Ursule Mirouet

[poliphilo]

Ursule Mirouet is charming- a fairy story in realist clothing: a noble young girl, raised by three virtuous old men- like Snow White by the seven dwarves- is cheated out of her inheritance by  wicked cousins and...Well I'm not going to spoil it, but the resolution involves a handsome viscount and the intervention of a ghost.

You know what? I think this might be my favourite. At an earlier stage- when I'd only read harsher texts like Eugenie Grandet and Le Pere Goriot- I had Balzac pegged as a pessimist and a cynic. This was wrong. There are pessimistic books and there are optimistic books, cynical books and cheery ones. The totality of La Comedie Humaine encompasses a multiplicity of attitudes and philosophies. 

Flaubert said of Balzac, "What a pity he couldn't write".  True enough, as far as it goes; the work is often slapdash, hurried, clumsy- Balzac had so much to say and was racing death (death won)- but, on the other hand, if he'd been as scrupulous an artist as Flaubert he'd only have written as many books as Flaubert- and that would have been a huge pity. Balzac is Balzac is Balzac: a unique force in literature- overflowing with views and opinions and information.  There isn't a nook or cranny of his society- from the highest reaches of the aristocracy down to the peasantry of the provinces- where he's not at home, where he doesn't know how people think and act.  Name a profession- from engineering, to the law, to politics, to high finance, to the church, to the criminal underworld- and he's an initiate of its mysteries.  And if the finish is sometimes rough, the modelling is always vigourous and full of life- with passages where the mastery- of narrative, dialogue, psychology- takes your breath away.

The greatest of all novelists- oh easily!   Everyone else- ever since- has just been gleaning the field he reaped.

Comments

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

There are pessimistic books and there are optimistic books, cynical books and cheery ones. The totality of La Comedie Humaine encompasses a multiplicity of attitudes and philosophies.

It seems to me that, well, isn't that the point of humanity?

There isn't a nook or cranny of his society- from the highest reaches of the aristocracy down to the peasantry of the provinces- where he's not at home, where he doesn't know how people think and act. Name a profession- from engineering, to the law, to politics, to high finance, to the church, to the criminal underworld- and he's an initiate of its mysteries.

Again, going back to your earlier statement - humanity is humanity, no matter what profession anyone is in. I've not read Balzac, but it seems that's his overarching theme: humanity in all its glory and ignominy, and the fact that no matter what walk of life we come from, we are all the same.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The thing about Balzac is his range. Most novelists have a very limited range; they know and feel comfortable with one segment of society- and that's all they ever write about. He, on the other hand, aspires to write about everyone and everything. The only other writer I can think of who has the same immense range of sympathy (and curiosity) is Shakespeare.

The point about professions is that he seems to understand the practicalities. In Lost Illusions- for example- he tells us all we could possibly want to know about paper-making and printing. In Le Cure de Village he gives us the inside dope on the rag and bone business. In la Rabouilleuse we see inside an art school. It's not just about knowing human nature, it's about knowing the arcana of every trade he deals with.

He wrote over 90 "romans" and if death hadn't stopped him he had plans to write at least another 30. Most novelists fall into a rut and repeat themselves ad infinitum- but Balzac almost always comes up with something fresh and new.