Lost Souls

(Paperback)

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The first new translation of Balzacs 1847 novel Splendeurs et misres des courtisanes in half a century, fully annotated and with an extensive introduction

In Lost Souls, Honor de Balzacs brilliant evocation of nineteenth-century Paris, we enter a world of glittering wealth and grinding poverty, teeming with strivers, poseurs, and pleasure seekers along with those who struggle merely to survive. Between the heights of Parisian society and the criminal world lurking underneath, fate is about to catch up with Lucien de Rubempr, last seen in Lost Illusions, as his literary aspirations, his love for the courtesan Esther van Gobseck, and his scheme to marry the wealthy Clotilde become entangled in the cunning and ultimately disastrous ambitions of the Abb Herrera, a villain for the ages.

An extraordinary volume in Balzacs vast Human Comedy (in which he endeavored to capture all of society), Lost Souls appears here in its first new English translation in half a century. Keenly attuned to the acerbic charm and subtleties of Balzacs prose, this edition also includes an introduction presenting thorough biographical, literary, and historical context, as well as extensive notes throughout the textan invaluable resource for todays readers as they navigate Balzacs copious allusions to classical and contemporaneous politics and literature.

Reviews

"Beautifully written."Book Post

"Between Lost Illusions and Lost Souls, in two hefty, handsome paperbackswith scholarly trimmings to help, not impede a readerwe now have both of the novels (technically all seven novels in a trilogy followed by a tetralogy published between 1837 and 1847 in not entirely chronological order because Balzac) tracing the fate of Lucien de Rubempre, in print as though they belong together, on your to-be-read lists and your shelves. They are a remarkable itinerary."LitHub

"Heres a gift to the world literature in English that keeps on giving: Raymond Mackenzie keeps making fine translations of Balzacs huge, great novels and the University of Minnesota Press keeps publishing them in the same handsome format: after Lost Illusions, Lost Souls. They have given us convincing, eminently readable versions of Balzac. "David Ball, METAMORPHOSES

Author Bio

Honor de Balzac (17991850) worked as a clerk, printer, and publisher before devoting himself entirely to writing fiction. A leading figure in the development of realism in European literature, he wrote more than one hundred volumes of stories, novellas, and novels, including Pre Goriot, Le Peau de chagrin, and Lost Illusions (Minnesota, 2020), the prequel to Lost Souls.

Raymond N. MacKenzie is professor of English at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. His previous translations include Barbey dAurevillys Diaboliques, Stendhals Italian Chronicles, Lamartines Graziella, and Balzacs Lost Illusions (all from Minnesota).