# What Honore de Balzac book(s) should I read?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-honore-de-balzac-book-s-should-i-read/557863>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 21, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-honore-de-balzac-book-s-should-i-read/557863 "2010-10-21T04:12:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-honore-de-balzac-book-s-should-i-read/557863/1 "2010-10-21T04:12:25Z")

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I just got a kindle, and was paging through Project Gutenberg’s library, and I saw Balzac. I’ve always meant to read him, but never did. It looks like he wrote a lot of stuff – what are considered his best/most accessible/most interesting works? I’ve downloaded Cousin Betty and Father Goriot, since I seem to remember hearing of those before.

If it helps, I like Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo… I don’t like Dickens or Chaucer. I honestly don’t know what likes or dislikes would help with a recommendation, so I just named those somewhat randomly.

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**Author:** ![vdgg81](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@vdgg81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vdgg81)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-honore-de-balzac-book-s-should-i-read/557863/2 "2010-10-21T05:39:00Z")

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**Father Goriot** is definitely great and a very good introduction to Balzac. **Lost Illusions** would be a natural follow up and itself has a sequel in **The Splendours and Miseries of Courtesans**. For something lighter you could try the Thirteen stories. They are **Ferragus** , **The Duchess of Langeais** and **The Girl With the Golden Eyes**. They all involve the mysterious brotherhood of the Thirteen. **The Girl With The Golden Eyes** was the first thing I ever read by Balzac and even if the story ended up being a bit disappointing, the opening paragraphs (a description of Paris and its inhabitants based on the characteristics of the city’s streets) were so stunning I was immediately hooked on _La Comédie Humaine_ .

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**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-honore-de-balzac-book-s-should-i-read/557863/3 "2010-10-21T22:12:42Z")

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Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for.

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**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-honore-de-balzac-book-s-should-i-read/557863/4 "2010-10-21T22:25:18Z")

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I was going to chime in with _The Wild Ass’s Skin_ as a favorite of mine as well as his _Physiology of Marriage._

Thanks for reminding me that I’m sitting on a whole set of his fiction which I need to get back to and desperately wish his non-fiction was more widely available.