"The Human Comedy" by Honore de Balzac: a review of the works. Balzac "human comedy Name of the author of the human comedy
The Human Comedy is a cycle of works by the cult French writer Honore de Balzac. This grandiose work became the most ambitious literary idea of the 19th century. Balzac included in the cycle all the novels he wrote during his twenty-year creative career. Despite the fact that each component of the cycle is an independent literary work, The Human Comedy is a single whole, as Balzac said, "my great work ... about man and life."
The idea for this large-scale creation originated with Honoré de Balzac in 1832, when Shagreen Skin was completed and successfully published. Analyzing the works of Bonnet, Buffon, Leibniz, the writer drew attention to the development of animals as a single organism.
Drawing a parallel with the animal world, Balzac determined that society is like nature, since it creates as many human types as the nature of animal species. The material for human typology is the environment in which this or that individual is located. Just as in nature a wolf differs from a fox, a donkey from a horse, a shark from a seal, in society a soldier does not look like a worker, a scientist does not look like an idler, an official does not look like a poet.
The uniqueness of Balzac's idea
In world culture, there are a lot of dry factographs dedicated to the history of various countries and eras, but there is no work that would cover the history of the mores of society. Balzac undertook to investigate the mores of French society in the 19th century (to be precise, the period from 1815 to 1848). He had to create a large work with two or three thousand characters typical of this particular era.
The idea was, of course, very ambitious, the publishers sarcastically wished the writer a "long life", but this does not stop the great Balzac - along with his talent, he had amazing endurance, self-discipline and hard work. By analogy with Dante's Divine Comedy, he calls his work The Human Comedy, emphasizing the realistic method of interpreting modern reality.
Structure of The Human Comedy
Honore de Balzac divided his "Human Comedy" into three structural and semantic parts. Visually, this composition can be depicted as a pyramid. The largest part (it is also the base) is called "Etudes of Morals" and includes thematic subsections / scenes (private, provincial, military, rural life and the life of Paris. "Etudes of Morals" was planned to include 111 works, Balzac managed to write 71.
The second tier of the "pyramid" is "Philosophical Studies", in which 27 works were planned and 22 were written.
The top of the "pyramid" - "Analytical studies". Of the five conceived, the author managed to complete only two works.
In the preface to the first edition of The Human Comedy, Balzac deciphers the themes of each part of the Etudes of Morals. Thus, Scenes of private life depict childhood, youth, and the delusions of these periods of human life.
Balzac really likes to “spy” on the private life of his characters and find the typical, epochal in the everyday life of the characters appearing on the pages of his works. Accordingly, the Scenes of Private Life have become one of the most extensive sections; it includes works written in the period from 1830 to 1844. These are “The House of a Cat Playing Ball”, “A Ball in So”, “Memoirs of Two Young Wives”, “Vendetta”, “Imaginary Mistress”, “Thirty-Year-Old Woman”, “Colonel Chabert”, “The Godless Mass”, the cult “Father Goriot", "Gobsek" and other works".
So, the short novel "The House of the Cat Playing Ball" (alternative title "Glory and Sorrow") tells the story of a young married couple - the artist Theodore de Somervieux and the merchant's daughter Augustine Guillaume. When the dope of love passes, Theodore realizes that a pretty wife is not able to appreciate his work, to become a friend in spirit, a comrade-in-arms, a muse. At this time, Augustine continues to naively and selflessly love her husband. She suffers greatly, seeing how her beloved moves away, how she finds solace in the company of another woman - an intelligent, educated, sophisticated Madame de Carigliano. No matter how hard the poor thing tries, she fails to save the marriage and return her husband's love. One day, Augustine's heart breaks down - it is simply torn from grief and lost love.
The novel "Memoirs of two young wives" is interesting. It is presented in the form of correspondence between two graduates of the convent, friends Louise de Cholier and René de Mocombe. Leaving the walls of the holy monastery, one girl ends up in Paris, the other - in the provinces. Line by line on the pages of girls' letters, two completely different destinies grow.
The cult "Father Goriot" and "Gobsek" tell the story of the lives of two of the greatest misers - the "incurable father" Goriot, painfully adoring his daughters, and the usurer Gobsek, who does not recognize any ideals except the power of gold.
In contrast to private life, the scenes of provincial life are devoted to maturity and its inherent passions, ambitions, interests, calculations, and ambition. This section contains ten novels. Among them are "Eugenia Grande", "Museum of Antiquities", "The Old Maid", "Lost Illusions".
