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books_and_cappuccinos's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
radium88's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
babycowboii's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
tirnom's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
axl_oswaldo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
When I was almost finishing <b>Farewell</b> I couldn't believe my eyes, a non-Balzac ending was about to happen! I said to myself, "what on earth is this?," and then "THIS is not you, Balzac!" Only a few paragraphs left, and well, it turns out that this was indeed another genuine Balzac ending. I could finally breathe. Next time I'll have to finish the whole book before being disappointing.
<b>Farewell</b> is a very short novel, a novella that you could read in just one sitting. It's entertaining, easy to read and well developed, but probably not a remarkable one. The story is set both in 1819 and in 1812, being 1812 the year when our main story takes place, and when the tragedy for our protagonist, Baron Philippe de Sucy, begins.
When Philippe and his friend, the Marquis d'Albon, see a woman in the forest while they are hunting in 1819, she reminds Philippe of a woman who he was in love with a few years before, in 1812, and whose memories with her are still vividly in his mind. It's just when she utters a single word, "farewell," that something seems to make sense to our protagonist.
This book, an early Balzac story that is part of <b>The Human Comedy</b>, is set during The Napoleonic Wars, being that the reason why I decided to give it a go. Since I'm currently reading one famous classic set during this period of time, I find myself gravitating towards certain stories that are also taking place during this episode, especially classics, and so far the reading experience has been so good: firstly, <b>Vanity Fair</b> by William Thackeray, then <b>Trafalgar</b> by Benito Pérez Galdós, <b>The Point of Honor</b> by Joseph Conrad, and now this one, <b>Farewell</b>.
Let's be honest here, even though I enjoyed reading Balzac narrative quite a bit, as I always do, this story somehow didn't live up to my expectations. Especially the story set in 1812, mainly because some descriptions were at times confusing to follow, every now and then I didn't know what character was talking or what was actually happening – it was something unusual though, as I have read other Balzac novels and I never lived such an experience before; on the other hand, there is an ominous, frightening atmosphere that is constantly present during this scene that was so spot on, you can really feel that some tragedy is about to happen (don't get me wrong, I'm not saying by any means that a tragedy is actually something good, but it is Balzac, it is what it is).
All in all, I'd recommend this book, and despite being a minor novel, I do believe it's enjoyable to read, therefore you can get a good experience from it. Since I'm very interested in reading novels set during The Napoleonic Wars, I decided to write down some titles in order to remember them, and so far I have these ones:
<b>Sylvia's Lovers</b> by Elizabeth Gaskell
<b>Shirley</b> by Charlotte Brontë
<b>The Charterhouse of Parma</b> by Stendhal
<b>Billy Budd</b> by Herman Melville
I hope to have enough time to read at least two of them for the remainder of the year. We'll see.
<i><b>Two men, a magistrate and an old doctor, knew that [he] was one of those souls unhappy in the strength God gives to them to enable them to triumph daily in a ghastly struggle with a mysterious horror. If for a minute God withdraws His sustaining hand, they succumb.</b></i>
<b>Farewell</b> is a very short novel, a novella that you could read in just one sitting. It's entertaining, easy to read and well developed, but probably not a remarkable one. The story is set both in 1819 and in 1812, being 1812 the year when our main story takes place, and when the tragedy for our protagonist, Baron Philippe de Sucy, begins.
When Philippe and his friend, the Marquis d'Albon, see a woman in the forest while they are hunting in 1819, she reminds Philippe of a woman who he was in love with a few years before, in 1812, and whose memories with her are still vividly in his mind. It's just when she utters a single word, "farewell," that something seems to make sense to our protagonist.
This book, an early Balzac story that is part of <b>The Human Comedy</b>, is set during The Napoleonic Wars, being that the reason why I decided to give it a go. Since I'm currently reading one famous classic set during this period of time, I find myself gravitating towards certain stories that are also taking place during this episode, especially classics, and so far the reading experience has been so good: firstly, <b>Vanity Fair</b> by William Thackeray, then <b>Trafalgar</b> by Benito Pérez Galdós, <b>The Point of Honor</b> by Joseph Conrad, and now this one, <b>Farewell</b>.
Let's be honest here, even though I enjoyed reading Balzac narrative quite a bit, as I always do, this story somehow didn't live up to my expectations. Especially the story set in 1812, mainly because some descriptions were at times confusing to follow, every now and then I didn't know what character was talking or what was actually happening – it was something unusual though, as I have read other Balzac novels and I never lived such an experience before; on the other hand, there is an ominous, frightening atmosphere that is constantly present during this scene that was so spot on, you can really feel that some tragedy is about to happen (don't get me wrong, I'm not saying by any means that a tragedy is actually something good, but it is Balzac, it is what it is).
All in all, I'd recommend this book, and despite being a minor novel, I do believe it's enjoyable to read, therefore you can get a good experience from it. Since I'm very interested in reading novels set during The Napoleonic Wars, I decided to write down some titles in order to remember them, and so far I have these ones:
<b>Sylvia's Lovers</b> by Elizabeth Gaskell
<b>Shirley</b> by Charlotte Brontë
<b>The Charterhouse of Parma</b> by Stendhal
<b>Billy Budd</b> by Herman Melville
I hope to have enough time to read at least two of them for the remainder of the year. We'll see.
