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Title: The Wrong Side of Paris by HONORE DE BALZAC, JORDAN STUMP, ADAM GOPNIK ISBN: 0-679-64275-7 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 30 December, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Five star translation of a three star work.
Comment: This is not great Balzac, though lovers of the Comedie Humaine will read it happily - and in a single evening because it is brief. Much of the story is background related by one character to another in a handful of long sections - a weak narrative strategy. The story of a father and grandson who collaborate to insulate their invalid daughter and mother from the truth of their economic situation might have been turned into a farce by Moliere or Beaumarchais. (And the invalid story has an almost exact parallel in a Dickens story published contemporaneously...)
But the book is worth reading. Many observers have noted that although Balzac often reaches for poetic discourse, he rarely succeeds at the level of the best French writers. Some crtitics have even harsher opinions. At his best, though, Balzac crafts beautifully in an epigrammatic mode. His prose can be wonderfully dense with careful observation and his analysis as relentlessly logical and sympathetic as something by Montaigne or Voltaire. He is not a poetic writer, but he is a very easy writer to read and this is a first-rate translation. A REALLY good translation!
Consider these two early paragraphs:
"But here too, through the crude machinations of some, the prodigality of others, the wealth of his rival capitalists, the caprices of his editors, Godefroid was once again undone. At the same time, he was dragged into the many compromises of literary and political life, the habit of jeering from the sidelines, the endless distractions required by men whiose intellects are never allowed to rest. He thus found himself in bad company, but at least he learned that he had an insignificant face, and one shoulder greater than the other, and no unusual gift for ruthlessness or special generosity of spirit to compensate fior those flaws. The right to be rude is the salary that artists exact for telling the truth. Short, ill-formed, with neither wit nor direction, our young man had little to hope for in an age when the finest mind has no chance of success without the concurrence of good fortune, or the sort of doggedness that makes its own luck. "
We owe Katharine Prescott Wormeley a great deal. Once we wander from the central canon of the Comedie Humaine, her tireless efforts in translating Balzac for the inexpensive "classics" volumes sold door-to-door in England and America around the turn of the century become the sole readily-available translations. While serviceable, they don't compare to those of Kathleen Raine or A.J. Kralsheimer or (especially) Rayner Heppenstall. Mr. Jordan Stump, on the strength of this volume, joins that exalted fraternity.
Lest you think I'm too harsh on KPWormeley, consider her rendering of the same parapraphs:
"In this sphere Godefroid was soon outdone by the brutal Machiavellianism of some, or by the lavish prodigality of others; by the fortunes of ambitious capitalists, or by the wit and shrewdness of editors. Meantime he was drawn into all the dissipations that arise from literary or political life, and he yielded to the temptations incurred by journalists behind the scenes. He soon found himself in bad company; but this experience taught him that his appearance was insignificant, that he had one shoulder higher than the other, without the inequality being redeemed by either malignancy or kindness of nature. Such were the truths these artists made him feel. Small, ill-made, without superiority of mind or settled purpose, what chance was there for a man like that in an age when success in any career demands that the highest qualities of the mind be furthered by luck, or by tenacity of will which commands luck.
That tough, analytical prose just isn't there. And in my opinion, it is Balzac's stylistic hallmark - the thing that distinguished him to his contemporaries and to Henry James. Stump nails it.
Another reason to spend an evening with this volume is that it was obviously baking at the same time as Cousin Bette - that chilling tale of rakes and their accomplices in vice. There is really no bottom to the libertinage of Hulot and Crevel or to the malice of Bette, the calculation of Mme. Marneffe or the amorality of Jenny Cadine. Early in his apprenticeship, Godefroide is advised by Monsieur Alain:
"Do you know the moral of the story?"
"Tell me," Godefroide replied, "for I might see in it something other than you."
"Well," said the old man, "here it is: Pleasure is nothing more than an accident in a Christian's life. It is not the goal..."
I take this to be the central meaning of the story. And while The Wrong Side of Paris is a very evocative title, I think "Flipside of Contemporary History" more accurately captures the sense of Balzac's title - documenting a world at sharp angles to that of Cousin Bette. In his systematic way, Balzac reminds us that virtue drives the lives of some Parisians.
As for Mr. Stump: I'd love him to aim his considerable talent at Louis Lambert. or Albert Savarus. or A Woman of Thirty. And there are others... I hope he hasn't moved on to Guy de Maupassant.
Rating: 5
Summary: Lively and fun "new" Balzac
Comment: There is something immensely comforting in reading a book by one of your favorite authors. In college, Balzac was always one of my favorite writers, mostly due to the scope of his lifelong writing project, a brilliant attempt to encapsulate all of Parisian life through fiction; the magic, politics, economics, and religion of a very unique group of people.
This new translation is a wonderful addition to any English-speaking Balzac fan's shelf. Here you'll find Balzac's incessant cataloging of Parisian society set amidst an intriguing story. Godefroid, a directionless drifter, finds himself initiated into an underground religious group which performs acts of charity for the truly needy and unfortunate.
The story consists mainly of Godefroid's education in the ways of the group and his application of that knowledge to his first "charitable assignment." I won't give anything specific away by telling you that there is marvelous twist in the story that gracefully pulls everything together at the end of the book.
This is a book with a big heart and will not disappoint fans of Balzac. I only wish that someone would create a modern English translation of all of his novels. I guess I'm going to have to study back up on my French if I really want to read them all...
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Title: Lost Illusions by Honore De Balzac, Kathleen Raine ISBN: 0375757902 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 13 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Black Sheep: LA Rabouilleuse (Penguin Classics) by Honore De Balzac, Donald Adamson ISBN: 0140442375 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: August, 1976 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Master and Man by LEO TOLSTOY, ANN PASTERNAK SLATER ISBN: 0679642935 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: A Harlot High and Low: (Splendeurs Et Miseres Des Courtisanes (Splendeurs Et Mis`Eres Des Courtisanes;) by Honore De Balzac, Rayner Heppenstall ISBN: 0140442324 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: December, 1970 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Knight of Maison-Rouge : A Novel of Marie Antoinette by JULIE ROSE, LORENZO CARCATERRA, ALEXANDRE DUMAS ISBN: 0679642986 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 26 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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