Product Description

Handsome would-be poet Lucien Chardon is poor and naïve, but highly ambitious. Failing to make his name in his dull provincial hometown, he is taken up by a patroness, the captivating married woman Madame de Bargeton, and prepares to forge his way in the glamorous beau monde of Paris. But Lucien has entered a world far more dangerous than he realized, as Madame de BargetonÂ’s reputation becomes compromised and the fickle, venomous denizens of the courts and salons conspire to keep him out of their ranks. Lucien eventually learns that, wherever he goes, talent counts for nothing in comparison to money, intrigue and unscrupulousness. Lost Illusions is one of the greatest novels in the rich procession of the Comédie humaine, BalzacÂ’s panoramic social and moral history of his times.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88120 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-27
• Original language: French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 704 pages

About the Author
Balzac was born in 1799, the son of a civil servant. At the age of thirty - heavily in debt and with an unsucessful past behind him - he started work on the first of what were to become a total of ninety novels and short stories that make up The Human Comedy. He died in 1850. Herbert J. Hunt has been a Fellow at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, Professor of French Language and Literature at London University, and Senior Fellow at Warwick University. He published books on literature and thought in nineteenth-century France, and was the author of a biography of Balzac. he died in 1973.

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece
This novel is one of the masterpieces of Balzac's Comedie humaine. Lucien Chardon is brought up in Angouleme and has been spoilt by both his mother and sister. In this provincial setting Lucien has adopted his mother's aristocratic maiden name and has made a bit of an impression in the area. When his mistress takes him to Paris however, things begin to change. He is looked down on and spurned due to his humble beginnings and dropped by his mistress. Lucien soon finds there are two ways to get on, live in poverty and squalor and hope that one day he is recognised, or join the 'gutter press' and make his name and fortune that way. Not surprisingly Lucien chooses the latter way. With a mteorotic rise, stepping on toes and causing animosity Lucien does not last long, and after his lover, an actress dies he decides to return home.

Lucien's sister, Eve and her husband David Sechard are doing all that they can to keep their heads above water. David has already been ripped off by his father in buying his printing business and as he doesn't really have a mind suited to business his rivals are closing in on him.

Balzac really shows the hypocrisy and underhand dealing of his times, with some great satire. This story is still as relevant today as when it was first written, the things that he discusses still go on and helps keep this story fresh. Near the end of this novel Lucien is contemplating suicide when he is prevented by the mysterious priest, Carlos Herrera. To find out what happens then you will have to read A Harlot High and Low: (Splendeurs et Miseres des Courtisanes) (Classics).