So, the novel "Eugenia Grande" tells about the provincial life of the wealthy Grande family - a stingy tyrant father, a resigned mother and their young beautiful daughter Eugenia. The novel was very fond of the domestic public, was repeatedly translated into Russian and even filmed at the Soviet film studio in 1960.
In contrast to the provincial, Balzac creates Scenes of Parisian life, where, first of all, the vices that the capital gives rise to are exposed. This section includes "Duchess de Lange", "Caesar Birotto", "Cousin Betta", "Cousin Pons" and others. Balzac's most famous "Parisian" novel is "The Brilliance and Poverty of the Courtesans".
The work tells the tragic fate of the provincial Lucien de Rubempre, who made a brilliant career in Paris thanks to the patronage of Carlos Herrera, the abbot. Lucien is in love. His passion is the former courtesan Esther. The imperious abbot forces the young protégé to give up his true love in favor of a more profitable party. Lucien reluctantly agrees. This decision sets off a chain of tragic events in the fates of all the characters in the novel.
Politics, war and the countryside
Politics stands apart from private life. Scenes of political life tell about this original sphere. In the section Scenes of political life, Balzac included four works:
- "A Case from the Time of Terror" about a group of disgraced monarchist aristocrats;
- "Dark Deed" about the conflict of aristocratic adherents of the royal Bourbon dynasty and the government of Napoleon;
- "Z. Markas";
- "Deputy from Arsi" about "fair" elections in the provincial town of Arcy-sur-Aube.
Scenes of military life depict heroes in a state of the highest moral and emotional tension, whether it be defense or conquest. This, in particular, included the novel "Chuans", which brought Balzac, after a series of literary failures and the collapse of the publishing business, the long-awaited glory. "Chuans" is dedicated to the events of 1799, when the last major uprising of royalist rebels took place. The rebels, led by monarchical-minded aristocrats and clergy, were called shuans.
Balzac called the atmosphere of rural life "the evening of a long day." This section presents the purest characters that are formed in the embryo of other areas of human life. Four novels were included in Scenes of Rural Life: The Peasants, The Rural Doctor, The Rural Priest, and Lily of the Valley.
A deep dissection of characters, an analysis of the social drivers of all life events, and life itself in a fight with desire are shown in the second part of the "Human Comedy" - "Philosophical Studies". They included 22 works written between 1831 and 1839. These are "Jesus Christ in Flanders", "Unknown Masterpiece", "Cursed Child", "Maitre Cornelius", "Red Hotel", "Elixir of Longevity" and many others. The bestseller of "Philosophical Studies" is undoubtedly the novel "Philosophical Skin".
The protagonist of Shagreen Skin, the poet Raphael de Valentin, unsuccessfully tries to make a career in Paris. One day he becomes the owner of a magical artifact - a piece of shagreen, which grants any wish, spoken aloud. Valentine immediately becomes rich, successful, loved. But soon the other side of the magic opens up to him - with each wish fulfilled, the shagreen decreases, and with it the life of Raphael himself. When the pebbled skin is gone, he will be gone too. Valentine will have to choose between a long existence in constant deprivation or a bright but short life full of pleasures.
Analytical studies
The result of the monolithic "history of the morals of modern mankind" was "Analytical studies". In the preface, Balzac himself notes that this section is under development, and therefore, at this stage, the author is forced to abandon meaningful comments.
For Analytical Studies, the writer planned five works, but completed only two - these are The Physiology of Marriage, written in 1929, and Minor Adversities of Married Life, published in 1846.
