Great Price for

The Atheist's Mass Review

The Atheist's Mass Overview

This is dedicated to Auguste Borget by his friend De Balzac




Bianchon, a physician to whom science owes a fine system of theoretical
physiology, and who, while still young, made himself a celebrity in the
medical school of Paris, that central luminary to which European doctors
do homage, practised surgery for a long time before he took up medicine.
His earliest studies were guided by one of the greatest of French
surgeons, the illustrious Desplein, who flashed across science like a
meteor. By the consensus even of his enemies, he took with him to the
tomb an incommunicable method. Like all men of genius, he had no heirs;
he carried everything in him, and carried it away with him. The glory of
a surgeon is like that of an actor: they live only so long as they are
alive, and their talent leaves no trace when they are gone. Actors and
surgeons, like great singers too, like the executants who by their
performance increase the power of music tenfold, are all the heroes of a
moment.

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

Related Products

Customer Reviews

Clashing Viewpoints Treated Respectfully... - Dave - Oklahoma
Honore DeBalzac is one of those less well known authors who has simply been overlooked by many. I am new to reading his stories, but he has an excellent manner of characterization which really puts you into the shoes of the characters, and draws you into the story through that means. He also is fluent in a few different techniques to add interest to the story by the way the story is presented. Not only that, but he is prone to picking topics which are quite interesting, just based on what I've read to date. All these things go together, combined with the short story nature of the stories presented on Kindle for free, makes him a highly recommended author in general.

**Some Spoilers**

The early parts of this story really draw most of the negatives I felt for myself. Basically the story starts off with some interesting thoughts as to the legacy of great men, and then thoughts to how great men of science often are atheist, and then into current character development of the main doctor and his house surgeon. Over time, the mystery is revealed of the publically atheistic doctor who holds a secret mass at the church on ocassion. The introduction feels entirely too drawn out, and fills a bit like filler to fill in this quite short story, and it meanders a bit to much for me to get the point.

After that mystery has been laid out, and the virtues of atheism having already been extolled, the story develops more fully, and the characters are further developed, and we find the answer to our mystery in a revelation provided by the doctor. This revelation concludes with some dramatic moments, and the story concludes immediately afterwards.

I found that the story treated both atheism and the church with all due respect, and never supposes the preferred viewpoint for the reader, but merely provided the story and allowed the reader to come to his own conclusion. Clearly, there is some to be admired in both viewpoints as presented in the story.

The mystery takes a different direction that might be expected, and in a way, is slightly less clever than I expected based on the title. This is also a little hard to relate to, for the modern reader who has not experienced the kind of poverty on might experience in the early nineteenth century which had few, if any, of the modern social reforms.

A good book which might be worthy of the fourth star if the message resonated more with myself as the audience. I certainly can appreciate the message, nonetheless, and I would rate it a hearty 3.5 stars, but no more.

Recommended.










*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 10, 2010 21:08:07