The Chouans

By Honoré de Balzac, N Nemchinova, Balzac

Book Overview

Balzac is one of France's greatest storytellers and this particular thriller is one of his most spine-tingling ones. The Chouans were a counter-revolutionary movement during the French Revolution that occurred in the region between Brittany and Nantes and Balzac places his story in this accurate historic contest. The book is fast-paced and an extraordinary read and highly memorable. (Michael Finocchiaro)

About the author:

Honor de Balzac born Honor Balzac; (20 May 1799 - 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence La Com die humaine, which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus.

Owing to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multi-faceted characters; even his lesser characters are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. Inanimate objects are imbued with character as well; the city of Paris, a backdrop for much of his writing, takes on many human qualities. His writing influenced many famous writers, including the novelists mile Zola, Charles Dickens, Marcel Proust, Gustave Flaubert, and Henry James, and filmmakers Fran ois Truffaut and Jacques Rivette. Many of Balzac's works have been made into films and continue to inspire other writers. James called him "really the father of us all."

An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac had trouble adapting to the teaching style of his grammar school. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. When he finished school, Balzac was apprenticed in a law office, but he turned his back on the study of law after wearying of its inhumanity and banal routine. Before and during his career as a writer, he attempted to be a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician; he failed in all of these efforts. La Com die Humaine reflects his real-life difficulties, and includes scenes from his own experience.

Balzac suffered from health problems throughout his life, possibly owing to his intense writing schedule. His relationship with his family was often strained by financial and personal drama, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, Balzac married Ewelina Hańska (n e Contessa Rzewuska), a Polish aristocrat and his longtime love. He died in Paris six months later. (wikipedia.org)

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CXBG987V
• ISBN13: 9798889424024
• Release Date: March 2024
• Publisher: Indoeuropeanpublishing.com
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Trying to get things right.

In places this novel reads as it were only a vulgar Romantic potboiler: the plot's chief-intrigue - the love affair between Mlle. Verneuil & the Royalist leader- is contrieved and somewhat mechanical. But one has to keep in mind this is the first time Balzac was trying his hand with serious novel-writing after a long spree of potboiler-writing under an assumed pen-name. And we still have already much of the future, serious - and at the same time ironic - Balzac in order to make the book enjoyable.

Essential "military life" aspect of full Human Comedy

This is Balzac's first Human Comedy novel, I believe, and it shows. I should probably give it 3.5 stars, but since it's Balzac, I'll say 4. I actually found the story captivating enough to pull me all the way through (the 2nd attempt...). There are dry, and lenghty parts (only three chapter breaks), but it's a unique novel. The Chouans takes place during the Napoleonic, post Revolutionary period when there are continuing civil battles between the new Rupublicans and the ancien regime, Royalists (which include the northen province Chouans). There is a lot of historical value to this novel in how Balzac displays the sentiments of the two sides, and various military personalities' views on the direction of government, and France in particular. As with most history, some modern parallels may even be drawn (i.e. conservative vs. liberal views on how a country should be run; conscription, and occupied peoples). I really liked how Balzac took this piece of French history, actually visited and lived in the locals used as background, and created an interesting (albeit a dated 19th century romance)story out of it all. It's all a matter of taste I suppose, but if you really want to get into Balzac (a worthy endeavor for any serious student of the novel, literature, and the history of the 19th century) than the Chouans is as good a starting point as any. It would've been interesting to see what other Scenes de la militaire Balzac might have come up with had he lived long enough. All in all, there are great (and mediocre) character portraits, and I think Mlle. Verneuil is well done, actually. It's fun (in a colorfully "romantic" kind of way), mysterious, historical, and . . . well, it's BALZAC.

It's my first Balzac

I don't find it dissapointing at all. I actually enjoyed reading it, although it started in a quite boring way. I love all books that reffer to the French Revolution or to the Napoleonic era, like War and Peace, Les Miserables etc. The style didn't look wonderful, but the plot was very interesting and the characters well drawn.

The fun of a youthful Balzac

I am shocked at the negative reviews here. Sure, this is Balzac's first published novel and it may not have the elegant maturity of the many wonderful works he later wrote. But it gives us an exhiliarating heart-on-your-sleeve romanticism and a youthful audacity that makes it very special. If you are going to read only one Balzac in your life, then maybe you wouldn't choose "The Chouans", but then I would wonder why you would ever choose to go through life and read only one Balzac. I love the 19th century French novel...Balzac, Hugo, Zola, Flaubert. It may be somewhat of an acquired taste, but if you have the taste, "The Chouans" is a deserving member of the club.