Here's an interesting article on Balzac and Pere Goriot, following up on what Nick said about the Balzac/Marx & Engels connection. Who knew the "de" in Balzac's name was a creation of the author himself?
http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/23/bookend/bookend.html?scp=9&sq=balzac%20goriot&st=cse
Great article, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI knew that, the pretentious schmuck.
ReplyDeleteIt's Reverend Quinne de Anderson from now on, you fools!
Reverend? Ha!
ReplyDeleteMy Balzac name is Courtné de Bates.
excellent article, your reverence. Much obliged!
ReplyDeleteI'm an unrepentant anglophile so I couldn't bring myself to adopt any kind of French moniker, aristocratic or otherwise. I would go with something English like Gervaise Brook-Hamster from the MP skit "Upper Class Twit of the Year." http://odeo.com/episodes/24300545-Upper-Class-Twit-of-the-Year
Courtné de Bates just brings to mind Madeline Kahn's "The servant waits, while the master bates" line from History of the World. Unfortunately, no monikers work with Slovak names.... we were bred to drink vodka and row boats for Romans. That said, nobility in that region tended to have German names....
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