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Honoré de Balzac

Sort Name
Balzac, Honoré de
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Type
Person
Gender
Male
Date of birth
1799-05-20
Place of birth
Tours
Date of death
1850-08-18
Place of death
Paris

Wikipedia

Honoré de Balzac ( BAL-zak, more commonly US: BAWL-, French: [ɔnɔʁe d(ə) balzak]; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus.

Owing to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multi-faceted characters; even his lesser characters are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. Inanimate objects are imbued with character as well; the city of Paris, a backdrop for much of his writing, takes on many human qualities. His writing influenced many famous writers, including the novelists Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Marcel Proust, Gustave Flaubert, and Henry James, and filmmakers François Truffaut and Jacques Rivette. Many of Balzac's works have been made into films and continue to inspire other writers. James called him "really the father of us all."

An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac had trouble adapting to the teaching style of his grammar school. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the 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 owing to his intense writing schedule. His relationship with his family was often strained by financial and personal drama, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, Balzac married Ewelina Hańska (née Contessa Rzewuska), a Polish aristocrat and his longtime love. He died in Paris six months later.

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Annotation

Honoré de Balzac (born Honoré Balzac) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus.

The structure of La Comédie humaine is as follows:

• Études de mœurs, which includes the sub-series:
- Scènes de la vie de campagne
- Scènes de la vie militaire
- Scènes de la vie parisienne, which also includes the sub-series:
+ Histoire des Treize
+ Les parents pauvres
+ Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes
- Scènes de la vie politique
- Scènes de la vie privée
- Scènes de la vie de province, which also includes the sub-series:
+ Illusions perdues
+ Les Célibataires
+ Les Parisiens en province
+ Les Rivalités

• Études philosophiques

• Études analytiques

Last modified: 2020-11-15 (revision #42768)

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Identifiers

Goodreads Author ID
228089
ISNI
0000 0001 2347 8072
LibraryThing Author
balzachonorede
MusicBrainz Artist ID
a0412c28-426e-409c-a7ed-363a3ffc481a
OpenLibrary Author ID
OL29097A
VIAF
29529595
Wikidata ID
Q9711

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Last Modified
2023-12-09