From French: La comedie humaine. The title of a multi-volume cycle of novels (first edition 1842-1848) by the French writer Honore de Balzac (1799-1850). Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. Moscow: Locky Press. Vadim Serov. 2003 ... Dictionary of winged words and expressions
Type of drama (see), in which the moment of effective conflict or struggle of antagonistic characters is specifically resolved. Qualitatively, the fight in K. differs in that it: 1. does not entail serious, disastrous consequences for the combatants; … Literary Encyclopedia
- (inosk.) feigned vulgar human trick Cf. How many respectable people there are in the world who have lived through all the jubilees and whom no one has ever thought of honoring!.. And, therefore, all your anniversaries are one dog comedy. Saltykov. ... ... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary
BALZAC Honore de (Honoré de Balzac, 20/V 1799–20/VIII 1850). Born in Tours, studied in Paris. As a young man, he worked at a notary, preparing for a career as a notary or attorney. 23–26 years old, published a number of novels under various pseudonyms that did not rise ... ... Literary Encyclopedia
- (Balzac) (1799-1850), French writer. The epic "The Human Comedy" of 90 novels and stories is connected by a common idea and many characters: the novels "Unknown Masterpiece" (1831), "Shagreen Skin" (1830 1831), "Eugenia Grande" (1833), "Father ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
"Balzac" redirects here; see also other meanings. Honore de Balzac Honoré de Balzac Date of birth ... Wikipedia
- (Saroyan) William (b. 31.8.1908, Fresno, California), American writer. Born into a family of Armenian emigrants. Since 1960, S. has been living in Europe. The first book is a collection of short stories "A brave young man on a flying trapeze" (1934), followed by ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Honoré de Balzac Date of birth: May 20, 1799 Place of birth: Tours, France Date of death ... Wikipedia
Books
- The Human Comedy, O. Balzac. Balzac connected about ninety of his works with a single idea. The resulting cycle was called "The Human Comedy: Studies in Morals", or "Scenes of Parisian Life". Here is one of…
- The Human Comedy, William Saroyan. William Saroyan is one of the most popular American writers. He wrote about one and a half thousand stories, twelve plays and seven novels. But the best work of V. Saroyan is considered ...
Balzac's Human Comedy. Ideas, conception, implementation
The monumental collection of works by Honore de Balzac, united by a common idea and title - "The Human Comedy", consists of 98 novels and short stories and is a grandiose history of the morals of France in the second quarter of the 19th century. It is a kind of social epic in which Balzac described the life of society: the process of formation and enrichment of the French bourgeoisie, the penetration of upstarts and nouveaux riches into the aristocratic environment of the Parisian high society, their way up, life, customs and philosophy of people who profess faith in only one god - money. He gave a dramatic picture of human passions generated by wealth and poverty, the lust for power and complete lack of rights and humiliation.
Most of the novels that Balzac intended from the very beginning for The Human Comedy were created between 1834 and the end of the 40s. However, when the idea was finally formed, it turned out that the earlier things were organic for the general author's idea, and Balzac included them in the epic. Subordinate to a single "super task" - to comprehensively cover the life of society of that time, to give an almost encyclopedic list of social types and characters - "The Human Comedy" has a clearly defined structure and consists of three cycles, representing, as it were, three interconnected levels of social and artistic and philosophical generalization of phenomena .
The first cycle and the foundation of the epic is "Studies on Morals" - the stratification of society, given through the prism of the private life of contemporaries. These include the bulk of the novels written by Balzac, and he introduced six thematic sections for him:
"Scenes of Private Life" ("Gobsek", "Colonel Chabert", "Father Goriot", "Marriage Contract", "Lust of the Atheist", etc.);
"Scenes of Provincial Life" ("Eugenia Grande", "The Illustrious Godissard", "The Old Maid", etc.);
"Scenes of Parisian life" ("History of the greatness and fall of Caesar "? irotto", "The banking house of Nucingen", "Shine and poverty of the courtesans", "Secrets of the Princess de Cadignan", "Cousin Betta" and "Cousin Pons", etc.) ;
"Scenes of political life" ("Episode of the era of terror", "Dark matter", etc.);
"Scenes of military life" (Shuans ");
"Scenes of Village Life" ("Village Doctor". Village Priest" and others).
The second cycle, in which Balzac wanted to show the causes of phenomena, is called "PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES" and includes: "Shagreen leather", "Elixir of longevity", "Unknown masterpiece", "Search for the absolute", "Drama on the seaside", "Reconciled Melmoth" and other works.
And finally, the third cycle - "ANALYTICAL STUDIES" ("Physiology of marriage", "Small hardships of married life", etc.). In it, the writer tries to determine the philosophical foundations of human existence, to reveal the laws of society. Such is the external composition of the epic.
Already one list of works included in the "Human Comedy" speaks of the grandeur of the author's intention. “My work,” wrote Balzac, “should incorporate all types of people, all social positions, it must embody all social changes, so that not a single life situation, not a single person, not a single character, male or female, no one’s or the views ... have not been forgotten."
Before us is a model of French society, almost creating the illusion of a full-fledged reality. In all the novels, the same society is depicted, as it were, similar to the real France, but not completely coinciding with it, since this is its artistic embodiment. The impression of an almost historical chronicle is reinforced by the second plan of the epic, where real historical figures of that era act: Napoleon, Talleyrand, Louis XNUMX, real marshals and ministers. Together with fictional authors, characters corresponding to the typical characters of the time, they play the performance of the "Human Comedy".
