Lost Souls (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781517905446)

The first new translation of Balzac's 1847 novel Splendeurs et mis res des courtisanes in half a century, fully annotated and with an extensive introduction

In Lost Souls, Honor de Balzac's brilliant evocation of nineteenth-century Paris, we enter a world of glittering wealth and grinding poverty, teeming with strivers, poseurs, and pleasure seekers along with those who struggle merely to survive. Between the heights of Parisian society and the criminal world lurking underneath, fate is about to catch up with Lucien de Rubempr , last seen in Lost Illusions, as his literary aspirations, his love for the courtesan Esther van Gobseck, and his scheme to marry the wealthy Clotilde become entangled in the cunning and ultimately disastrous ambitions of the Abb Herrera, a villain for the ages.

An extraordinary volume in Balzac's vast Human Comedy (in which he endeavored to capture all of society), Lost Souls appears here in its first new English translation in half a century. Keenly attuned to the acerbic charm and subtleties of Balzac's prose, this edition also includes an introduction presenting thorough biographical, literary, and historical context, as well as extensive notes throughout the text--an invaluable resource for today's readers as they navigate Balzac's copious allusions to classical and contemporaneous politics and literature.

Author: Honoré de Balzac
ISBN-10: 1517905443
ISBN-13: 9781517905446
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Language: English
Published: 03/09/2021
Pages: 536
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.76lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 1.40d