Balzac

[Anonymous No.10080913]

How come I never hear about him in this board? Just picked up Le Père Goriot. Did anyone read it? Is it a good place to start with him? What else should I know about it/Balzac?

[Anonymous No.10080929]

He is talked about atleast once a week. He used to drink 50 cups of coffee a day and then write 8+ hours straight.

[Anonymous No.10080949]

>>10080913
THIS. One of my favorite books ever.

[Anonymous No.10080950]

>>10080929
Imagine doing this your whole life and then nobody even gives a fuck about anything you wrote. Is Balzac the biggest cuck ever?

[Anonymous No.10080954]

>>10080950
Have you read his life story? He is the biggest chad writer in french literary history.

[Anonymous No.10080972]

>>10080929

It seems to be a new tactic to say [often-mentioned author] isn't mentioned on the board, a way of getting responses by being intentionally wrong
Anyway, check out the range of colors in pic related. I don't think any of them are quite right even

[Anonymous No.10080977]

>>10080913
Don't begin there, but rather with Lost Illusions and then The Splendors and Miseries of a Courtesan (part 2 of the first). Goiriot will make /you think Balsac a more rigid writer than he actually (on most occasions) is.

[Anonymous No.10080987]

>Balzac

more like ballsack, scroat

[Anonymous No.10081008]

Start with his first books, Les Chouans or La Peau de Chagrin

[Anonymous No.10081077]

>>10080913
Le Père Goriot is a masterpiece.

Anything can serve as a starting point into the world of Balzac. Why not PG.

PG has a ton of great characters including the ones that only appear in this novel.

Note that the sinister mastermind Vautrin is a homosexual preying on young men. Some readers miss this part completely because it's unexpected in literature of the time, and as it isn't explicitly stated, many readers manage to ignore the subtext of how he talks to Rastignac. Vautrin's tendency becomes more apparent in context of his pursuit of Lucien in the Lucien novels.

Balzac is one of my favorite authors. His tangents are legendary, but PG is atypical in that regard as it's more compact.

[Anonymous No.10081221]

>>10081077
Very nice response. I'll start reading him today. Thank you for your input, /lit/zens.

[Anonymous No.10081278]

Pere Goriot
Les Chouans
An episode under the terror
The vendetta
The recruit
The red inn
The maranas
A passion in the desert
The exiles
Christ in Flanders
Maitre Cornelius
A double family
The gondreville mystery
At the sign of the cat and racket
The executioner
Domestic peace
Louis Lambert
The alkahest
A woman of thirty
The thirteen
A bachelor's establishment
The elixir of life
About Catherine Medici
Eugenie Grandet
The rise and fall of Caesar birotteau
The unknown masterpiece
Sarrasine
The hated son
Adieu
The message
Colonel chabert
Facino cane
Lost illusions

In that order. That should be a good start.

[Anonymous No.10081417]

>>10080913
Well Op. Youre either 'working up' to Lost Illusions or it's being alluded to (but not being named) as 'the Lucien novels' which, if /you read first (along with S&M) would obviate the necessity of being given a heads-up as to Vautrin's motives, which are never that clear ANYWAY in WHATEVER Vautrin appears in, FWIW.
Do /you really plan on reading a score of Balzac novels, novellas, and story collections? Allow me to answer this for /you- no. Begin with his best, and if /you find you/ like him, read around in his works at your own pace.
Goiriot's virtue is that it's short and easy. Otherwise it's thinly characterized, rigidly headlong, and silly. If /you want to be turned off at the onset of your reading Balzac then by all means take reddit's advice and read it. Fair warning.

[Anonymous No.10081460]

>>10080972
my two picks are:
>top row, 2nd from left
or
>bottom-right corner

i agree, none of them are quite right. those two just need a little tweaking.

[Anonymous No.10081540]

>>10081460

I think something like this. It's a beautiful color

[Anonymous No.10082602]

>>10081008
Les Chouans is a pot-boiler. Exceptionally fun, solid novel about some Breton hillbillies who keep loyal to the British during the Napoleonic wars.

[Anonymous No.10082771]

>>10080987
underrated

[Anonymous No.10082774]

>>10080987
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvhFs2bdRpE