The Message

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

3.6

Word count: 29K words
Chapters: 3

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.The Message by Honoré de BalzacAuthor: Balzac, Honoré de, 1799-1850,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Apr 3, 2005

Editor's review

"The Message" is one of Balzac's shorter works, yet within its limited pages it sustains his keen observation of human circumstance and social relations. The story uses a "message" as its trigger, drawing out emotional entanglements and turns of fate among the characters; the narrative is brisk and clean, and the ending often lingers. For readers familiar with the overall arc of La Comédie Humaine, such shorter pieces are good examples of how Balzac achieves much with little, quickly establishing characters and conflict; for first-time readers, it also offers a lighter entry point than the long novels. This book is a public-domain English electronic edition from Project Gutenberg, convenient for searching and citation, and suitable for classroom discussion or reading-group selection. As you read, note the shifts in narrative pacing and how the "message" itself sets off a chain reaction among the characters.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Balzac and nineteenth-century French literature
Readers hoping to enter the world of La Comédie Humaine through a short work
Teachers and students who need a public-domain English text for classroom reading
Readers who enjoy compact plots and endings that linger

Not a good fit for

Lovers of long novels who expect a sweeping social panorama and multi-strand narrative
Readers entirely unfamiliar with nineteenth-century French social background who are unwilling to consult reference materials
Readers who prefer modern fast-paced suspense or strong plot twists

Reading tips

First clarify the relationships among the characters and the chain by which the "message" is passed, then look back at the differences in how each character reacts.
After reading, consult the overall framework of Balzac's La Comédie Humaine to understand this piece's place within it.
If using it for a reading group, design discussion questions around how the "message" changes the characters' judgments.
English-language readers may note how the narrative pacing tightens and relaxes, appreciating Balzac's technique of controlling tension in a short work.

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

Is this work suitable as an introduction to Balzac?

It can serve as a light entry point. It is relatively short and tightly plotted, giving a quick sense of how Balzac shapes characters and arranges conflict. However, it is not the most representative long novel in La Comédie Humaine; to gain a fuller understanding of his panorama-style social writing, it is still advisable to read long works such as Old Goriot alongside it.

Is this electronic edition in Chinese or English?

According to the information, this is a public-domain electronic text released by Project Gutenberg, in English, and is an English translation. If you wish to read it in Chinese, you will need to find a reliable Chinese translation separately; when discussing textual details, it is advisable to note which version you are relying on.

Do I need to understand French history before reading?

You do not need to master the full history in advance, but a basic understanding of the social classes and customs of nineteenth-century France will help in understanding the characters' motives. If time is limited, you can look up brief background information on the social relations involved after reading, then reread the relevant passages for a fuller understanding.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

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.