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Title: The Lily of the Valley by Honore De Balzac, Lucienne Hill, May Tomlinson ISBN: 0-88184-482-9 Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub. Date: December, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (2 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Under par Balzac
Comment: At the risk of giving away all of the plot of this novel yet again (see the rest of the reviews section), the book is written as the confession of Felix de Vandenesse. Felix recounts his love for the married Madame de Mortsauf, and how his infatuation with the English Lady Dudley destroys the former.
It's essentially a tragedy, but with no new themes for those who've read their Stendahl and Flaubert: love and death; young beau's obsession with an attractive older married woman; a woman trapped in a disasterous marriage; the social norms and legal framework of the day working to disempower women (also, compare with the Brontes); and so on.
Perhaps one could defend Balzac to a certain extent as he was writing before most of those other authors, but still the familiarity of the issues raised in the novel meant that I needed something to make it stand out. That I'm afraid, I didn't get. I found it heavy going in places - it's frequently too melodramatic, but, more pertinently, Balzac's writing becomes becalmed for large sections of the novel. Descriptions seem to go on for ever, as do some of the characters' speeches. As I'm reading more of Balzac I'm finding that he's sometimes prone to that fault (see "Le Medecin de Campagne"), and it marrs this novel, making it lose pace.
I was surprised that Balzac regarded "The Lily of the Valley" as one of his best works. I think he did far better than this.
Rating: 4
Summary: Balzac's favorite
Comment: Of all of Balzac's 93 odd novels this one was his personal favorite. This is the sixth book of his I've read and I think it's probably one of the worst. That's not saying it's bad, it just doesn't compare to the brilliance of Eugenie Grandet, Ursule Mirouet, Pere Goriot or Cesar Birroteau.
The plot centers around Felix, a young man who has had a difficult time growing up. One night at a prestigious ball he falls in love with Madame de Morstauf or Henriette. He then goes up to her house in Toraine in a beautiful valley and spends great lengths of time with her.
Her husband is a tyrannical type of guy, prone to violent fits but Henriette is determined to stick with the marriage. Felix and her develop an odd kind of relationship, almost like brother and sister. Felix then falls in love with an Englishwoman realizing he has no chance with Henriette. Henriette dies of jealousy.
That is a very sketchy plot outline.
The book is too long and a bit boring for Balzac. His lead male charcters are always variations on the same thing and he spends far too much time dealing with atmosphere and surroundings.
As usual Balzac uses words like "ardent", "ardour" and several others far too much and in each of his novels I've noticed that all of his characters mention at one point that they are willing to sacrifice themselves for their lovers. Of course they never do.
There are many wonderful parts to this book, especially a cutting letter describing the differences between French and English women.
A very good book, but for Balzac, my favorite, this is one of the weaker ones.
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Title: Seabiscuit: An American Legend by LAURA HILLENBRAND ISBN: 0449005615 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 26 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss by Arthur Agatston ISBN: 1579546463 Publisher: Rodale Press Pub. Date: 05 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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