The Girl with the Golden Eyes

Oh good lord this is car-crash writing. The book begins with a prolonged rant, one that's too po-faced to be enjoyable and packed too full with easy stereotypes to be worth considering. The story following it is summarised in other reviews but again, good lord. A powerful secret society, Circassian slaves, a mysterious and of course menacing mulatto, a poisoned duenna, love secrets of the Orient, suddenly-discovered blood ties, love that dare not speak its name, premonitions of death, attempted murder, and much too late--given that it brings the book to an end--actual murder. The problem isn't simply that these elements are if not in themselves lurid used luridly, but that they are so often irrelevant and unnecessary, seemingly thrown show more together in a haphazard way: the writing feels as sloppy as it does silly. And the book isn't so bad it's fun, either, simply because it's surprisingly uninteresting. In fact despite its novella length I ended up skimming some of it. It's rubbish, it would have been rubbish in 1835, and that it was written by Balzac doesn't alleviate its rubbishness. I've tried to think of some aspect that does, but if there is one it isn't plot, character, dialogue, diction, incident, organisation, creativity, or acuity.

If read it you must, it's free online. I suppose it might be worth having a look at for its oddness quotient. In fact I'll probably keep my copy because the book is so odd. Well, that taken in conjunction with its having one of those distinctive UK covers from the 70's: A naked woman with hippie hair and Carnaby Street make-up on the front and on the back the titillating blurb typical of those editions: 'The greatest French novelist of all time tells the story of a man enslaved by a strange girl who bewitched him, ignited his passion, and then revealed herself as captive to the most grotesque perversion known to human flesh.' Now, *that's* so bad it's fun; indeed, with the addition of an exclamation mark or two it would probably be the sort of thing that would have won Balzac's approval. show less

Definitely not for everyone this one, and it seems to be extremely polarizing even among Balzacien/nes for its complete remove from the realist style he's usually credited for, high pulp quotient, cloak and dagger antics, melodrama and eccentric cast of characters. I've got to say though for as much as I can recognize its drawbacks, I found this really fascinating for its focus on taboo subjects, mysteriously seedy and almost noir atmosphere and flowery, descriptive prose; a good chunk of this novelette is a detailed and memorably characterized analysis of Paris and its different classes which seems to set things at a much slower pace than the breakneck insanity it descends into from there. Speaking of which, I have to respect just how show more much Balzac was willing to throw things to the wall for the ending which drops a pretty monumental twist reframing all that's come before it. Unique, sometimes quite difficult reading in the original French, a little scattershot and sloppy in its execution, not for everyone... but definitely for me. show less

A Balzac novella that is part of the History of the Thirteen, although in this translation published as a standalone work. Its interest lies mainly in how shocking it is to imagine such a novel being written in the 19th century: a man seduces a young girl who is zealously guarded by her family, the girl makes him dress up in women’s clothing and calls him by a woman’s name when they make love, he returns to her the next night vowing to kill her for it but discovers she has already been murdered – by her other lover, who just happens to be his long lost half sister.

The plot driven portion of the novella is preceded by a lengthy and somewhat dull morphology of the exemplary specimens of the different stratas of Parisian life.

Overall show more enjoyable and worth reading but falls on the uneven side of Balzac. But worth reading nonetheless. show less

Though it begins with some promise with astute (and highly pessimistic) observations of the Parisian character, that is where it should have stayed. The novel itself is abrupt, disturbing, confusing, and dour. Pass on this, and read Père Goriot I should note, however, that Balzac's home and gardens were probably my favorite spot in Paris.

A Balzac novella that is part of the History of the Thirteen, although in this translation published as a standalone work. Its interest lies mainly in how shocking it is to imagine such a novel being written in the 19th century: a man seduces a young girl who is zealously guarded by her family, the girl makes him dress up in women‰ÃƒÂ›Ã‚ªs clothing and calls him by a woman‰Ûªs name when they make love, he returns to her the next night vowing to kill her for it but discovers she has already been murdered ‰ÛÒ by her other lover, who just happens to be his long lost half sister.

The plot driven portion of the novella is preceded by a lengthy and somewhat dull morphology of the exemplary specimens of the different stratas show more of Parisian life.

Overall enjoyable and worth reading but falls on the uneven side of Balzac. But worth reading nonetheless. show less

The opening twenty pages were of a torrent of a analysis teeming with lyrcial flourishes begging for the common book. The subsequent tale resembled many an other Balzac tale.

Note: This is included in "Thirteen" by Balzac - see my review there!