author
Honoré de Balzac
1799–1850
Best known for the vast world of La Comédie humaine, this French novelist turned ordinary ambitions, debts, scandals, and desires into stories that still feel startlingly alive. His books helped shape literary realism by showing society in all its energy, vanity, and struggle.
158 Audiobooks
The Two Brothers
by Honoré de Balzac
Melmoth Reconciled
by Honoré de Balzac
The Vicar of Tours
by Honoré de Balzac
Pamela Giraud: A Play in Five Acts
by Honoré de Balzac
The Physiology of Marriage, Complete
by Honoré de Balzac
La Comédie humaine - Volume 01
by Honoré de Balzac
The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan
by Honoré de Balzac
The Works of Honoré de Balzac: About Catherine de' Medici, Seraphita, and Other Stories
by Honoré de Balzac
The Brotherhood of Consolation
by Honoré de Balzac
Eve and David
by Honoré de Balzac
A Daughter of Eve
by Honoré de Balzac
Droll Stories — Volume 1
by Honoré de Balzac
The Hated Son
by Honoré de Balzac
La Comédie humaine - Volume 08. Scènes de la vie de Province - Tome 04
by Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
by Honoré de Balzac
Juana
by Honoré de Balzac
La Grande Breteche
by Honoré de Balzac
The Illustrious Gaudissart
by Honoré de Balzac
A Drama on the Seashore
by Honoré de Balzac
The Stepmother, A Drama in Five Acts
by Honoré de Balzac
The Physiology of Marriage, Part 1
by Honoré de Balzac
Two Poets
by Honoré de Balzac
Honorine
by Honoré de Balzac
The Jealousies of a Country Town
by Honoré de Balzac
Verikosto
by Honoré de Balzac
The Deputy of Arcis
by Honoré de Balzac
A Second Home
by Honoré de Balzac
Vendetta
by Honoré de Balzac
La Comédie humaine - Volume 05. Scènes de la vie de Province - Tome 01
by Honoré de Balzac
La Maison du Chat-qui-pelote
by Honoré de Balzac
Die Frau von dreißig Jahren
by Honoré de Balzac
The Muse of the Department
by Honoré de Balzac
Massimilla Doni
by Honoré de Balzac
Domestic Peace
by Honoré de Balzac
The Message
by Honoré de Balzac
La pace domestica; L'elisir di lunga vita; La borsa: Racconti scelti
by Honoré de Balzac
The Collection of Antiquities
by Honoré de Balzac
The Physiology of Marriage, Part 3
by Honoré de Balzac
Kapina
by Honoré de Balzac
The Alkahest
by Honoré de Balzac
Maitre Cornelius
by Honoré de Balzac
Paz (La Fausse Maitresse)
by Honoré de Balzac
The Purse
by Honoré de Balzac
Unconscious Comedians
by Honoré de Balzac
A Start in Life
by Honoré de Balzac
Z. Marcas
by Honoré de Balzac
Pierre Grassou
by Honoré de Balzac
Madame Firmiani
by Honoré de Balzac
The Exiles
by Honoré de Balzac
A Prince of Bohemia
by Honoré de Balzac
Christ in Flanders
by Honoré de Balzac
The Recruit
by Honoré de Balzac
Naamioitua rakkautta
by Honoré de Balzac
La Comédie humaine - Volume 18 : Scènes de la vie parisienne – Scènes de la vie politique – Scènes de la vie de campagne – Études analytiques
by Honoré de Balzac
Théâtre
by Honoré de Balzac
La Comédie humaine - Volume 16. Études philosophiques et Études analytiques
by Honoré de Balzac
La Comédie humaine - Volume 17. Études de mœurs : La cousine Bette; Le cousin Pons
by Honoré de Balzac
Another study of woman
by Honoré de Balzac
About the author
Born in Tours on May 20, 1799, Honoré de Balzac became one of the great chroniclers of 19th-century France. After early attempts at law and several unsuccessful business ventures, he committed himself to writing and produced an extraordinary body of fiction and drama before his death in Paris on August 18, 1850.
His best-known achievement is La Comédie humaine, a large sequence of interconnected novels and stories that paints a sweeping picture of French life after Napoleon. Across works such as Old Goriot, Eugénie Grandet, and Cousin Bette, he wrote about money, status, family, ambition, and the hidden motives that drive people, giving many characters lives that continue from one book to another.
Balzac is often seen as a founding figure of literary realism because of his sharp eye for social detail and his ability to make whole communities feel real. His influence reached far beyond France, shaping later novelists who admired the scale of his imagination and the force of his observation.