Project Gutenberg 2005-06-27 Public domain in the USA. 224 Balzac, Honoré de 1799 1850 Balzac, Honore de Saint-Aubin, Horace de De Balzac, Honoré Balzac, H. de (Honoré de) Wormeley, Katharine Prescott 1830 1908 Pierre Grassou Reading ease score: 69.6 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Grassou Produced by John Bickers, Dagny, and David Widger "Pierre Grassou" by Honoré de Balzac is a novel written in the 19th century, specifically during the period of the July Monarchy in France. This work is part of Balzac's expansive series known as "La Comédie Humaine," which offers a detailed depiction of French society. The narrative revolves around the life and struggles of Pierre Grassou, an unremarkable but kind-hearted painter who is more notable for his perseverance than his artistic talent. The story explores themes of ambition, mediocrity, and the often harsh realities faced by artists in an increasingly competitive world. The novel follows Pierre Grassou, a genre painter from Fougeres who, despite his lack of exceptional talent and originality, finds a way to thrive in the commercial world of art through sheer determination and a series of fortunate circumstances. As he begins painting portraits for the bourgeois Vervelle family, Grassou is thrust into their social circle and experiences a semblance of success and respectability. This relationship leads to his eventual marriage to their daughter, Virginie. However, the narrative reveals Grassou's internal conflict; despite his newfound status and stability, he remains aware that his artistic peers regard him as a mediocrity. Ultimately, the story provides a critical view of societal values that reward conformity over genuine talent, illustrating that success in art may not always align with artistic merit. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en French fiction -- Translations into English PQ Text Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction 80838 80733 2025-03-01T09:21:14.363439 2023-10-01T08:13:18.436977 text/html text/html 76139 2013-04-04T15:44:24 text/html; charset=us-ascii 28042 2013-04-04T15:44:24 text/html; charset=us-ascii application/zip 91307 2025-03-01T09:21:18.504420 application/epub+zip 90941 2025-03-01T09:21:16.036456 application/epub+zip 90942 2025-03-01T09:21:14.958430 application/epub+zip 168043 2025-03-01T09:21:20.306408 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 161085 2025-03-01T09:21:17.873447 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 128315 2022-09-01T10:00:59.185479 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 67571 67539 2024-10-01T09:37:32.919665 2023-10-01T08:13:18.231984 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 67444 2010-02-21T15:32:22 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 26658 2010-02-21T15:34:42 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 20865 2025-03-01T09:21:20.437400 application/rdf+xml 10851 2025-03-01T09:21:15.483436 image/jpeg 2859 2025-03-01T09:21:15.218430 image/jpeg 87607 2025-03-01T09:21:14.371453 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia en.wikipedia fr.wikipedia