Start with Ch31 Polite society
Day 73, Oct 12, Mon - p396 “Lucien lived for a month with his time taken…” to p404 ‘’You must have hidden reasons for turning his head like this.”
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All of Ch30 A journalist’s christening party
Day 72, Oct 11, Sun - p387 “Lucien’s guests were Dauriat, the manager of the Panorama-Dramatique…” to p396 “‘Judges are more fun,’ said Coralie.”
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"'They are trying to find out whether human life goes round in a circle, or makes some progress...'
'You take theories of that sort for idle words...but a time comes when the arguments take the form of gunshot and the guillotine."
The solemn Cenacle, according to the Journalists.
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"Bianchon, my old schoolfellow, gives me the cold shoulder now,' said Lousteau; 'it is all their doing...'" Ah, Bianchon, our pal from Goriot? Rastignac's fellow boarder and better angel. In with the Cenacle as opposed to the Vautrin-Machiavellian operators. I like that guy. #balzactogether

Looking out over the world of letters and of men, it seemed to him that he might go to and fro as lord of it all. Sober reflection never entered his romantic head unless it was driven in by the pressure of adversity, and just now the present held not a care for him.
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Lost Illusions

Coralie's dining room table seats 30. Let that sink in.

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we are chasing fame
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in the past 50 pages, balzac has ramped up the use of the word 'illusions.' it's almost as if we the reader didn't take illusions very seriously until now.

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makes you want to hear madame de bargeton's backstory or mindset
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a bit of george simenon with these boots!
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Is his voice extra-pretentious as an outsider coming from the 'burbs?
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un bon conseil pour les ecrivains jeunes!
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"'Why, Braulard's a gastronome,' said Lousteau. "His dinners, which get mentioned in plays, are in keeping with his cash-box.'
'I have some good wines,' was Braulard's modest reply."

He sells the comps and can get anyone hissed off stage, but he gives a great dinner party!

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“It’s hard…to keep one’s illusions about everything in Paris. Everything is taxed, everything is sold, everything is manufactured, even success.”
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“he had revealed the whole political vista to this ambitious youth, unstable of will but unbounded in his desires, just as the journalists, like the Devil tempting Jesus, had taken him to the pinnacle of the Temple and shown him the kingdoms and riches of the world of literature.”
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"Paris is a queer place," said Lucien; it seemed to him that he saw self-interest squatting in every corner.
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Lost Illusions

My feelings for Lucien have turned mostly positive. Works hard but his success sometimes seems due to his looks rather than his poetry.

All of Ch29 The Playwrights’ banker
Day 71, Oct 10, Sat - SHORT DAY p384 “‘He plays his part well,’ said Lucien.” to p387 “Everything is taxed…”
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today starts week 11 of LOST ILLUSIONS !
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All of Ch26 Journalistic grandeurs and servitudes
Day 70, Oct 9, Fri - p379 “Two days later, the evening…” to p384 “He’s on sentry-go…” END OF CH26
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"I understand this, that I am not at liberty to write as I think——"

"Eh! what does that matter, so long as you turn an honest penny?" cried Lousteau.
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Lost Illusions