{"title":"Honoré de Balzac","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"pere-goriot","title":"Père Goriot","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in serial form in 1834–35 and as a book in 1835, Honoré de Balzac’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePère Goriot\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e unfolds in a shabby Parisian boarding house where private grief and social ambition meet. At its centre is Jean-Joachim Goriot, an ageing former merchant who has sacrificed his fortune to his two daughters, Anastasie and Delphine, only to find himself increasingly abandoned by the society he helped enrich. Around him gather Eugène de Rastignac, a young law student determined to make his way in the capital, and Vautrin, a charismatic and unsettling figure who understands the ruthless machinery of power. Through their intersecting fortunes, Balzac reveals a Paris governed by money, rank, desire and the terrible compromises demanded by social advancement.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBoth an intimate tragedy of paternal devotion and a panoramic portrait of Restoration-era France, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePère Goriot\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is among the defining novels of literary realism. Its precise social observation is matched by an almost Shakespearean intensity, as Balzac explores the corruption of affection by wealth and the moral cost of ambition. The novel also marks a turning point in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLa Comédie humaine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, the vast fictional world in which characters reappear across different works, lending individual stories the breadth of an entire society. Bleak, compassionate and unsparing, it remains one of Balzac’s most enduring explorations of the price of belonging to the world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“You give them life; they give you your deathblow. You bring them into the world, and they send you out of it.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Honoré de Balzac, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePère Goriot\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePère Goriot\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Compared with the work that preceded it, Père Goriot is a kind of summary; compared with the work that followed, it is a kind of announcement.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Maurice Bardèche, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBalzac romancier\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64027365802314,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"lost-illusions","title":"Lost Illusions","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublished in three parts between 1837 and 1843, Honoré de Balzac’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLost Illusions\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e follows Lucien Chardon, an ambitious young poet from provincial Angoulême who dreams of conquering the literary world of Paris. Accompanied by his hopes of artistic distinction and social advancement, Lucien enters a capital where reputation is manufactured, journalism is governed by money, and literary judgement can be bought and sold. Meanwhile, his devoted friend David Séchard pursues a very different ambition as a printer and inventor, discovering that provincial life has its own cruelties and disappointments. Through their intertwined fortunes, Balzac exposes the fragile boundary between talent and vanity, idealism and opportunism, and the private cost of pursuing public recognition.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOne of the great novels of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLa Comédie humaine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLost Illusions\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e offers a remarkably clear-eyed portrait of the literary marketplace and the social machinery of nineteenth-century France. Balzac’s Paris is a world of publishers, critics, theatres and newspapers in which art becomes a commodity and success depends as much on money and influence as on merit. Yet beneath its satire lies a deeply human tragedy: the painful education of a young man whose ambitions collide with the realities of the world he longs to enter. Vast in scope but intimate in its understanding of disappointment, the novel remains one of Balzac’s most penetrating studies of ambition, corruption and the price of losing one’s ideals.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“In Paris everything is bought and sold; everything is manufactured, even success.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Honoré de Balzac, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLost Illusions\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLost Illusions\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“The novel is a remarkably prescient account of a society in which reputation is manufactured and literary judgement is bought and sold.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Victoria Baena, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64027405779274,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"eugenie-grandet","title":"Eugénie Grandet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1833, Honoré de Balzac’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEugénie Grandet\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e takes place in the provincial town of Saumur, where the wealthy but miserly Félix Grandet rules his household with an iron grip. His daughter Eugénie grows up in an atmosphere of thrift and emotional deprivation, her generous nature constrained by her father’s obsession with money and control. When her cousin Charles arrives from Paris following a family tragedy, Eugénie experiences the awakening of love and begins to imagine a life beyond the narrow confines of her home. But in Balzac’s world, affection is rarely free from the pressures of inheritance, social standing and financial calculation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eQuietly devastating in its portrayal of domestic life, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEugénie Grandet\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e reveals how avarice can shape not only a household but an entire community, where reputation and wealth often outweigh tenderness or moral worth. Balzac’s precise observation of provincial manners is balanced by a deep sympathy for Eugénie, whose capacity for devotion stands in painful contrast to the calculating world around her. One of the defining works of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLa Comédie humaine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, the novel helped establish Balzac’s reputation as a master of literary realism, turning an apparently modest family drama into a searching study of money, power and the cost of innocence.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“There are some women who, by their very nature, are made to suffer.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Honoré de Balzac, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEugénie Grandet\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEugénie Grandet\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Balzac’s genius is to make the ordinary life of a provincial town seem as dramatic as the fate of a kingdom.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Herbert J. Hunt, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBalzac’s Comédie humaine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64027441299786,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/collections\/honore-de-balzac.oembed","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}