Classics
3 total works
"The Chouans, " the first volume in Balzac's magnificent novel sequence "La Comedie Humaine, " is the tale of the Royalist uprising in Brittany against the post-revolutionary republic.
An essentially simple tale about the struggles and triumph of innocence reviled, "Ursule Mirouet" is characterized by that wealth of penetrating observation so readily associated with Balzac's work. The twin themes of redemption and rebirth are illumianted by a consistently passionate rejection of both philosophic and practical materialsm is favor of love. In this case love is aided by supernatural intervention, which itself effectively illustrated Balzac's lifelong fascination with the occult.
Characterized by amoral ruthlessness, the politics of "A Murky Business" would seem to bear out Balzac's questionable precept.