The Two Brothers
“The Two Brothers” (1842) is part of Balzac’s great life work, the novel series known as “The Human Comedy.” Balzac’s French title was “La Rabouilleuse”; other English translations have been variously titled “The Black Sheep” and “A Bachelor’s Establishment.”
After initially detailing the backstories of his characters, Balzac launches into an engaging and searing portrait of family relationships: parental, filial, and sibling relations are all tested to the breaking point.
In small town in post-Napoleonic France, a father mistakenly believes that his daughter is not his legitimate offspring, and hustles her off to be raised by his in-laws in Paris. This girl grows up, marries, and becomes the mother of two boys. Mistakenly, she dotes on only one of these sons, unable to see that the lad is in fact a selfish, cruel scoundrel.
Meanwhile, back in the provinces, her brother, still ensconced in the family home, has grown up to be a feckless non-entity, vulnerable to the manipulations of those around him, including an attractive servant girl (“La Rabouilleuse”) who has been taken into the household.
Things get complicated when the Paris branch of the family returns to the small town, hoping to carve out for themselves a share of the late father’s inheritance. - Summary by Bruce Pirie
Genre(s): Literary Fiction, Published 1800 -1900
Language: English
Section | Chapter | Reader | Time |
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Play 01 | Chapter 1 | Bruce Pirie |
00:38:12 |
Play 02 | Chapter 2 | Bruce Pirie |
00:49:09 |
Play 03 | Chapter 3 | Bruce Pirie |
00:49:47 |
Play 04 | Chapter 4 | Bruce Pirie |
00:44:55 |
Play 05 | Chapter 5 | Bruce Pirie |
00:42:52 |
Play 06 | Chapter 6 | Bruce Pirie |
00:44:50 |
Play 07 | Chapter 7 | Bruce Pirie |
01:04:40 |
Play 08 | Chapter 8 | Bruce Pirie |
00:44:59 |
Play 09 | Chapter 9 | Bruce Pirie |
00:44:12 |
Play 10 | Chapter 10 | Bruce Pirie |
00:45:05 |
Play 11 | Chapter 11 | Bruce Pirie |
00:46:33 |
Play 12 | Chapter 12 | Bruce Pirie |
00:46:46 |
Play 13 | Chapter 13 | Bruce Pirie |
00:43:36 |
Play 14 | Chapter 14 | Bruce Pirie |
00:51:24 |
Play 15 | Chapter 15 | Bruce Pirie |
00:45:26 |
Play 16 | Chapter 16 | Bruce Pirie |
00:53:13 |
Play 17 | Chapter 17 | Bruce Pirie |
01:04:45 |