<i><b>Two men, a magistrate and an old doctor, knew that [he] was one of those souls unhappy in the strength God gives to them to enable them to triumph daily in a ghastly struggle with a mysterious horror. If for a minute God withdraws His sustaining hand, they succumb.</b></i>
jana_lau99's review against another edition
3.0
My edition included "Leb wohl!" (4☆) and "El Verdugo" (3☆), comed out to 3.5 stars
yanina's review against another edition
4.0
A veces uno no mide el verdadero impacto de lo que lee hasta que se involucra totalmente con el texto. El hecho de tener que analizarlo para un examen fue increíble, porque me ayudó a ver cosas a las que no les había prestado atención hasta que volví a leerlo. Dejando de lado mi experiencia personal (sepan disculpar: a mí me gusta hablar de eso porque nunca me llevo igual con un libro que con otro), Adiós es un cuento que me resultó ameno y terrible al mismo tiempo. "Ameno" porque Balzac usa un narrador que me encanta y la historia que cuenta es preciosa. Y "terrible" porque el contexto histórico y los personajes te hunden en sus miserias. El verbo que usé no es casual.
El marqués d´Albon y Felipe son los personajes que, después de volver de cacería, se topan con un convento de aspecto ruinoso y un parque descuidado. En ese lugar encuentran a una mujer que los guía hasta la construcción y, en el medio del trayecto, aparece Estefanía, una joven que está directamente relacionada con uno de ellos y que, además, sólo puede decir una palabra. La experiencia que vivió y que su tío después se encarga de reponer en una especie de flashback sería, tal vez, la parte más cruda del relato si no fuera porque las consecuencias son igual de peores. Esa vuelta al pasado está ambientada en los padecimientos de los franceses al cruzar el río Berésina en el marco de la invasión a Rusia, en 1812.
Me gusta la manera en la que Balzac combinó el realismo más puro (por así decirlo) con elementos que, cuando uno los detecta, son más románticos, como la casa de aspecto deplorable, las visiones casi fantasmagóricas y la locura. Y también me fascina cómo le presta una vida y una voz a todo eso que, frente a las miradas superficiales, no las tiene. Las descripciones de los paisajes no son marcos de la acción: son avisos al lector.
Es un cuento con un tono bastante diferente al de la novela Papá Goriot , por ejemplo, porque no se intenta retratar a los integrantes de una sociedad, sino más bien mostrar una tragedia en particular. Tal vez el retrato de la locura en Estefanía me haya parecido un poco banal (no sé si esta es la palabra exacta… ¿Dónde estará Flaubert cuando lo necesito?) pero no afecta las sensaciones que produce conocer las causas o el final.
Hay miles de cosas para decir que no importan ahora, ya que esto es una reseña y no una monografía (trato de recordármelo a mí misma porque suelo entusiasmarme). Resumiendo un poco, Adiós es un cuento que, además de ser interesante para analizar, tiene una historia muy linda dentro de una atmósfera triste. Piensen en Cumbres borrascosas y podrán acercarse bastante a lo que intento expresar.
El marqués d´Albon y Felipe son los personajes que, después de volver de cacería, se topan con un convento de aspecto ruinoso y un parque descuidado. En ese lugar encuentran a una mujer que los guía hasta la construcción y, en el medio del trayecto, aparece Estefanía, una joven que está directamente relacionada con uno de ellos y que, además, sólo puede decir una palabra. La experiencia que vivió y que su tío después se encarga de reponer en una especie de flashback sería, tal vez, la parte más cruda del relato si no fuera porque las consecuencias son igual de peores. Esa vuelta al pasado está ambientada en los padecimientos de los franceses al cruzar el río Berésina en el marco de la invasión a Rusia, en 1812.
Me gusta la manera en la que Balzac combinó el realismo más puro (por así decirlo) con elementos que, cuando uno los detecta, son más románticos, como la casa de aspecto deplorable, las visiones casi fantasmagóricas y la locura. Y también me fascina cómo le presta una vida y una voz a todo eso que, frente a las miradas superficiales, no las tiene. Las descripciones de los paisajes no son marcos de la acción: son avisos al lector.
Es un cuento con un tono bastante diferente al de la novela Papá Goriot , por ejemplo, porque no se intenta retratar a los integrantes de una sociedad, sino más bien mostrar una tragedia en particular. Tal vez el retrato de la locura en Estefanía me haya parecido un poco banal (no sé si esta es la palabra exacta… ¿Dónde estará Flaubert cuando lo necesito?) pero no afecta las sensaciones que produce conocer las causas o el final.
Hay miles de cosas para decir que no importan ahora, ya que esto es una reseña y no una monografía (trato de recordármelo a mí misma porque suelo entusiasmarme). Resumiendo un poco, Adiós es un cuento que, además de ser interesante para analizar, tiene una historia muy linda dentro de una atmósfera triste. Piensen en Cumbres borrascosas y podrán acercarse bastante a lo que intento expresar.
msand3's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. The madness of war leads to literal madness in this story by Balzac, who shows how the lingering impact of battle can eventually lead to death long after the war is over. The highlight of the story is Balzac’s description of the horrors of Berezina, which reminded me a bit of the opening pages of Tolstoy’s [b:The Sebastopol Sketches|50269|The Sebastopol Sketches|Leo Tolstoy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441248297l/50269._SY75_.jpg|2279930]. Balzac also shows himself to be ahead of his time in dealing with the post-traumatic stress and psychological impact of war that would later be explored in 20th century fiction. Although this is not exactly top-tier Balzac, it’s worth tracking down for a read.
manob4ns's review against another edition
I read it for school, and it's the first time I dislike a book so much. I felt like I was loosing my time.
Maybe it's because I'm too young but, I didn't really understood what was going on at the beginning. I started understanding at the end, like the last 10 pages.
I would have loved if I was probably older, but not now. I won't re-read it later tough, I really had a bad experience. I know it's a classic, but not my kind.
Maybe it's because I'm too young but, I didn't really understood what was going on at the beginning. I started understanding at the end, like the last 10 pages.
I would have loved if I was probably older, but not now. I won't re-read it later tough, I really had a bad experience. I know it's a classic, but not my kind.