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Gobseck, by Honore De Balzac
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Gobseck
- Published on: 2015-07-03
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.69" h x .14" w x 7.44" l, .29 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 62 pages
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Such a fascinating character deserves an equally fascinating story
By Karl Janssen
Originally published in 1830, Gobseck is among the earliest handful of works to be included in Balzac's magnum opus La Com�die Humaine, a collection of over 90 novels and stories in which he attempts to depict all the myriad aspects of French society. This novella contains many of the same characters that feature in his novel P�re Goriot. Though that masterpiece was published five years later than Gobseck, the two works must have been conceived somewhat simultaneously, as their stories are intricately interwoven. That said, one need not have read one in order to enjoy the other, and even those with no knowledge of P�re Goriot can still appreciate Gobseck.
Late one evening in the salon of the Vicomtesse de Grandlieu, the conversation turns to the discussion of a young man, Ernest de Restaud, for whom the Vicomtesse's niece Camille bears some romantic feelings. A guest and friend of the family, the attorney Monsieur Derville, shares a story from his past which he claims relates to the young man. The connection is not readily apparent, however, as the story he tells is primarily concerned with a former neighbor of his, the moneylender Jean-Esther van Gobseck. "Daddy Gobseck," as he is sometimes affectionately called, is an aged man of action with a mysterious past whose entire existence and personal philosophy revolves around the acquisition of wealth. He craves money not for the things it will buy him, but for the effect it gives him over people's lives. He considers himself and a small group of his professional colleagues to be the ten most powerful men in Paris. As people of all walks of life come crawling to him, begging for loans at usurious rates, their personal dramas become to Gobseck what the theatre is for art lovers. He is a connoisseur of desperation. Derville develops a social relationship with his neighbor, but eventually must consult the moneylender on a matter of business. From that point on he becomes Gobseck's legal advisor and bears witness to many of the old man's dealings. When Anastasie de Restaud, the daughter of P�re Goriot, consults the usurer in hopes of concealing from her husband the fortune that she has wasted on her lover, the real drama of the story begins.
The novella starts out auspiciously enough. Balzac's character sketch of Gobseck is remarkably vivid and absolutely fascinating. The book takes a turn for the worse, however, the deeper it delves into the affairs of Madame de Restaud. The dramatic events that lead the characters to seek out the moneylender are riveting. The mathematics of their business transactions, on the other hand, often dull the emotional impact of the plot. In Gobseck, as in other of his works, Balzac demonstrates his fascination with legal proceedings. He delights in the mechanics of wills, deeds, writs, and contracts--a proclivity that this reader, for one, does not share. Were it not for the tedium and confusion inspired by so much clerical detail, Gobseck would likely be every bit as strong as P�re Goriot.
If you haven't already read P�re Goriot I would strongly suggest you do so, not because it's a prerequisite for reading this book, but simply because it's Balzac's greatest work. If you enjoyed that excellent novel, then you will probably find much to appreciate in Gobseck as well. Despite the preoccupation with legal matters in its latter half, Gobseck is still a very good story overall, and Balzac has endowed it with a few truly unforgettable scenes. The singular title character alone makes it well worth the reading.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
A SMALL MASTERPIECE BY THE FATHER OF CONTINENTAL REALISM
By Lawrence Kinsman
One of Balzac's small masterpieces, GOBSECK is the story of a brilliant and emotional hardened old Jewish moneylender who is a font of pyschological insight when it comes to humankind's greed, vanity and other dark motives. (Balzac manages to do this fascinating character study without being at all anti-semitic.) This astonishing novelist was God-like in that he loved humanity at its best and at its worst. This particular novella is free of the structural weaknesses and wild digressions that mar some of Balzac's longer works. GOBSECK is a key piece in understanding Balzac's gigantic fictional work of ninety-two interlocking fictions known as THE HUMAN COMEDY. Monsieur Gobseck is the father of Esther Gobseck, the most beautiful of all Balzac's many beautiful courtesans. Like the heroine of so many operas by the author's favorite composer Rossini, Esther dies for love of a man unworthy of her. Balzac always wrote with extraordinary insight and affection about the lives of women at every level of French society. Esther Gobseck is the central character in one of the author's great tomes: Les Splendeurs et Miseres des Courtisanes. The English title is usually A HARLOT HIGH AND LOW. The novella GOBSECK also provides a stunning wealth of information about the world of finance in 19th-century France. The French were practicing every form of financial double dealing long before Americans became horrified by the ongoing crimes of Wall Street money brokers. Reading Balzac is always an education -- no matter whether he is writing about the visual arts, the machinations of government officials, classical music, the particular ways lovely women flirt, or the nearly insane vacillations of public opinion. Don't pick up a Balzac novel unless you are prepared to pay attention. If you push ahead, you will be more than amply rewarded.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Seeing Shylock win, and almost cheering him on
By Vincent Poirier
Shakespeare's Shylock utters few words and by this writer's trick, we are made to feel the economy, the careful greed, of the money lender. Balzac makes use of the same device for his money lender, Jean-Esther van Gobseck, known as Papa Gobseck. When asked direct questions, the prodigeously verbose Honor� de Balzac has Gobseck answer in short phrases or even monosyllables.
-You hold the trust?
-Possibly.
-Will you then take undue advantage of the crime the lady has just committed?
-Just so!
The main difference between Shylock and Gobseck is that Shylock loses everything in the end and we can think of him as a tragic hero complete with a tragic flaw. Gobseck on the other hand wins, so there is no reason for us to feel empathy. He goes for the pound of flesh, albeit figuratively, and ruins many clients. We should hate him, I am sure many readers do, but instead we cheer him on partly because because he is so clever, partly because he simply profits from the mistakes of others. Gobseck's gains may be excessive but they aren't entirely unfair.
For all that, Gobseck is unlovable. He isn't actually malevolant, he isn't even dishonest. He deeply respects the world. "Life is a craft, a profession, that one must take the trouble to learn" says he about about a man dying for being too sensitive and for not knowing how to overcome the adversities of life. But while understanding how the man got beaten, one of the few men form whom he held some esteem, Gobseck has no empathy for him. He simply doesn't love anything, so how can we love him?
A wonderful character to encounter in Balzac's Monde.
Vincent Poirier, Quebec City
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