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Loading... The Memoirs of Two Young Wives (New York Review Books Classics) (original 1842; edition 2018)by Honoré de Balzac (Author), Jordan Stump (Translator), Morris Dickstein (Introduction)
Work InformationLetters of Two Brides by Honoré de Balzac (Author) (1842)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. The third book of Balzac's La Comédie Humaine, Letters of Two Brides is an epistolary tale told in the letters between two young women after leaving their convent. The correspondence between the two women details their diverging attitude and philosophies towards marriage and love, with one seeking passion and romance, and the other devoting herself to selfless familial servitude. Things don't end well for one of them. This third story in the Scenes From a Private Life section of La Comédie Humaine, like the previous two, focuses on women seeking happiness in love and marriage. While these stories have the flavor of a morality play, Balzac doesn't feel as if he is preaching a specific virtue or moral as much as he is characterizing how life often plays out in spite of our best laid plans, and how obtaining happiness can be more complicated than most perceive. An epistolary novel of two women educated in the same convent. one , is independently wealthy and finally gives up her society life for supporting a younger poet, who finally, exploits her for the sake of his sister in law. the other becomes a staid mother, who eventually aids a geay deal in the success of her husband's political career, and creates a stable family. both are admirable characters and the art of the contrasts is well done. Doubt is a duel fought within the soul, which causes horrid self-inflicted wounds. This epistolary novel is often dismissed as light melodrama but I was engaged by it as a dialogue on the ambitions of marriage and maternity. The titular brides struggle in terms of maintenance and identity. This is depicted rather objectively in the letters of each protagonist. Two best friends leave a convent and embark on quests for love and purpose. [a snide Goodreads reviewer in 2019 might scoff at such misogyny] There’s a malice at play in the letters, each questions the utility of the other’s motives. [some would snipe that this anticipates Fanon on the colonized] Should one look for security, hoping love comes later? [Solzhenitsyn by way of Tina Turner/] Should one devote oneself entirely to parenting? What about younger artists? Are they worth marrying? Alas, it all ends in tears with characters from Lost Illusions making key cameos. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesThe Human Comedy (Études de Moeurs - Scènes de la vie privée II | 11) Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inA Daughter of Eve, Letters of Two Brides, A Woman of Thirty, and Other Stories (The Works of Balzac, vol. IX-X) by Honoré de Balzac At the Sign of the Cat and Racket; The Sceaux Ball, The Purse, The Vendetta, Madame Firmiani, A Daughter of Eve, Letters of Two Brides by Honoré de Balzac
This richly drawn epistolary tale recounts the correspondence between two young women whose friendship evolves as they embark on marriage and motherhood. Although both have a distinctly different outlook, their shared observations and memories bring the beauty and difficulty of these experiences vividly to life. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)843.7Literature French and related languages French fiction Constitutional monarchy 1815–48LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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I wish Jordan Stump had spent his time translating a better book. ( )