Lost Illusions

Balzac, Honoré de, 1799-1850Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.7

Word count: 760K words
Chapters: 76

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Lost Illusions by Honoré de BalzacAuthor: Balzac, Honoré de, 1799-1850,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Aug 11, 2004

Editor's review

Lost Illusions is one of the most substantial novels in Balzac's La Comédie Humaine, unfolding along two threads: the provincial young man Lucien and the inventor David, depicting how the press, publishing world, literary circles and salon society operate. The work offers a meticulous, cool-eyed observation of provincial ambition, the frustration of literary ideals, and the collusion of money and public opinion; its many characters are each distinct, and the narrative shifts between Paris and the provinces, presenting an overall picture of nineteenth-century French society. Reading this work, one can both feel Balzac's insight into human weaknesses and understand the multiple layers denoted by the word "illusion": the shattering of ideals, the decay of feeling, the vanity of social reputation. It is suited to reading in segments over an extended period; with a chart of character relationships, one can better appreciate the grandeur of its structure and the richness of its detail.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy nineteenth-century realist novels
Those interested in French literature and the La Comédie Humaine system
Readers drawn to themes of the news and publishing industry and the literary ecosystem
Readers willing to spend time closely reading character relationships and social customs

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced, short works
Readers impatient with large casts and multi-threaded narratives
Those seeking a light, entertaining reading experience

Reading tips

First map out the character relationships along the two main threads of Lucien and David, then move on to the individual chapters.
Read by volume or by clusters of chapters, reviewing key events and changes in characters' circumstances after each session.
A brief background understanding of the press and publishing plotlines helps in grasping the targets of the satire and critique.
Slow down at passages dense with characters, and if necessary take simple notes on identities and relationships.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Where does Lost Illusions stand within La Comédie Humaine?

Lost Illusions is one of the important long novels in La Comédie Humaine, often grouped with the related parts of "Scenes of Provincial Life" and "Scenes of Parisian Life." It shares a character system with other works but can also be read as an independent story.

What main themes does this book address?

The work unfolds around the gap between ideals and reality, touching on themes such as literary ambition, public opinion in the press, money relations and the decay of feeling. Through the two threads of the provincial young man and the inventor, it presents multiple facets of nineteenth-century French society.

Do I need to read other Balzac works before this one?

Not necessarily. Although Lost Illusions has character connections with other works of La Comédie Humaine, its core plot is relatively independent. Reading it directly does not hinder understanding, and if one is familiar with other works, one gains more pleasure from the intertextual echoes.

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About the author

Balzac, Honoré de, 1799-1850 Author

Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) was a French novelist best known for his vast series La Comédie humaine. The library holds 143 of his works, including Father Goriot, Lost Illusions, Eugénie Grandet, and several volumes of La Comédie humaine. His writing is distinguished by dense detail, a large cast of characters, and an intricate social network, often linking separate works through recurring figures to portray nineteenth-century French society. He excelled at depicting the power of desire, ambition, and money through precise settings and strong narrative tension, and he exerted a lasting influence on later realist fiction. Beyond the broad outline of his life, public information is limited, so this note focuses on the themes and style of his works.