Par la faute de M. de Balzac

A late‑night gathering of restless thinkers spirals from cynical criticism to an impassioned debate about what really steadies a human soul. Their conversation drifts from the fickle nature of character to the way great novels act as invisible scaffolding, shaping desires, beliefs and even the very language people use to describe themselves. As the cigarettes burn low, the participants argue that literature does more than record an era—it can manufacture the sensibilities of a generation.

Amid the discourse emerges a personal anecdote about a brilliant but wayward student from the École Normale, whose identity was irrevocably altered by a single Balzac figure. The story illustrates how a fictional hero can become a blueprint for real‑life choices, prompting a transformation that feels both thrilling and unsettling. The narrative invites listeners to ponder how stories we love may quietly order the chaos within us, long before we ever notice the shift.