# Recommend me some Balzac

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-balzac/355903>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 8, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-balzac/355903 "2006-05-08T16:20:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-balzac/355903/1 "2006-05-08T16:20:47Z")

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A friend at work saw me reading a work by Zola, and he recommended I try Balzac. BTW, I can’t say Balzac without imitating Eulalie Shinn: _BALLzac_!

Looking at the Gutenberg Project shows that this mec was an astoundingly prolific writer, and I don’t know where to start. What’s a good Balzac novel for a novice?

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**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-balzac/355903/2 "2006-05-08T16:45:04Z")

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How about _Eugenie Grandet_ or _Père Goriot_? I read the latter quite recently, and it provides a real window onto the Paris of the Restoration. Plus it’s a good story, with memorable characters.

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**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-balzac/355903/3 "2006-05-08T22:31:48Z")

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Thanks, **SA**. Once I finish _The Fat and the Thin_, I’ll need some new reading material.

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**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-balzac/355903/4 "2006-05-08T23:27:51Z")

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I moved to Balzac after reading a lot of Zola, and didn’t like him quite as much. I have to admit I didn’t give him a fair shake though. I started Pere Goriot and Cousin Bette and put them down pretty quickly. Zola’s books draw me in immediately – not so with those two Balzacs.

Based on Sal’s comments, I’ll give him another go.

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**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-balzac/355903/5 "2006-05-09T01:42:39Z")

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Hahaha. Don’t I feel like a dope.

I actually came into this thread to recommend some Japanese horror punk songs.

Ummm, nevermind then.