Reviews

Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac

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marfarzan's review against another edition

1.0

I read Eugenie Grandet after a long period of non-classics reading and till the end, I just thought either the way people in 18th century thought was too simple or the way we think is too complicated, because the characters happened to seem so predictable too me. The good ones were too stupid and the bad ones were caricatures of villains. In my opinion nothing really important happened during the story and if it wasn't for the reducing number of pages, I would've thought the main story hasn't begun yet. And at the end I just thought why should one even care?
Or maybe simply I am mentally incapable of understanding a masterpiece!

runekeon's review against another edition

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5.0

Love the view into early 1800s life and culture.

lebakasama's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

dennisfischman's review against another edition

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3.0

A sad book that tries to appear a comedy.

nzagalo's review against another edition

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4.0

“Eugénie Grandet” (1833) é a par com “Le Père Goriot” (1835) e “Illusions Perdues” (1843), uma das obras mais referenciadas da imensa produção de Balzac que forma um todo identificado como “La Comédie Humaine” com 91 livros. “Eugénie Grandet” forma um claro par com “Le Père Goriot” pelo tema que envolve o reconhecimento social baseado no dinheiro e como isso afeta ou cria disfunções no seio familiar. Não posso dizer que o tema me tinha dito muito, apesar de reconhecer a excelência do trabalho de Balzac no desenho dos comportamentos de cada personagem: o pai avarento e inflexível, a filha submissa e votada à infelicidade, e o sobrinho da alta parisiense a quem apenas interessa garantir o seu nível de boa vida.

Como nos seus restantes livros, temos muita descrição na contextualização introdutória, mas realizada, arranca por uma senda de conflitos e pequenos acontecimentos que tornam a leitura imparável. No final, não fica nenhuma grande lição para os dias de hoje. O livro é um produto do seu tempo (sec. XIX) e as suas morais a esse tempo se aplicam. Mas fica o trabalho psicológico, a densidade do xadrez emocional criado que é intemporal.

3.5/5

https://narrativax.blogspot.com/2024/06/eugenia-grandet.html

marc129's review against another edition

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3.0

This is essentially the novel on the miser Grandet, rather than on Eugenie. The character of the miser is beautifully drawn, though there is not much more to add after Molière. Very feeble are the other characters: Eugenie, the mother, and the Cruchots and Grassins; only the maid Nanon still shows some consistency.
Also to the structure of the story is a bit fussy: in the end it's a jumble of sudden events and twists, which makes the whole unbalanced. Rating 2.5 stars