The effect of the historical authenticity of what is happening is supported by an abundance of details. Paris and provincial towns are given in a wide range of details, ranging from architectural features to the smallest details of the business life and everyday life of heroes belonging to different social strata and estates. In a sense, the epic can serve as a guide for a specialist historian who studies that time.
The novels of the "Human Comedy" are united not only by the unity of the epoch, but also by the method of transitional characters found by Balzac, both major and minor. If one of the heroes of any novel falls ill, the same doctor Bianchon is invited, in case of financial difficulties they turn to the usurer Gobsek, on a morning walk in the Bois de Boulogne and in Parisian salons we meet the same faces. In general, the division into secondary and main characters for the characters of the "Human Comedy" is rather arbitrary. If in one of the novels the protagonist is on the periphery of the narrative, then in the other he and his story are brought to the fore (such metamorphoses occur, for example, with Gobseck and Nucingen).
One of the fundamentally important artistic techniques of the author of The Human Comedy is the openness, the flow of one novel into another. The history of one person or family ends, but the general fabric of life has no end, it is in constant motion. Therefore, in Balzac, the denouement of one plot becomes the beginning of a new one or echoes previous novels, and the cross-cutting characters create the illusion of the authenticity of what is happening and emphasize the basis of the idea. It consists of the following:
the protagonist of the "Human Comedy" is society, so private destinies are not interesting to Balzac in themselves - they are just details of the whole picture.
Since an epic of this type depicts life in constant development, it is fundamentally not completed, and could not be completed. That is why previously written novels (for example, Shagreen Skin) could be included in the epic, the idea of which arose after their creation.
With this principle of building an epic, each novel included in it is at the same time an independent work and one of the fragments of the whole. Each novel is an autonomous artistic whole that exists within the framework of a single organism, which enhances its expressiveness and the drama of the events experienced by its characters.
The innovation of such an idea and the methods of its implementation (a realistic approach to depicting reality) sharply separate Balzac's work from his predecessors - the romantics. If the latter put the single, exceptional at the forefront, then the author of The Human Comedy believed that the artist should display the typical. Feel for the common connection and meaning of phenomena. Unlike the romantics, Balzac does not seek his ideal outside reality.
True to reality, he was the first who, behind the everyday life of French bourgeois society, discovered the boiling of human passions and truly Shakespearean drama. His Paris, populated by the rich and the poor, fighting for power, influence, money, and simply for life itself, is a breathtaking picture. Behind the private manifestations of life, starting from the unpaid bill of the poor to the landlady and ending with the story of the usurer who unjustly made his fortune, Balzac tries to see the whole picture. The general laws of the life of bourgeois society, manifested through the struggle, fate and characters of its characters.
As a writer and artist, Balzac was almost fascinated by the drama of the picture that opened up to him, as a moralist, he could not help but condemn the laws that were revealed to him in the study of reality. In Balzac's Human Comedy, besides people, there is a powerful force that has subjugated not only private, but also public life, politics, family, morality and art. And this is money. Everything can become the subject of monetary transactions, everything is subject to the law of purchase and sale. They give power, influence in society, the opportunity to satisfy ambitious plans, just to burn life. To enter the elite of such a society on an equal footing, to achieve its location in practice means a rejection of the basic precepts of morality and morality. To keep your spiritual world pure means to give up ambitious desires and prosperity.
Almost every hero of Balzac's Studies on Morals experiences this collision common to the "Human Comedy", almost everyone endures a small battle with himself. At the end of it, either the way up and the souls sold to the devil, or down - to the sidelines of public life and all the tormenting passions that accompany the humiliation of a person. Thus, the morals of society, the characters and destinies of its members are not only interconnected, but also interdependent, Balzac argues in The Human Comedy. His characters - Rastignac, Nucingen, Gobsek confirm this thesis.
There are not many worthy exits - honest poverty and the comforts that religion can give. True, it should be noted that Balzac is less convincing in depicting the righteous than in those cases when he explores the contradictions of human nature and the situation of a difficult choice for his heroes. Salvation sometimes becomes loving relatives (as in the case of the aged and burned-out Baron Hulot), and the family, but it is also affected by corruption. In general, the family plays a significant role in The Human Comedy. Unlike ro-
romantics, who made the personality the main subject of artistic consideration, Balzac makes the family as such. From the analysis of family life, he begins the study of the social organism. And with regret he is convinced that the breakup of the family reflects the general trouble of life. Along with single characters in The Human Comedy, dozens of various family dramas take place in front of us, reflecting various variants of the same tragic struggle for power and gold.
