Book Review: "A Harlot High and Low" by Honoré de Balzac

When it comes to Honoré de Balzac, I think there are some presumptions about his writing that people have before they approach it. The first thing they tend to assume is that he is difficult to read. Well, if you do not love long and flowery philosophical descriptions that are styled like what Oscar Wilde would be if he ran headfirst into Victor Hugo then you will probably find him difficult to read. He is not difficult to read because of the language, but the style is so decadent and beautiful, so amazingly philosophical and emotional that if you love tons of action all the time, you are seriously going to have to reconsider reading Honoré de Balzac.

Personally, my favourite Balzac novels have been Father Goriot and Eugénie Grandet so far and, so far it has been pretty good. But this review is on A Harlot High and Low:

First of all, we have a familiar character - if you know Balzac's novels then you will know exactly who the character Vautrin is. In this novel he is called Carlos, but he has a different real name (that I will not reveal). He gets Lucien to come to Paris and in that, Lucien has to do exactly as Carlos says. Unfortunately, Lucien falls in love with a woman called Esther. Whilst Carlos tries to use this to his own advantage until a man called Nucingen sees her and he too, falls in love with her. Carlos then uses Esther to get money from the rich Nucingen in order to help himself and Lucien rise the ranks of Paris society.

Oh, you think this is deceptive and not very fair on Esther? Well, it gets a lot worse. Vautrin and Lucien require 60'000 Francs or so in order to maintain the lifestyle that Lucien wants for himself. But, he also wants to marry Esther, unfortunately, Esther seems to be in love with both men at the same time though for different reasons. After an awful turn of events, Lucien and Esther are drawn apart by Esther's brief infatuation of the rich Nucingen's money. The events are so horrible that you really do hope Lucien and Vautrin get what's coming to them. It really didn't have to happen like this.

Then, it is weird because although Lucien didn't do very much, he still ends up with a punishment and the spectacle that is Vautrin seems to get off pretty easily in comparison. However, Lucien was still complicit in what happened to Esther and so, in his strange endings, I feel it very difficult to feel sorry for him.

I wasn't sure I liked how it ended. Vautrin is quite a character yes, but the whole debacle about the letters seems slightly unbelievable and yet, it kind of makes sense for the rich to want to cover their own asses. I'm cycnical of the way in which the ending was conducted and written, but it really is not for me to decide. I think the character of Vautrin is supposed to anger the reader and he does that very well.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this book just as much as I have enjoyed any other Balzac novel, though I would not call this a comedy, just because everything is poorly timed doesn't make it funny. In the end, I feel like this is supposed to be some sort of weird mix between a comedy where everything seems to be okay in the end but a tragedy in the sense that it is only okay for the wrong people. A reflection of high society and how it conceals the bad, Balzac pulls another one off once again.