Brooks, Peter 1938- creator text bibliography nyu New York New York Review Books [2020] 2020 monographic eng

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266 p. "Peter Brooks's Balzac's Lives is a biography like no other, a vivid and searching portrait of the great novelist that is based on a close examination of the extraordinary characters that throng his work. More than anyone, Balzac invented the nineteenth-century novel, with its interwoven plots and diverse and overlapping realities-political, economic, domestic, psychological. Indeed, Oscar Wilde went so far as to say that Balzac invented the nineteenth century! It was, above all, the wonderful, unforgettable, extravagant characters he dreamed up and made flesh-entrepreneurs, bankers, inventors, industrialists, poets, artists, bohemians of both sexes, journalists, aristocrats, politicians, prostitutes-that allowed Balzac to bring to life the dynamic forces of the new era that ushered in our own. Brooks singles out the capitalist Gobseck, the aspiring writer Lucien de Rubempré, the ambitious politician Rastignac, and the gay criminal mastermind Collin, among others, to disclose the secret workings of a great writer's inner world"-- Why Balzac? -- Eugène de Rastignac -- Jean-Esther van Gobseck -- Antoinette de Langeais -- Raphaël de Valentin -- Lucien Chardon de Rubempré -- Jacques Collin -- Henriette de Mortsauf -- Colonel Chabert -- Marco Facino Cane and Friend -- Living in fictional lives. by Peter Brooks. Includes bibliographical references and index. Balzac, Honore de 1799-1850 Characters Balzac, Honore de 1799-1850 Criticism and interpretation PQ2184.C5 B76 2020 9781681374499 (pbk.) 1681374498 (pbk.) 210218 on1112379896