La Grande Bretèche
by Honoré de Balzac
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Predating Edgar Allen Poe's remarkably similar story The Cask of Amontillado by more than a decade, Honore de Balzac's chilling tale La Grande Breteche centers on a mysterious manor that sits abandoned in a town in central France. When a physician becomes curious about the estate and begins to question locals about it, he gradually unfurls a horrifying secret..
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Very familiar-feeling... perhaps I've read this before, possibly a different translation? Similar to Edgar Allan Poe in feel - and not just because it's got someone being bricked up and left to die .
I'm not at all sure the multiple 'layers' of the story are necessary: At a social gathering, a man tells a story about a man who is drawn to the grounds of a decrepit and abandoned mansion, who is then told a story about the circumstances of that abandonment, and then seeks out further information on the former inhabitants of that home and the appalling events that occurred there.
However, the story itself is quite effectively horrific, driving home its point about the cruelty and evil that men can do...
I'm not at all sure the multiple 'layers' of the story are necessary: At a social gathering, a man tells a story about a man who is drawn to the grounds of a decrepit and abandoned mansion, who is then told a story about the circumstances of that abandonment, and then seeks out further information on the former inhabitants of that home and the appalling events that occurred there.
However, the story itself is quite effectively horrific, driving home its point about the cruelty and evil that men can do...
A simple theme and quite thought provoking. Not one of those terrifying pieces, but rather one that focusses more on emotion.
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Born on May 20, 1799, Honore de Balzac is considered one of the greatest French writers of all time. Balzac studied in Paris and worked as a law clerk while pursuing an unsuccessful career as an author. He soon accumulated enormous debts that haunted him most of his life. A prolific writer, Balzac would often write for 14 to-16 hours at a time. show more His writing is marked by realistic portrayals of ordinary, but exaggerated characters and intricate detail. In 1834, Balzac began organizing his works into a collection called The Human Comedy, an attempt to group his novels to present a complete social history of France. Characters in this project reappeared throughout various volumes, which ultimately consisted of approximately 90 works. Some of his works include Cesar Birotteau, Le Cousin Pons, Seraphita, and Le Cousine Bette. Balzac wed his lifelong love, Eveline Hanska in March 1850 although he was gravely ill at the time. Balzac died in August of that year. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- La Grande Bretèche
- Original title
- La Grande Bretèche
- Alternate titles
- The Mysterious Mansion
- First words
- "Ah! Madame," replied the doctor, "I have some appalling stories in my collection. But each one has its proper hour in a conversation - you know the pretty jest recorded by Chamfort, and said to the Duc de Fronsac: 'Between... (show all) your sally and the present moment lie ten bottles of champagne.'"
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But there were some among them who had almost shivered at the last words.
- Original language
- French
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 49
- Popularity
- 612,661
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.83)
- Languages
- 5 — English, French, Italian, Polish, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 22
- ASINs
- 7
