StartGroepenDiscussieMeerTijdgeest
Doorzoek de site
Onze site gebruikt cookies om diensten te leveren, prestaties te verbeteren, voor analyse en (indien je niet ingelogd bent) voor advertenties. Door LibraryThing te gebruiken erken je dat je onze Servicevoorwaarden en Privacybeleid gelezen en begrepen hebt. Je gebruik van de site en diensten is onderhevig aan dit beleid en deze voorwaarden.

Resultaten uit Google Boeken

Klik op een omslag om naar Google Boeken te gaan.

Bezig met laden...

The Bureaucrats (European Classics) (1838)

door Honoré de Balzac

Andere auteurs: Zie de sectie andere auteurs.

Reeksen: Scenes from Parisian Life (11), Studies of Manners (48), The Human Comedy (Études de Moeurs - Scènes de la vie parisienne III | 47)

LedenBesprekingenPopulariteitGemiddelde beoordelingAanhalingen
953283,250 (3.4)1
Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML:

This fascinating novel from French master Honore de Balzac was published just as the age of bureaucracy was kicking into high gear in the mid-nineteenth century. Balzac delves deeply into the labyrinthine workings of a French agency, conveying the machinations, political alliances, and complex characters with astonishing texture and detail.

.… (meer)
Bezig met laden...

Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden.

Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.

» Zie ook 1 vermelding

Engels (2)  Italiaans (1)  Alle talen (3)
Toon 3 van 3
A strange creation. Part study, part Platonic dialogue, part novel, it all adds up to a fascinating, but uneven, literary artifact.

The Bureaucrats is Balzac's study of the French bureaucracy under the reign of Charles X in the 1920s. It begins with about 100 pages of essentially prefatory material that serially introduces the dozens of characters that populate this novel, explaining where they came from, what role they play in the bureaucracy, and what their plans for the future contain. There are little bits of storytelling in the first part, but mostly Balzac is setting up the story--which takes up the next 150 pages of the book.

It can be hard to keep track of all of the kaleidoscope of characters, bureaucratic positions, and machinations, but the basic story comes through increasingly clearly. The division director dies and needs to be replaced. Two bureau chiefs are jockeying for the position. The Minister has to make the decision, but mostly delegates it to his fixer, the Secretary-General, who himself is mostly focused on sleeping with one of the bureau chief's wives, getting out of debt, and becoming a Deputy. A large cast of bureaucratic underlings play an important role in the adroit and impressive machinations of the two camps. Ultimately, the good bureau chief loses out and the one who it would be overly generous to describe as a mediocrity ascends one rung up the ladder to become Division Director.

All of the characters are recognizable and are presented as much as types as they are as individuals, but all of them are also unique and come to feel like individuals, albeit ones that generally do not evolve over the course of the book. In that way, it is typical Balzac, although the ratio of "types" in a study to characters in a story is higher in the case of The Bureaucrats", which has no one, for example, that approaches Lucien de Rubempr̩ of Lost Illusions and A Harlot High and Low.

Much of the book feels strikingly modern, including the discussions of tax reform (the reformist division chief favors a broader base with lower rates),government reform (he favors consolidating departments, although interestingly dramatically reducing staffing and dramatically raising salaries--which is not a view I associate with anyone today), and bureaucratic infighting.

I would not recommend this as the place to start with Balzac or even as a particularly great work, but it has a lot of greatness in it and makes for an interesting addition to Balzac's universe. ( )
  nosajeel | Jun 21, 2014 |
L'opera fu scritta da Balzac in sei settimane e fu pubblicata a puntate sulla "Presse" dal 1° al 14 luglio 1837. Ambientato nella Francia della prima metà degli anni Venti, quando l'efficiente amministrazione voluta da Napoleone è degenerata in un sistema di clientelismo politico, il romanzo si ispira alle sfortunate vicende personali del cognato di Balzac.
"Balzac è attirato dalle straordinarie potenzialità narrative dell'universo impiegatizio - spiega Bruno Nacci nella prefazione. Quello che lo colpisce è soprattutto l'analogia tra il mondo politieo e quello degli uffici, perché uno dei temi di fondo della narrativa balzachiana è proprio l'intreccio dei rapporti umani, quella trama fitta di scontri e alleanze, di giuramenti e di menzogne. L'ambiente degli uffici offre il vantaggio di poter rappresentare questa moderna guerra senza spargimenti di sangue, tutta e solo mentale, che senza rinunciare allo scopo della guerra vera, riduce l'eroismo, l'astuzia e la viltà, alle varianti di un orrido e gentile galateo".
  Cerberoz | Mar 15, 2012 |
A strange creation. Part study, part Platonic dialogue, part novel, it all adds up to a fascinating, but uneven, literary artifact.

