Honore de Balzac
Regarded by many critics as one of Honore de Balzac's foremost literary achievements, the novel The Alkahest offers an incisive look at the dangers of obsession. Scientist Balthazar Claes begins his research into alchemical properties with the best of intentions, but before long, he begins to neglect everything else in his life.
If you like your tales of tragic love to come with a stiff dose of historical realism, get ready to savor this classic from French writer Honore de Balzac. The Lily of the Valley tells the tale of star-crossed lovers Felix de Vandenesse and Henriette de Mortsauf. Will social conventions keep them apart, or will they say goodbye to the trappings of the French aristocracy to live together? Pick up this must-read romance to find out.
Another Study of Woman is a narrative hovering between a short story and a novella in terms of length, extracted from Honore de Balzac's multi-volume masterpiece The Human Comedy. At a private dinner party, guests warmed by the flush of fine food and drink begin to banter about the qualities and attributes that characterize the ideal woman. Gradually, the guests begin to reminisce about their own experiences and encounters with perfect
...An extract from Honore de Balzac's vast story cycle The Human Comedy, the novel Albert Savarus details the dramatic twists and turns in a budding love affair between Albert, a young lawyer with literary ambitions, and a beautiful but conniving young woman named Rosalie. Though the story unfolds in a manner not unlike a typical romance, the surprise ending will leave readers reeling.
In this novel, one of the last vestiges of a genteel family, the Marquis d'Esgrignon, tries to navigate the new social and cultural landscape that has emerged in France's post-revolutionary period. Even though he is surrounded by some of the signs of his family's former affluence, the Marquis is virtually penniless, and he finds it difficult to come to terms with his reduced station in life.
One of the key themes that is woven throughout Balzac's masterpiece, The Human Comedy, relates to the dangers of materialism and greed. In this novella, the narrator overhears some fellow diners discussing a complicated financial scheme that contributed to the fortunes of one of the wealthiest families in the country. The story also provides important background information about many characters who appear elsewhere in The Human Comedy.
...Set in the aftermath of the French Revolution, this short story from the Scenes of Political Life section of Honore de Balzac's The Human Comedy immerses readers in the terrifying tumult of the period. Brimming with mystery and suspense, this is historical fiction at its very best.
Settle in for a titillating tale of illicit passion, romantic entanglement, and murder. Honore de Balzac's novella The Girl With the Golden Eyes highlights the French writer's skillful ability to convey truths about the darker nature of humanity through perfectly wrought details and observations. A must-read for fans of classic European literature, or for readers who love a healthy dose of psychological complexity with their mysteries.
This short section of Honore de Balzac's vast story cycle The Human Comedy unfolds against the beautiful backdrop of the western coast of France. A couple on vacation have a chance encounter with a fisherman. After chit-chatting for a while, they take him up on his offer to shuttle them to a nearby island. Along the way, he recounts a heartbreaking local legend that puts a damper on the trip.
12) The Hated Son
The novella The Hated Son is a section from French writer Honore de Balzac's multi-volume masterwork, The Human Comedy. Set in the late 1500s and early 1600s, the tale follows a newly married woman who is pregnant—and the baby's father is not her new husband. Terrified of what will become of herself and the child, she fears for both of their futures. The second part of the tale occurs several decades later. Will the illegitimate
...Step back in history through the eyes of one of the masters of European realism. This keenly observed and utterly absorbing account of the period after Napoleon Bonaparte fell from power in nineteenth-century France is both an interesting historical document and an engrossing mystery.
14) The Exiles
Though Honore de Balzac is now lauded as a master of the literary genre of social realism, a sizable number of his stories and novels also contain supernatural and mystical elements. The story The Exiles is set in the medieval period, and revolves around a couple who run a small boarding house—and gradually begin to suspect that some of their boarders may be harboring dark secrets.
Some of the short stories in the Philosophical Studies section of Honore de Balzac's The Human Comedy have hints of the mystical and supernatural. These elements are very pronounced in the spine-chilling tale The Elixir of Life, which veers into the territory of gothic horror. In the story, a dying man confides to his son that he has found a way to cheat death and achieve immortality.
This collection of loosely interwoven tales puts the unique talents of French novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac on full display. In each, Balzac delves deeply into the eccentric characters and quaint customs of small villages whose ways of life are rapidly changing as the social and political climate of the nineteenth century begins to evolve.