| Review |
 |
| "Aimed at "the Student, the Teacher and 'the
common reader'", this guide discusses, in separate chapters:
Balzac's biography; the overall project of La Comedie humaine;
selected individual works (La Peau de chagrin, Le
Médecin de campagne, La Père Goriot,
La Cousine Bette, the Rubempré cylce); and posthumous
appreciations of Balzac. The tone of the writing is direct and
accessible, and English translations of all French quotations
are provided. Despite the relative simplicity of its delivery
and the absence of the usual trappings of the scholarly approach
(such as footnotes and references to secondary sources), the
analysis is clear, authoritative and telling. As the publishers
intend, the guide will make a useful supplement to other academic
reading by junior undergraduates studying Balzac for the first
time." |
|
Forum for Modern Language Studies,
2001
|
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