Balzac is one of those authors that I've never read despite constantly running into references. Supposedly both Proust and Henry James studied his works carefully.I mostly read this novel on the flights to and from DC.
"Cousin Bette" is one of his later works, and is part of his magnus opus - "La Comédie humaine" - a group of 100 or so works iwth some recurring characters, etc.
He's clearly another great observer of human nature. Seemed to be writing also for a popular audience; snappy dialogue, quicker pace than some of the other things I've been looking at lately.
I read that Balzac's father wanted him to be a lawyer, but that he wasn't very good at handling structure of any kind. He did have some training and I believe practiced a few years. This definitely shows up in his writing. He brought to life the economic concerns of the characters in more detail and with more accuracy than others I've read. Apparently 19th century economic considerations were more similar to current than I would
have thought.One reason I like reading stuff from France in this era is the overlapping political epochs; he was born in the Napoleonic days, this was written during the July monarchy. Apparently Balzac did support a lot of the old structures.
Plot line: Cousin Bette is jealous of her relatives based on not liking how she was treated as a child, and joins up with a top flight courtesan to pursue revenges.
Hortense marries a Pole, and Balzac is funny with what would now be politically incorrect observations about the courage and senselessness of the Poles, how this contributed to their various partitions, etc. (show a Pole a precipice and he will throw himself over . . ."
No comments:
Post a Comment