The Celibates

Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book The Celibates by Honore de Balzac, anboco
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Honore de Balzac ISBN: 9783736414396
Publisher: anboco Publication: September 9, 2016
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Honore de Balzac
ISBN: 9783736414396
Publisher: anboco
Publication: September 9, 2016
Imprint:
Language: English

Les Celibataires, the longest number of the original Comedie Humaine under a single title, next to Illusions perdues, is not, like that book, connected by any unity of story. Indeed, the general bond of union is pretty weak; and though it is quite true that bachelors and old maids are the heroes and heroines of all three, it would be rather hard to establish any other bond of connection, and it is rather unlikely that any one unprompted would fix on this as a sufficient ground of partnership. Two at least of the component parts, however, are of very high excellence. I do not myself think that Pierrette, which opens the series, is quite the equal of its companions. Written, as it was, for Countess Anna de Hanska, Balzac's step-daughter of the future, while she was still very young, it partakes necessarily of the rather elaborate artificiality of all attempts to suit the young person, of French attempts in particular, and it may perhaps be said of Balzac's attempts most of all. It belongs, in a way, to the Arcis series—the series which also includes the fine Tenebreuse Affaire and the unfinished Depute d'Arcis—but is not very closely connected therewith. The picture of the actual Celibataires, the brother and sister Rogron, with which it opens, is one of Balzac's best styles, and is executed with all his usual mastery both of the minute and of the at least partially repulsive, showing also that strange knowledge of the bourgeois de Paris which, somehow or other, he seems to have attained by dint of unknown foregatherings in his ten years of apprenticeship. But when we come to Pierrette herself, the story is, I think, rather less satisfying. Her persecutions and her end, and the devotion of the faithful Brigaut and the rest, are pathetic no doubt, but tend (I hope it is not heartless to say it) just a very little towards sensiblerie. The fact is that the thing is not quite in Balzac's line...

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Les Celibataires, the longest number of the original Comedie Humaine under a single title, next to Illusions perdues, is not, like that book, connected by any unity of story. Indeed, the general bond of union is pretty weak; and though it is quite true that bachelors and old maids are the heroes and heroines of all three, it would be rather hard to establish any other bond of connection, and it is rather unlikely that any one unprompted would fix on this as a sufficient ground of partnership. Two at least of the component parts, however, are of very high excellence. I do not myself think that Pierrette, which opens the series, is quite the equal of its companions. Written, as it was, for Countess Anna de Hanska, Balzac's step-daughter of the future, while she was still very young, it partakes necessarily of the rather elaborate artificiality of all attempts to suit the young person, of French attempts in particular, and it may perhaps be said of Balzac's attempts most of all. It belongs, in a way, to the Arcis series—the series which also includes the fine Tenebreuse Affaire and the unfinished Depute d'Arcis—but is not very closely connected therewith. The picture of the actual Celibataires, the brother and sister Rogron, with which it opens, is one of Balzac's best styles, and is executed with all his usual mastery both of the minute and of the at least partially repulsive, showing also that strange knowledge of the bourgeois de Paris which, somehow or other, he seems to have attained by dint of unknown foregatherings in his ten years of apprenticeship. But when we come to Pierrette herself, the story is, I think, rather less satisfying. Her persecutions and her end, and the devotion of the faithful Brigaut and the rest, are pathetic no doubt, but tend (I hope it is not heartless to say it) just a very little towards sensiblerie. The fact is that the thing is not quite in Balzac's line...

More books from anboco

Cover of the book The Hand of the Mighty and Other Stories by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book The American Railway, its Construction, Development, Manage - Theodore Voorhees by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book Animal Behaviour by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book The Jungle Book by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book Historical Record of the Seventeenth or The Lts Formation in 1688 to 1848 by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book Famous Reviews by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book King Arthur's Knights by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book The Gases of the Atmosphere by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book Principles of Public Health by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book The History of England by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book Desk and Debit; or, The Catastrophes of a Clerk by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book The Elements of Drawing by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Suffici and On the Will in Nature by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book Soldiers of the Legion - Trench-Etched by Honore de Balzac
Cover of the book The Montessori Method - Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education by Honore de Balzac
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy