Selected Short Stories (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Honoré de Balzac (Author), Sylvia Raphael (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 26, 1977 | Series: Penguin Classics

One of the greatest French novelists, Balzac was also an accomplished writer of shorter fiction. This volume includes twelve of his finest short stories many of which feature characters from his epic series of novels the Comedie Humaine. Compelling tales of acute social and psychological insight, they fully demonstrate the mastery of suspense and revelation that were the hallmarks of Balzac's genius. In The Atheist's Mass, we learn the true reason for a distinguished atheist surgeon's attendance at religious services; La Grande Breteche describes the horrific truth behind the locked doors of a decaying country mansion, while The Red Inn relates a brutal tale of murder and betrayal. A fascinating counterpoint to the renowned novels, all the stories collected here stand by themselves as mesmerizing works by one of the finest writers of nineteenth-century France.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)

About the Author

The son of a civil servant, Honoré de Balzac was born in 1799 in Tours, France. After attending boarding school in Vendôme, he gravitated to Paris where he worked as a legal clerk and a hack writer, using various pseudonyms, often in collaboration with other writers. Balzac turned exclusively to fiction at the age of thirty and went on to write a large number of novels and short stories set amid turbulent nineteenth-century France. He entitled his collective works The Human Comedy. Along with Victor Hugo and Dumas père and fils, Balzac was one of the pillars of French romantic literature. He died in 1850, shortly after his marriage to the Polish countess Evelina Hanska, his lover of eighteen years.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (May 26, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140443258
• ISBN-13: 978-0140443257
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #985,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Book Description???, May 1, 2006

By 

C. Maurer (Plymouth, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Selected Short Stories (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I have no quibbles with Balzac or anything the man wrote.

However, contrary to what the "Book Description" says, "The Forsaken Woman" (or "La Femme Abandonee") is not contained within the pages of this collection.

I would not even bother mentioning this except that I was specifically looking for a copy of that particular story. I've loved it since I read in it its original French back in high school. I just now found a copy of it on the Internet for free thanks to Project Gutenberg -- you may want to do the same thing if you're after a particular story or want a nice sampling of all that M. Balzac has to offer.

Note to AMAZON: It would be nice if whoever writes the book descriptions would actually pick up the item in question and, at the very least, take a look at the Table of Contents.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honore de Balzac ~ Selected Short Stories [Penguin Classics], September 10, 2008

By 

Man In The Arena "Plus ça change..." (Milky Way) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selected Short Stories (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

09/09/2008

Merit-Worthy of Balzac:

Beautiful cover, short stories

filled with Balzac's lively imagination

and minute observations of the details

of everyday life and acute social and

psychological insight coupled with Balzac's

keen sense of irony.

Human Nature doesn't change

as social and economic conditions do.

Tales as mesmerizingly relevant today

as they were when written over a century ago.

Recommended Reading:

La Comedie Humaine:

Honore de Balzac's multi-volume

collection of novels depicting French

society 1815-1848:

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose...

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed up editions, June 14, 2008

By 

Sooj - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selected Short Stories (Dual-Language) (Paperback)

I went to the Powell's website and found the following information on the Dover edition:

This convenient volume includes 6 of the great French writer's most highly regarded short stories, including: "An Episode During the Terror," "A Passion in the Desert," "The Revolutionary Conscript," "The Forsaken Woman," "The Unknown Masterpiece," 2 more. Excellent new English translations on facing pages. Introduction. Footnotes.

The Penguin edition table of contents are what you get if you click on table of contents that is linked now for Search Inside. I've read this Penguin edition, and it's a good introduction to Balzac.

I would highly recommend Lost Illusions to anyone who has the time and patience to read a longer Balzac novel. Of the roughly 7 Balzac books I read last year, I consider it my favorite. I wish I could find all Balzac in translation; occasionally, I feel I should learn French just to read Balzac.

I will probably end up picking up this Dover translation eventually as there are some stories I haven't read yet.