Honoré de Balzac

Born

in Tours, France

May 20, 1799

Died

August 18, 1850

Website

http://balzacbooks.wordpress.com/

Genre

Literature & Fiction

Influences

Walter Scott, Molière, Jean Racine, Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Jean de L ...more

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Honoré de Balzac was a nineteenth-century French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of almost 100 novels and plays collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the fall of Napoléon Bonaparte in 1815.

Due 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 authors, including Honoré de Balzac was a nineteenth-century French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of almost 100 novels and plays collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the fall of Napoléon Bonaparte in 1815.

Due 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 authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James and Jack Kerouac, as well as important philosophers such as Friedrich Engels. Many of Balzac's works have been made into films, and they continue to inspire other writers.

An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac had trouble adapting himself 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 as a legal clerk, but he turned his back on 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 due 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, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; he died five months later.
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Combine Editions
Honoré de Balzac's Books

Average rating: 3.8 · 93,512 ratings · 4,552 reviews · 1,921 distinct works · Similar authors

	Père Goriot 3.81 avg rating — 31,626 ratings — published 1834 — 581 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac, Sylvia Raphael (Translator), Christopher Prendergast (Introduction) 3.79 avg rating — 12,514 ratings — published 1833 — 431 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac, Ellen Marriage (Translator), George Saintsbury (Introduction) 4.15 avg rating — 6,004 ratings — published 1837 — 201 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cousin Bette by Honoré de Balzac, Francine Prose (Introduction), Kathleen Raine (Translator) 3.85 avg rating — 5,968 ratings — published 1846 — 195 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wild Ass's Skin by Honoré de Balzac, Herbert J. Hunt (Translator) 3.86 avg rating — 3,727 ratings — published 1831 — 269 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le Colonel Chabert 3.62 avg rating — 2,583 ratings — published 1832 — 154 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Woman Of Thirty 3.50 avg rating — 1,986 ratings — published 1834 — 156 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Harlot High and Low by Honoré de Balzac, Rayner Heppenstall (Translator, Introduction) 4.06 avg rating — 1,730 ratings — published 1846 — 155 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Black Sheep by Honoré de Balzac, Donald Adamson (Translator) 3.97 avg rating — 1,248 ratings — published 1842 — 82 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Unknown Masterpiece by Honoré de Balzac, Richard Howard (translator), Arthur C. Danto (contributor) 3.85 avg rating — 1,660 ratings — published 1831 — 114 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Honoré de Balzac…

Series by Honoré de Balzac

La Comédie Humaine (88 books)
by Honoré de Balzac
3.79 avg rating — 85,840 ratings

Études de mœurs : Scènes de la vie privée (27 books)
by Honoré de Balzac
3.76 avg rating — 40,921 ratings

Études de mœurs : Scènes de la vie de province (11 books)
by Honoré de Balzac
3.90 avg rating — 20,697 ratings

Études de mœurs : Scènes de la vie parisienne (20 books)
by Honoré de Balzac
3.79 avg rating — 12,430 ratings

Études philosophiques - Philosophical studies (19 books)
by Honoré de Balzac
3.73 avg rating — 7,628 ratings

More series by Honoré de Balzac…

Quotes by Honoré de Balzac

“Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine.”
― Honoré de Balzac

tags: loneliness, society, solitude

3585 likes

“Reading brings us unknown friends”
― Honoré de Balzac

tags: reading

2956 likes

“The more one judges, the less one loves.”
― Honoré de Balzac, Physiologie Du Mariage

tags: human-nature, love

2661 likes

See all Honoré de Balzac's quotes »

Polls

Please vote for the book you would like to read in April. We do ask that you only vote if you intend to participate in the group read for the book of your choice.

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

7 votes, 25.0%

No Name by Wilkie Collins

4 votes, 14.3%

Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy

4 votes, 14.3%

Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac

4 votes, 14.3%

The Odd Women by George Gissing

2 votes, 7.1%

Esther Waters by George Moore

2 votes, 7.1%

The Silent Places by Stewart Edward White

2 votes, 7.1%

In a Glass Darkly by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

2 votes, 7.1%

The Rector's Daughter by F.M. Mayor

1 vote, 3.6%

28 total votes

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