List of used literature;
1. B.G. Reizov "Creativity of Balzac". L., 19.39
2. D.D. Oblomievsky Honore Balzac. M., 1967
3. A. Versmuir "Inhuman Comedy". M., 1967
4. "History of foreign literature of the XIX century". M., 1982
"HUMAN COMEDY"
Balzac is as wide as the ocean. It is a whirlwind of genius, a storm of indignation and a hurricane of passions. He was born in the same year as Pushkin (1799) - only two weeks earlier - but outlived him by 13 years. Both geniuses dared to look into such depths of the human soul and human relations, which no one before them was capable of. Balzac was not afraid to challenge Dante himself, naming his epic by analogy with the main creation of the great Florentine "The Human Comedy". However, with equal justification, it can also be called "Inhuman", because only a titan can create such a grandiose burning.
"The Human Comedy" is the general name given by the writer himself for an extensive cycle of his novels, short stories and short stories. Most of the works combined in the cycle were published long before Balzac picked up an acceptable unifying title for them. The writer himself spoke of his idea in the following way:
In calling "The Human Comedy" a work begun almost thirteen years ago, I consider it necessary to explain its intention, to tell about its origin, to briefly state the plan, and to express all this as if I had no part in it. "..."
The original idea for The Human Comedy came to me like a kind of dream, like one of those impossible ideas that you cherish but fail to grasp; so a mocking chimera reveals its feminine face, but immediately, opening its wings, is carried away into the world of fantasy. However, this chimera, like many others, is embodied: it commands, it is endowed with unlimited power, and one has to obey it. The idea of this work was born from a comparison of humanity with the animal world. “...” In this respect, society is like Nature. After all, the Society creates from man, according to the environment where he acts, as many diverse species as there are in the animal world. The difference between a soldier, a worker, an official, a lawyer, an idler, a scientist, a statesman, a merchant, a sailor, a poet, a pauper, a priest, is just as significant, although more difficult to grasp, as is what distinguishes a wolf, a lion, a donkey from each other, a crow, a shark, a seal, a sheep, etc. Therefore, there are and always will be species in human society, just as there are species in the animal kingdom.
In essence, in the above fragment from the famous Preface to The Human Comedy, Balzac's credo is expressed, revealing the secret of his creative method. He systematized human types and characters, as botanists and zoologists systematized flora and fauna. At the same time, according to Balzac, "in the great stream of life, Animality breaks into Humanity." Passion is all humanity. Man, the writer believes, is neither good nor evil, but simply born with instincts and inclinations. It remains only to reproduce as accurately as possible the material that Nature herself gives us.
Contrary to traditional canons and even formal logical rules of classification, the writer distinguishes three "forms of being": men, women and things, that is, people and "the material embodiment of their thinking." But, apparently, it was precisely this "contrary" that allowed Balzac to create a unique world of his novels and stories, which cannot be confused with anything. And you can’t confuse Balzac’s heroes with anyone either. “Three thousand people of a certain era” - this is how the writer himself characterized them, not without pride.
The human comedy, as Balzac conceived it, has a complex structure. First of all, it is divided into three parts of different sizes: "Etudes on Morals", "Philosophical Studies" and "Analytical Studies". In essence, everything important and great (with a few exceptions) is concentrated in the first part. This is where such brilliant works of Balzac as “Gobsek”, “Father Goriot”, “Eugenia Grandet”, “Lost Illusions”, “Shine and Poverty of Courtesans”, etc., enter. In turn, “Etudes on Morals” are divided into “scenes ": "Scenes of Private Life", "Scenes of Provincial Life", "Scenes of Parisian Life", "Scenes of Military Life" and "Scenes of Rural Life". Some cycles remained undeveloped: from the Analytical Studies, Balzac managed to write only the Physiology of Marriage, and from the Scenes of Military Life, the adventurous novel Chouans. But the writer made grandiose plans - to create a panorama of all the Napoleonic wars (imagine the multi-volume "War and Peace", but written from a French point of view).
Balzac claimed the philosophical status of his great brainchild and even singled out a special “philosophical part” in it, which, among others, included the novels “Louis Lambert”, “Search for the Absolute”, “Unknown Masterpiece”, “Elixir of Longevity”, “Seraphite” and the most famous from "philosophical studies" - "Shagreen leather". However, with all due respect to the Balzac genius, it should be absolutely definitely said that the writer did not turn out to be a great philosopher in the true sense of the word: his knowledge in this traditional sphere of spiritual life, although extensive, is very superficial and eclectic. There is nothing shameful here. Moreover, Balzac created his own, unlike any other, philosophy - the philosophy of human passions and instincts.
