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Lost Illusions

By Herbert Hunt and Honoré de Balzac
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac, translated by Herbert Hunt, delves into the ambitions and disillusionments of a young poet named Lucien Chardon. Set in France, the story follows his journey from a provincial town to the sophisticated and treacherous Parisian literary world. As Lucien navigates the complexities of society, ambition, and desire, he faces moral dilemmas and the harsh realities of his dreams.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you relish richly detailed narratives that explore themes of ambition, society, and the pursuit of dreams in a rapidly changing world. This classic French novel is renowned for its insightful character studies and intricate portrayal of provincial life versus the allure of Paris. Its exploration of human desires and the harsh realities of personal and professional aspirations can be both enlightening and engaging.

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Lucien Chardon, an aspiring young author, leaves his small provincial hometown and attempts to succeed in Parisian literary circles of the early nineteenth century.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Handsome would-be poet Lucien Chardon is poor and naive, but highly ambitious. Failing to make his name in his dull provincial hometown, he is taken up by a patroness, the captivating married woman Madame de Bargeton, and prepares to forge his way in the glamorous beau monde of Paris.

But Lucien has entered a world far more dangerous than he realized, as Madame de Bargeton's reputation becomes compromised and the fickle, venomous denizens of the courts and salons conspire to keep him out of their ranks. Lucien eventually learns that, wherever he goes, talent counts for nothing in comparison to money, intrigue and unscrupulousness.

Lost Illusions is one of the greatest novels in the rich procession of the Comedie humaine, Balzac's panoramic social and moral history of his times.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780140442519

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 24 June 1976

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 30.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 495g

Pages: 720

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Best Sellers at Book Hero Classic Fiction Fiction General Fiction Herbert Hunt Honoré de Balzac In Stock Books In-Stock Fiction Books Literary Fiction New Release Fiction Penguin Books Penguin Classics

About the Author

Balzac was born in 1799, the son of a civil servant. At the age of thirty - heavily in debt and with an unsucessful past behind him - he started work on the first of what were to become a total of ninety novels and short stories that make up The Human Comedy. He died in 1850. Herbert J. Hunt has been a Fellow at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, Professor of French Language and Literature at London University, and Senior Fellow at Warwick University. He published books on literature and thought in nineteenth-century France, and was the author of a biography of Balzac. he died in 1973.

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