The Bureaucrats is Balzac's study of the French bureaucracy under the reign of Charles X in the 1920s. It begins with about 100 pages of essentially prefatory material that serially introduces the dozens of characters that populate this novel, explaining where they came from, what role they play in the bureaucracy, and what their plans for the future contain. There are little bits of storytelling in the first part, but mostly Balzac is setting up the story--which takes up the next 150 pages of the book.

It can be hard to keep track of all of the kaleidoscope of characters, bureaucratic positions, and machinations, but the basic story comes through increasingly clearly. The division director dies and needs to be replaced. Two bureau chiefs are jockeying for the position. The Minister has to make the decision, but mostly delegates it to his fixer, the Secretary-General, who himself is mostly focused on sleeping with one of the bureau chief's wives, getting out of debt, and becoming a Deputy. A large cast of bureaucratic underlings play an important role in the adroit and impressive machinations of the two camps. Ultimately, the good bureau chief loses out and the one who it would be overly generous to describe as a mediocrity ascends one rung up the ladder to become Division Director.

All of the characters are recognizable and are presented as much as types as they are as individuals, but all of them are also unique and come to feel like individuals, albeit ones that generally do not evolve over the course of the book. In that way, it is typical Balzac, although the ratio of "types" in a study to characters in a story is higher in the case of The Bureaucrats", which has no one, for example, that approaches Lucien de Rubempré of Lost Illusions and A Harlot High and Low.

Much of the book feels strikingly modern, including the discussions of tax reform (the reformist division chief favors a broader base with lower rates),government reform (he favors consolidating departments, although interestingly dramatically reducing staffing and dramatically raising salaries--which is not a view I associate with anyone today), and bureaucratic infighting.

I would not recommend this as the place to start with Balzac or even as a particularly great work, but it has a lot of greatness in it and makes for an interesting addition to Balzac's universe. ( )
  jasonlf | Feb 7, 2012 |
Toon 3 van 3
geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe

» Andere auteurs toevoegen (16 mogelijk)

AuteursnaamRolType auteurWerk?Status
Balzac, Honoré deAuteurprimaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Diani, MarcoRedacteurSecundaire auteursommige editiesbevestigd
Foulkes, CharlesVertalerSecundaire auteursommige editiesbevestigd
Wormeley, Katharine PrescottVertalerSecundaire auteursommige editiesbevestigd
Je moet ingelogd zijn om Algemene Kennis te mogen bewerken.
Voor meer hulp zie de helppagina Algemene Kennis .
Gangbare titel
Oorspronkelijke titel
Alternatieve titels
Oorspronkelijk jaar van uitgave
Mensen/Personages
Belangrijke plaatsen
Belangrijke gebeurtenissen
Verwante films
Motto
Opdracht
Eerste woorden
Citaten
Laatste woorden
Ontwarringsbericht
Uitgevers redacteuren
Auteur van flaptekst/aanprijzing
Oorspronkelijke taal
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis. Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Gangbare DDC/MDS
Canonieke LCC

Verwijzingen naar dit werk in externe bronnen.

Wikipedia in het Engels

Geen

Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML:

This fascinating novel from French master Honore de Balzac was published just as the age of bureaucracy was kicking into high gear in the mid-nineteenth century. Balzac delves deeply into the labyrinthine workings of a French agency, conveying the machinations, political alliances, and complex characters with astonishing texture and detail.

.

Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden.

Boekbeschrijving
Haiku samenvatting

Actuele discussies

Geen

Populaire omslagen

Snelkoppelingen

Waardering

Gemiddelde: (3.4)
0.5
1 1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4 4
4.5
5

Ben jij dit?

Word een LibraryThing Auteur.

 

Over | Contact | LibraryThing.com | Privacy/Voorwaarden | Help/Veelgestelde vragen | Blog | Winkel | APIs | TinyCat | Nagelaten Bibliotheken | Vroege Recensenten | Algemene kennis | 203,189,864 boeken! | Bovenbalk: Altijd zichtbaar