Facino Cane is a short story written by Honore de Balzac. This author is completely new for me. I hadn’t read any of his works before this story, so I didn’t know what to expect. Since it’s a short story, it’s a quick read of 20 pages at least in my edition.
Facino Cane is a name derived from a historical figure. He was an Italian commander of a group of mercenaries in the late 13th and early 14th century; I found this aspect very interesting. The story begins with a young unnamed narrator telling us about his life in Paris. He is at a wedding, where he sees an interesting fellow, an old man, one of the band members playing at the ceremony. The man is blind and a clarinetist named Facino Cane.
The first half of the story focuses on the young man and his background. When he strikes up a conversation with the older man, Marco-Facino Cane, he proceeds to tell him the story of his life. So, the second of the story is Facino Cane recalling his life. He explains how he is named after his well-known military ancestor Facino Cane. His story is dramatic and nostalgic in equal parts. It’s a tale of loss of riches, murder, intrigue and losing everything and redemption. It did seem a lot of action for the half part of a short story.
The way Honore de Balzac has written the story is interesting, but it seemed a little abrupt to me. I mean, maybe that was the point? But I didn’t get it. It starts off well and has a good pace. The narrator remains unnamed. It seems as if Facino Cane is recalling the good old days, so the story he tells does seem a little over the top. I guess in the context of an old man narrating his life story, the drama makes sense. For him, it’s how he remembers these events and what led him to this moment.
Facino Cane by Honore de Balzac is a pretty interesting story. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure why we spent so much time with the narrator, but it builds up to the fast-paced second half of Facino Cane’s story. Overall, it’s a good short story. I enjoyed reading it, but it’s not something I would re-read.
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