History of the Thirteen

Oct 11, 2024 10:18 PM

Author:Honoré de Balzac,Herbert Hunt

Passionate and perceptive, the three short novels that make up Balzac's History of the Thirteen are concerned in part with the activities of a rich, powerful, sinister and unscrupulous secret society in nineteenth-century France. While the deeds of 'The Thirteen' remain frequently in the background, however, the individual novels are concerned with exploring various forms of desire. A tragic love story, Ferragus depicts a marriage destroyed by suspicion, revelation and misunderstanding. The Duchess de Langeais explores the anguish that results when a society coquette tries to seduce a heroic ex-soldier, while The Girl with the Golden Eyes offers a frank consideration of desire and sexuality. Together, these works provide a firm and fascinating foundation for Balzac's many later portrayals of Parisian life in his great novel-cycle The Human Comedy.

Reviews

Adam Haslett is a wonderful rarity. You're likely not only to love his stories but to feel stronger for having read them

—— Jonathan Franzen, author of 'The Corrections'

Adam Haslett possesses the rare ability to combine powerful narrative with sensitive and perceptive observations of people and places. You Are Not a Stranger Here is a brilliant beginning to a literary career

—— Barry Unsworth

Adam Haslett's tone is one of delicate, understated heartache... He never lets the reader forget that he is shining an unflinching light on those types of human suffering that cannot be cured, only endured

—— Sunday Times

Enormously moving... Haslett's writing is harrowing, morbidly funny and deeply erotic

—— Independent on Sunday

Adam Haslett arrives from out of nowhere sounding like a master

—— Jay McInerney

A profound knowledge of the cultures of Mittel-europa, of the literatures of France, the United States and Britain translated into Buenos Aires vernacular, gives Cozarinsky's narratives a fiery intellectual strength and a powerful originality

—— Alberto Manguel

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