According to Stefan Zweig's friend and editor, Richard Friedenthal, his biography of Balzac was intended to be a much more monumental work than this, the culminating achievement of all his biographies. However, the not-altogether-finished manuscript was left behind in Bath when Zweig went to South America in 1940. Zweig continued to work on it briefly, but he quickly lost interest, and eventually he committed suicide in 1941. On at least one occasion the manuscript was narrowly saved from destruction during German air raids before it saw its way to publication in 1946.
Balzac was a prolific writer with a marvellous constitution which he proceeded to abuse mercilessly for most of his adult life. At the age of 33 he dedicated himself to writing a comprehensive collection of novels that would attempt to realistically describe every aspect of mid-19th century French society for posterity. This major work he called "La comedie humaine" (The Human Comedy). This monumental opus was projected to consist of 150 novels comprising some 2000 characters. In fact, Balzac achieved about two-thirds of this remarkably ambitious undertaking, which includes such well-known titles as "Le pere Goriot," "La cousine Bette," and "La recherce de l'absolu."
Balzac wrote thousands of words virtually every day of his adult life. Or, to be more exact, every night: he slept by day until late afternoon at which time he allowed himself to socialize and, more importantly, to absorb every detail of that which he saw and heard; then at midnight, he would sit down at his desk -- for years in unheated garrets in the poorer neighborhoods of Paris -- and write prodigiously until dawn.
During this time Balzac seemed to almost revel in living a life on the edge of financial disaster and emotional collapse; for most of his life he was constantly evading his creditors: "...he adopted a hundred devious ways of holding his creditors at bay, aided by his intimate knowledge of the laws, his inventive skill, and his unscrupulous effrontery."
Yet this remarkably intelligent man always remained optimistic that some day he would finish his great undertaking and eventually would be able to live a life of luxury. To assist him to attain that end, Balzac went through a succession of relationships with women (usually older, usually wealthy, usually married) with whom he had affairs and upon whom he relied for financial assistance and emotional support. He used these women to obtain his objectives. Eventually the tables turned, and it appears as if one of these women ended up using him.
In 1833 a bored baroness in the Ukrainian hinterlands, one Eva de Hanska, for a lark sent a panegyrical letter of admiration to Balzac. They entered into a lengthy correspondence, arranged to meet in Switzerland where they had an affair virtually under the very nose of her unsuspecting husband, who they both expected would die soon. Unfortunately, it took 10 years for the Baron to die, during which time Balzac, while swearing eternal devotion to Eva, was philandering all over Paris. The very wealthy Baroness Hanska was astute enough and cynical enough to keep Balzac waiting another seven years after her husband's death before finally consenting to marry him.
In the meantime, while Balzac waited and daydreamed that his life of financial security would finally be realized, he stopped writing and instead became preoccupied in preparing an elegant house in Paris (Pavillon Beaujon on rue Fortunee) for his future bride to be, which he filled with all kinds of over-priced objets d'art. Baroness Hanska finally consented to leave Russia and marry Balzac in March 1850 only when it was apparent to her that he too would not live long. Although ailing rapidly, Balzac returned in triumph to Paris with his wife, but they hardly took up occupation of Pavillon Beaujon when he became confined to his deathbed; he died on August 18. The Baroness lived another 32 years, shrewdly holding on to his correspondence and unfinished manuscripts, fully aware that these products of Europe's (then) most famous writer, would most certainly some day fetch a fair price.
This is a well-written book and it reads like a novel. (One would hardly guess this was translated, by William and Dorothy Rose, from German into English.) It was difficult for me to sympathize with Balzac when reading this account: he is a snob, he shows callous disregard about incurring indebtedness, he uses women, and he never succeeds in looking reality in the face in his own personal life, even though he has done a remarkable job of doing so in the lives of his fictitious characters. Balzac was a remarkably flawed genius.
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