Lost Illusions (1837-1843) is a novel by French author Honore de
Balzac. Written as part of his La Comedie humaine sequence, Lost
Illusions looks at scenes of Parisian and provincial life involving
friendship, desire, and literary ambition. Inspired by his own
experiences as a journalist and publisher, Balzac sought to tell a
story adjacent to his own, a story concerning a young man for whom
talent is abundant but recognition is woefully scarce. The novel's
protagonist, Lucien Chardon, features in Balzac's work A Harlot
High and Low, as does the villain Vautrin, who appears toward the
end of Lost Illusions and throughout Father Goriot, one of author's
most popular and enduring works. The son of a middle-class father
and aristocratic mother, Lucien Chardon is a promising young poet.
He lives in Angouleme with his now-impoverished mother-who is also
a widow-and his sister Eve. In the province, he spends his days
with his loyal friend David Sechard, who encourages his literary
lifestyle while studying to be a scientist. David's eventual
marriage to Eve only brings the two friends closer together, but
when Lucien meets the wealthy and influential Mme. de Bargeton,
with whom he flees to Paris, their friendship is lost to Lucien's
unstoppable ambition. In the city, abandoned by Mme. de Bargeton
and living under his mother's maiden name, Lucien de Rubempre
sacrifices morality, friendship, and family at the altar of poetry,
slowly becoming another person altogether. Lost Illusions is one of
Balzac's most sustained character studies, a novel which critiques
humanity and high society as much as it does his own commercial
interests as a professional writer. With a beautifully designed
cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Honore
de Balzac's Lost Illusions is a classic of French literature
reimagined for modern readers.
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