan to gain revenge for this perceived personal slight. She recruits the young and beautiful Valérie Marneffe—an unhappily married woman—to seduce Adeline’s husband, Baron Hector Hulot, whose uncontrolled desires and extensive vanity both test his family’s loyalty and stretch their finances to the furthest possible limit. Cousin Bette is an intense psychological drama and character study that burns with the fire of Balzac’s critique of French society. While exposing the depths of human immorality—particularly where money is made the center of personal relationships—Balzac manages to remind us that what makes us human is not what drives us apart, but the lengths to which we will go to cultivate love despite our basest impulses. To read Cousin Bette is to observe the hopes, flaws, and desires of the people of nineteenth century France, but to ultimately judge ourselves. This final masterpiece of Honoré de Balzac is a testament to the skill and dedication of one of history’s finest literary minds. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Honoré de Balzac’s Cousin Bette is a classic of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Physiology of Marriage (1829) is a book length essay by French writer Honoré de Balzac. Written from the point of view of an author who has overheard scandalous conversations between two women, The Physiology of Marriage is both a critique of the institution of marriage and a satirical attempt to scientifically explain the cause and frequency of marital infidelity. The essay was an early success for Balzac, gaining him a reputation as a talented writer and creative critic of contemporary French society. The essay consists of a series of meditations that approach marriage through a variety of scientific, philosophical, and anecdotal methods. Arguing that marriage is an institution that runs counter to human nature, the author uses questionable mathematics to calculate the number of married women in France who are likely to seek out affairs in order to feel a passion denied to them. Describing the likely signs of marital infidelity—standoffishness, a change in dress, lack of romance—he claims that French men have grown far too accepting of their wives’ affairs. Rather than reject the institution altogether—he sees it as integral to upholding the social order—the author suggests that young women be allowed a certain amount of freedom to explore their romantic inclinations and to prepare themselves for the banality of married life. The Physiology of Marriage finds satire in treating seriously and scientifically the often hidden and always complex matters of the heart, as well as through its suggestion that women, not men, are to blame for the proliferation of infidelity in France. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Honoré de Balzac’s The Physiology of Marriage is a classic of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisFather Goriot (1835) is a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. An early work in his La Comédie humaine sequence, Father Goriot has since become one of Balzac’s most critically and commercially successful novels. It contains several characters who appear throughout his other books and is considered to be the first novel in which he perfected his hallmark realist style. The novel, set in Paris, follows Eugène de Rastignac, a young law student who lives at a boarding house owned by a widow named Madame Vauquer. Her other residents include Jean-Joachim Goriot, a retired businessman whose fortune has been spent on his two adult daughters, and Vautrin, a hardened and mysterious criminal. As Rastignac navigates urban life, he develops a fascination with high society that soon turns into an unhealthy obsession with joining the ranks of the wealthy. Although he falls in love with Goriot’s daughter Delphine, a married woman, Rastignac is pressured by Vautrin to court the young unmarried Victorine. Proposing they attempt to steal her family’s fortune—for which he offers to have her brother murdered—Vautrin does his best to corrupt the young and ambitious Rastignac, who will gradually be forced to choose between a life of luxury and a life of moral decency. In the background of their plotting, the story of Father Goriot unfolds, a tragic portrait of a man who gives everything to his family while wanting nothing more than their love and respect in return. Father Goriot is a complex yet effective novel. Criticized for extensive pessimism upon publication, its reputation for brutal honesty and social realism have aided its reception in recent years, and it is now considered one of Balzac’s most important works. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Honoré de Balzac’s Father Goriot is a classic of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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