Customer Reviews

A Passion in the Desert (Creative Short Stories)

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4 star:		(1)
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This was a story that I read in school and was so impressed that I purchased a book of short stories that this appeared in. The author's use of emotion and imagery is outstanding and this is probably the best short story that I have ever read.

I have not read the Kindle edition of this work, but this is undoubtedly one of the most controversial stories Balzac has produced. It must have caused one hell of a sensation when it was initially published. It certainly can't be considered "classical" Balzac in terms of the plot, but the imagery and philosophical depth is Balzac par excellence. It may not be "scientifically perfect" (I believe he mentions crocodile - in the dessert????), but what a spectacular idea! One almost gets a feel that Balzac is dipping his brush into "decadent" paint: reading this story I kept thinking of Chimera's words from Flaubert's fantastic "Temptation of St. Anthony" - "I seek new perfumes, larger blossoms, pleasures still untasted." Later, in 1884, J.K. Huysmans, in his masterpiece "A Rebours," has described locomotive viewed as a sort of sexual object by the protagonist Des Esseintes. I wonder if he was influenced to some degree by this novelette. On the other hand, this story superbly illustrates that humans are, mostly, sociable creatures and prolonged isolation will make them behave in a totally unexpected way. The ending is profoundly sad, but unavoidable.
This work really brings up a lot of emotions and questions. It also further solidifies the indisputable fact that Balzac was one of the greatest literary geniuses of all times.

An extremely imaginative story. The exoticism and mystery of the setting and characters (one of the main protagonists is a large feline) will fascinate long after you've finished the book. Haunting.

I read this story in Junior High as part of a reading study for class and was truely fascinated by the imagery of De Balzac. I always remembered it as a favorite and where that book is today i don't know, but i was completely surprised when i recently rented a movie and saw "Passion in the Desert" as one of the previews! I don't remember the story being long enough for a movie, but that's never stopped a movie from being filmed and produced before. If someone could please help me locate this story, i would be much obliged!

I read this book some time ago and still remember it,which to me means it was a really good interesting tale