Among the latter, the most important, according to the Balzac gradation, is, of course, the instinct of possession. Regardless of the specific forms in which it manifests itself: in politicians - in a thirst for power; for a businessman - in a thirst for profit; for a maniac - in a thirst for blood, violence, oppression; in a man - in the thirst of a woman (and vice versa). Of course, Balzac groped for the most sensitive string of human motives and actions. This phenomenon in its various aspects is revealed in various works of the writer. But, as a rule, all aspects, as in focus, are concentrated in any of them. Some of them are embodied in unique Balzac heroes, become their carriers and personifications. Such is Gobsek - the main character of the story of the same name - one of the most famous works of world literature.
Gobsek's name is translated as Zhivoglot, but it was in French vocalization that it became a household name and symbolizes the thirst for profit for the sake of profit itself. Gobsek is a capitalist genius, he has an amazing flair and the ability to increase his capital, while ruthlessly trampling on human destinies and showing absolute cynicism and immorality. To the surprise of Balzac himself, this wizened old man, it turns out, is that fantastic figure that personifies the power of gold - this "spiritual essence of the whole of today's society." However, without these qualities, capitalist relations cannot exist in principle - otherwise it will be a completely different system. Gobsek is a romantic of the capitalist element: it is not so much the receipt of profit itself that gives him real pleasure, but the contemplation of the fall and distortion of human souls in all situations where he turns out to be the true ruler of people who have fallen into the net of a usurer.
But Gobsek is also a victim of a society dominated by a chistogan: he does not know what a woman's love is, he has no wife and children, he has no idea what it is to bring joy to others. Behind him stretches a train of tears and grief, broken destinies and deaths. He is very rich, but lives from hand to mouth and is ready to bite anyone's throat because of the smallest coin. He is the walking embodiment of wanton miserliness. After the death of the usurer, in the locked rooms of his two-story mansion, a mass of rotten things and rotten supplies was discovered: at the end of his life, being engaged in colonial scams, he received in the form of bribes not only money and jewelry, but all kinds of delicacies, which he did not touch, but locked everything for a feast of worms and mold.
The Balzac story is not a textbook on political economy. The ruthless world of capitalist reality is recreated by the writer through realistic characters and the situations in which they act. But without portraits and canvases painted by the hand of a brilliant master, our understanding of the real world itself would be incomplete and poor. Here, for example, is a textbook characterization of Gobseck himself:
My pawnbroker's hair was perfectly straight, always neatly combed and with a lot of graying - ash gray. His features, motionless, impassive, like those of Talleyrand, seemed to be cast in bronze. His eyes, small and yellow, like those of a ferret, and almost without eyelashes, could not stand bright light, so he protected them with a large visor of a tattered cap. The sharp tip of a long nose, pitted with mountain ash, looked like a gimlet, and the lips were thin, like those of alchemists and ancient old men in the paintings of Rembrandt and Metsu. This man spoke quietly, softly, never got excited. His age was a mystery “…” He was some kind of automaton who was wound up daily. If you touch a woodlice crawling on paper, it will instantly stop and freeze; in the same way, this man, during a conversation, suddenly fell silent, waiting until the noise of the carriage passing under the windows subsided, as he did not want to strain his voice. Following the example of Fontenelle, he saved his vital energy, suppressing all human feelings in himself. And his life flowed as silently as sand pours in a stream in an old hourglass. Sometimes his victims were indignant, raised a frantic cry, then suddenly there was dead silence, as in a kitchen when a duck is slaughtered in it.
A few touches to the characterization of one hero. And Balzac had thousands of them - several dozen in each novel. He wrote day and night. And yet he did not have time to create everything that he intended. The Human Comedy was left unfinished. She burned the author himself. In total, 144 works were planned, but 91 were not written. If you ask yourself the question: which figure in the Western literature of the 19th century is the most ambitious, powerful and inaccessible, there will be no difficulty in answering. It's Balzac! Zola compared The Human Comedy to the Tower of Babel. The comparison is quite reasonable: indeed, there is something primordial-chaotic and prohibitively grandiose in Balzac's Cyclopean creation. There is only one difference:
The Tower of Babel has collapsed, and The Human Comedy, built by the hands of a French genius, will stand forever.
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