Eugénie Grandet (1833)

While I was reading this I really loved Eugenie but right when I finished I started thinking she was maybe wrong.

Avarice is the subject this early novel by Balzac. The story takes place in the town of Saumur on the Loire River and begins in 1819. We are introduced first to the house of Monsieur Grandet. Though it is in the most respectable part of town, it is drab, even shabby. No one would guess that its owner is the wealthiest man in the region. Monsieur Grandet, a former cooper turned vintner and speculator, lives here in a state of fanatical frugality with his meek and long-suffering wife, his pious and attractive 23-year-old daughter, and his secret hoard of gold. The two men who have more than an inkling of old man Grandet's true wealth are his banker and his notary. They pay particular attention to their client because each has a son of marriageable age and Grandet's unattached daughter, Eugénie, is his only heir.

Eugénie is a simple girl who has grown up in plain surroundings and in complete ignorance of her father's vast wealth. She finds nothing peculiar or shameful in her shabby dress, the meager rations her father doles out each day, or the fact that the entire household must share a single candle. She is all but oblivious to her two provincial courtiers, but is devoted to her parents and her faith. Poor Eugénie is in for a shock when her cousin Charles, a Parisian dandy, comes for a surprise visit. She has never seen anything so fine and beautiful in her life as this young man. Eugénie falls head over heels in love with Charles, setting up a clash with her miserly father that tears the family apart. Her love deepens into devotion when Charles soon learns that the reason he was sent to his uncle's was that his father was about to commit suicide.

Midway through the novel, Balzac states its theme: "Misers hold no belief in a life beyond the grave, the present is all in all to them. This thought throws a pitilessly clear light upon the irreligious times in which we life, for today more than in any previous era money is the force behind the law, politically and socially. Books and institutions, the actions of men and their doctrines, all combine to undermine the belief in a future life upon which the fabric of society has been built for eighteen hundred years."

Though Monsieur Grandet, the miser, is the villain of the story, he is so delightfully eccentric and single-minded that he is almost impossible to hate. He manages to squeeze money out of almost every situation convincing others (and perhaps himself) that he is cash poor. He gives his wife and daughter each the most meager of allowances, then takes it back by leaving them to pay for things he has purchased. Every candle and loaf of bread is accounted for, and woe unto her who wastes as much as a crumb! He won't buy what he can borrow or get one of his tenants to give to him.

Eugénie's character isn't as fully developed as that of her father. She is a young woman with only a child's experiences and a child's trusting view of the world. Even after a series of tragedies disillusions her, she is incapable of engaging fully with life. She is like one of her father's gold pieces, locked up forever and out of circulation. Regarding her impulsive devotion to her popinjay cousin, Balzac says "Quite often the things that human beings do appear literally incredible although in fact they have done them.... The very fact that her life had been so untroubled made feminine pity, that most insidious emotion, take possession of her heart more overwhelmingly."

[Eugénie Grandet] is a wonderful novel, both simpler and shorter than most of Balzac's works. It would be a great place to start reading this author. ( )

Set in the historic French town of Saumur, which is surrounded by vineyards and produces some of France's finest wines, we are first introduced to Eugénie's father, Félix Grandet, and told how in the early 19th century, having married a rich merchant's daughter, he came to amass a vast fortune, in part due to his business acumen but also by having inherited the estates of his grandmother, his mother-in-law and grandfather-in-law, all in the same year. Grandet produced what was considered to be the best wine in the country, so that his fortune was constantly increased, and we are soon shown what manner of despicable meiser he was. Nobody in this small town, where everybody knows his or her neighbour's business, knew exactly the extent of the man's fortune, so scrupulous was he to hide any sign of it, though many were those who were certain (and not wrongly) that he hid away a great pile of gold which he liked to admire regularly. Though he could easily afford to live like a great lord, Grandet employed only one person in his service, the old Nanon, who showed her master an unwavering devotion and in return was made to work like a dog. Far from spoiling his wife and only daughter Eugénie, the despotic Grandet forced them to work at mending all the household's clothing, this task keeping them busy from morning to night.

I won't detail here the extent of the man's avarice, because Balzac obviously took great delight in describing his mean creation, with a plot which continually underlines and confirms Grandet's sordid nature. Eugénie is a loving daughter who takes no offence at her father's constant mistreatment. The story takes off on Eugénie's 23rd birthday; the families of Grandet's lawyer and of his banker have been invited, both groups having high hopes of marrying their sons to the heiress. An unexpected guest also makes an appearance: Grandet's handsome nephew Charles Grandet, freshly arrived from Paris. The young man is a true Parisian dandy, such as are never seen in Saumur, and makes a not entirely positive impression, but Eugénie, seeing the splendour of her cousin's appearance, is suddenly made aware of the shabby state of their house. Charles has been sent over by his father, who has very suddenly found himself bankrupt, and has hopes that his brother Félix will take the spoiled young man under his wing and help him find an adequate means of earning a living. It seems that Balzac first had the idea for the great undertaking that was The Human Comedy (which consists of 91 finished works), while writing Eugénie Grandet in 1833. Though the subject of avarice is certainly a distasteful one, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, which will from now on rank among my all-time favourites. The experience was made all the more pleasurable thanks to the narration on this audiobook version by the French actor André Dussollier. ( )

A gripping story with a surprisingly simple structure: with its claustrophobic setting (most of the action takes place in one room, and almost all in the same house) and small cast of characters, it could almost be a stage play. Most of the interest is in the ambiguous characterisation and the cunning way in which Balzac manipulates our sympathy to make us gradually come to see the flaws of the "good" characters and the virtues of the "bad" ones, until we aren't sure any more whom we can identify with. Things aren't as black-and-white as they are with Dickens.
I got a little bit lost in the detail of the financial transactions — quite apart from anything else it's not trivial keeping track of the currency units — so I'm sure there were subtleties that escaped me, but I don't think that matters too much. ( )

An very accessible classic French novel telling the story of Felix Grandet, an old miser, his wife and daughter Eugenie. The family relationship is upset by the arrival of an indolent nephew, Charles - orphaned and left unknowingly destitute. An interesting exploration of wealth, honour, love and wisdom. This is an easy paced book which avoids excess of langour by seemingly indirectly inviting the judgement of the reader upon the actions of the characters. A good read. ( )