ancab's review against another edition
emotional
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
alyssaarch's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
paulina_aspiringliterati's review against another edition
3.0
Quite some time ago I promised myself that I would begin my journey through the tunnel of numerous Balzac's creations and so I just did, with this very first short story that introduces to "The Human Comedy" which is thick piece of work to say the least. Also, may I stress that I feel utterly under-educated to judge his work properly so I would rather just evade from it - for now.
What I can and definitely will take the opportunity to do, is to say that I feel very much overwhelmed having just finished this. I did read the foreword before I started reading the actual story, by both the translator from French and Balzac himself who wrote an introduction to the series, and I must say in one, the translator was absolutely right - the writing style takes time to get used to and it is not - by all means - an effortless read. Personally, at times it felt like a mixer trying to stir a very thick pancake dough, it managed through but it took time and the mechanism almost overheated. This is what I intend to do though - get used to the writing style which in itself is divine, rich and elaborate but tiring. Not in a million years that would be an actual course of thoughts. It was polished into perfection until it shone too bright.
This Balzac's flaw is prominent but taking into account his creative intelligence and the so-called 'bigger picture' this is supposed to be about, I only feel encouraged to continue and dig into some substancial depth.
What is thrilling and makes me this enthusiastic about continuing, is that this is French society of the first part of XIXth century being painted vividly and brutally, in all shades of colours, flawed and not good OR bad but in the way Balzac perceived them in their natural habitat. To me, it feels like a history lesson set among the facts but being told as a variety of anecdotes.. meaning, I am not equipped to say no to such a recipe for a satisfactory read.
..onto the next!
What I can and definitely will take the opportunity to do, is to say that I feel very much overwhelmed having just finished this. I did read the foreword before I started reading the actual story, by both the translator from French and Balzac himself who wrote an introduction to the series, and I must say in one, the translator was absolutely right - the writing style takes time to get used to and it is not - by all means - an effortless read. Personally, at times it felt like a mixer trying to stir a very thick pancake dough, it managed through but it took time and the mechanism almost overheated. This is what I intend to do though - get used to the writing style which in itself is divine, rich and elaborate but tiring. Not in a million years that would be an actual course of thoughts. It was polished into perfection until it shone too bright.
This Balzac's flaw is prominent but taking into account his creative intelligence and the so-called 'bigger picture' this is supposed to be about, I only feel encouraged to continue and dig into some substancial depth.
What is thrilling and makes me this enthusiastic about continuing, is that this is French society of the first part of XIXth century being painted vividly and brutally, in all shades of colours, flawed and not good OR bad but in the way Balzac perceived them in their natural habitat. To me, it feels like a history lesson set among the facts but being told as a variety of anecdotes.. meaning, I am not equipped to say no to such a recipe for a satisfactory read.
..onto the next!
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