Balzac

Wendy Mercer here gives a succinct yet comprehensive study of Balzac's vast Comedie Humaine. She selects the most significant individual novels and analyses them in the context of Balzac's astonishing life and with reference to the overall scheme of the opus. A variety of critical reponses to Balzac's work are explored, but Mercer's clear appraisal of the value and meaning of his work contains some significant new readings. She shows why we should be interested in Balzac, and indicates, incidentally, how ill-served he has been in English-speaking countries by poor translations.

About the author:

Wendy Mercer is Senior Lecturer in French at University College, London. She has edited works by Leonie d'Aunet and has written extensively on nineteenth-century French literature.

164  pages

ISBN: 978-1-871551-48-8