13 h 45 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the city that promises you fame asks you to sell your honesty first?
Lucien Chardon leaves Angoulême for Paris with talent, a handsome face and dreams of becoming rich and admired. His patroness, Madame de Bargeton, promises a way into society. But in the capital, his clothes look cheap, his manners invite judgment, and the welcome he expects begins to disappear.
In Honoré de Balzac's A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Lucien faces two paths. Daniel d'Arthez and the poor artists of the Cénacle offer friendship and patient work. Étienne Lousteau opens the newspaper world, where praise has a price and a clever attack can pay. For a poet hungry for recognition, the choice reaches beyond earning a living.
What you’ll discover
- A city that judges Enter salons where clothes, rank and manners matter more than the talent Lucien brings.
- The trade in praise See how newspaper reviews become weapons for profit rather than honest judgments of books.
- Friendship without wealth Meet the Cénacle, whose poor artists offer Lucien a different measure of literary worth.
- Love with real stakes Meet Coralie, the young actress who places her home, money and trust at Lucien's service.
- Behind the literary doors Follow Balzac into bookshops, newspaper offices and theatres to see how ambition meets money.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like big nineteenth century novels about ambition, money and the world of writers. It also suits anyone who has left a small place for a big city. If you want a fast plot with little commentary, you may find Balzac slow.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A poet leaves Angoulême with a patroness
- Paris judges a man by his clothes
- Dropped by his patroness, he lives on little
- A circle of honest poor artists welcomes him
- The booksellers close their doors
- Journalism opens a door, and a new life
- A pen that praises and destroys for pay
- What the book says about ambition and money
- How Balzac tells it: a guide who knows the streets
Who’s who
- Lucien Chardon, called de RubempréA handsome young poet from Angoulême who wants fame and a noble name, and who has more talent than judgement.
- Madame de BargetonAn older noblewoman from Angoulême who brings Lucien to Paris and then must decide how much his company will cost her in society.
- Étienne LousteauA clever, worn journalist who shows Lucien how the newspaper world really works and who carries his own disappointments.
- Daniel d'ArthezA poor, patient and noble writer, the heart of the Cénacle, who gives Lucien honest advice about how to become a real author.
- CoralieA young actress at a small theatre who loves Lucien and puts her money, home and trust at his service.
- DauriatA powerful bookseller of the Palais-Royal who treats books as goods and decides which poets will be sold.
- Marquise d'EspardMadame de Bargeton's cousin, a leader of fashionable society who judges newcomers by rank and manner.
- FinotThe editor of a small paper who cares for profit and will print whatever sells.
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- 15-minute summary
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- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Un provinciale a Parigi
by Honoré de Balzac· 1839
A young poet seeks fame in a city of bargains.
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Language: Italiano
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A poet leaves Angoulême with a patroness
The story begins where the first part of Lost Illusions ends. Lucien Chardon, the son of a dead apothecary, has grown up in the provincial town of Angoulême. There he was praised as a poet and a coming genius. He has taken the grander name de Rubempré, which belonged to his mother's family, in the hope that a noble name will open doors. He leaves for Paris with Madame de Bargeton, an older married woman of the local nobility who has fallen under his spell.
Louise de Bargeton, as she is called, has encouraged him for months. She is clever, bored with her small town, and eager to have a young poet on her arm. She believes that her own cousin, the Marquise d'Espard, will welcome them both. Lucien believes that his love, his sonnets and his novel will do the rest.
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The author
Honoré de Balzac
1799–1850 · French novelist
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright born in Tours in 1799. He lived and worked in Paris, where he died in 1850. He wrote The Magic Skin in 1831, Eugénie Grandet in 1833, and Father Goriot in 1835. Many of his works belong to La Comédie humaine.
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What is A Distinguished Provincial at Paris about?
It tells how Lucien Chardon, a young poet from Angoulême, goes to Paris hoping for fame. He is rejected by society, finds honest friends, then enters journalism and learns how money and influence shape success.
Is A Distinguished Provincial at Paris part of Lost Illusions?
Yes. It is the second of the three parts of Lost Illusions. The first part shows Lucien in Angoulême, and the third shows what comes of his Paris years. It is often printed on its own.
Who is Lucien de Rubempré?
He is Lucien Chardon, an apothecary's son who takes his mother's noble family name. He is handsome, talented and ambitious, and he wants Paris to treat him as a great poet.
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