Author: Honoré de Balzac
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199571287
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
The three short fictions in this unique collection, Sarrasine, The Unknown Masterpiece, and The Girl with the Golden Eyes, deal with the relationship between artistic ideals and sexual desires. They show Balzac's mastery of the seductions of storytelling, and are among the 19th century's richest explorations of life and art.
The Girl with the Golden Eyes
Author: Honoré de Balzac
Publisher: Lindhardt og Ringhof
ISBN: 8726611996
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 88
Book Description
Henri is a shameless and spoiled heir. When he falls in love with the beautiful Paquita, he simply must seduce her. But Paquita already has a lover. Brimming with anger and revenge upon this realisation, his disillusioned heart sets out to murder. Who will meet their end? And more importantly, what secrets will the entangled web of love uncover? Crafted with spellbinding extravagance, ‘The Girl with the Golden Eyes’ captures the underside of Parisian society. Bursting with passionate emotion and uncontrollable wrath, the intoxicating tale is perfect for fans of Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French novelist and playwright, most famous for his collection of novels and plays named ‘The Human Comedy’. Celebrated today as one of the greatest French writers and founders of realism, his works captures detailed observations of humanity and post-Napoleonic French society. A master-creator of realistic characters which navigate complex webs of moral and social dilemmas, Balzac’s work has inspired BBC series starring Helen Mirren and Margaret Tyzack.
Publisher: Lindhardt og Ringhof
ISBN: 8726611996
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 88
Book Description
Henri is a shameless and spoiled heir. When he falls in love with the beautiful Paquita, he simply must seduce her. But Paquita already has a lover. Brimming with anger and revenge upon this realisation, his disillusioned heart sets out to murder. Who will meet their end? And more importantly, what secrets will the entangled web of love uncover? Crafted with spellbinding extravagance, ‘The Girl with the Golden Eyes’ captures the underside of Parisian society. Bursting with passionate emotion and uncontrollable wrath, the intoxicating tale is perfect for fans of Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French novelist and playwright, most famous for his collection of novels and plays named ‘The Human Comedy’. Celebrated today as one of the greatest French writers and founders of realism, his works captures detailed observations of humanity and post-Napoleonic French society. A master-creator of realistic characters which navigate complex webs of moral and social dilemmas, Balzac’s work has inspired BBC series starring Helen Mirren and Margaret Tyzack.
Derrida and Other Animals
Author: Judith Still
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748680985
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 416
Book Description
Judith Still analyses Derrida's late writings on animals, especially his seminars The Beast and the Sovereign, to explore ethical questions of how humans treat animals and how we treat outsiders, from slaves to terrorists.
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748680985
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 416
Book Description
Judith Still analyses Derrida's late writings on animals, especially his seminars The Beast and the Sovereign, to explore ethical questions of how humans treat animals and how we treat outsiders, from slaves to terrorists.
Ordinary Masochisms
Author: Jennifer Mitchell
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 0813057671
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
Ordinary Masochisms reveals how literary works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries frequently challenged the prevailing view of masochism as a deviant behavior, an opinion supported by many sexologists and psychoanalysts in the 1800s. In these texts, Jennifer Mitchell highlights everyday examples of characters deriving pleasure from pain in encounters and emotions such as flirtations, courtships, betrothals, lesbian desires, religious zeal, marital relationships, and affairs. Mitchell begins by examining the archetypal tale of Samson and Delilah together with Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, from whom masochism gets its name. Through close readings, Mitchell then argues that Charlotte Brontë’s Villette, George Moore’s A Drama in Muslin, D. H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow, and Jean Rhys’s Quartet all experiment with masochistic relationships that are more complex than they seem. Mitchell shows that, far from being victimized, the characters in these works achieve self-definition and empowerment by pursuing and performing pain and that masochism is a generative response rather than a destructive force beyond their control. Including readings of Octave Mirbeau’s The Torture Garden and Ian McEwan’s The Comfort of Strangers, Mitchell traces shifts in public consciousness regarding sex and gender and discusses why masochism continues to be categorized as a perversion today. The literary world, she asserts, has repeatedly questioned this notion as well as masochism’s associations with passivity and femininity, using the behavior to defy heteronormative and heteropatriarchal gender dynamics.
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 0813057671
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
Ordinary Masochisms reveals how literary works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries frequently challenged the prevailing view of masochism as a deviant behavior, an opinion supported by many sexologists and psychoanalysts in the 1800s. In these texts, Jennifer Mitchell highlights everyday examples of characters deriving pleasure from pain in encounters and emotions such as flirtations, courtships, betrothals, lesbian desires, religious zeal, marital relationships, and affairs. Mitchell begins by examining the archetypal tale of Samson and Delilah together with Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, from whom masochism gets its name. Through close readings, Mitchell then argues that Charlotte Brontë’s Villette, George Moore’s A Drama in Muslin, D. H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow, and Jean Rhys’s Quartet all experiment with masochistic relationships that are more complex than they seem. Mitchell shows that, far from being victimized, the characters in these works achieve self-definition and empowerment by pursuing and performing pain and that masochism is a generative response rather than a destructive force beyond their control. Including readings of Octave Mirbeau’s The Torture Garden and Ian McEwan’s The Comfort of Strangers, Mitchell traces shifts in public consciousness regarding sex and gender and discusses why masochism continues to be categorized as a perversion today. The literary world, she asserts, has repeatedly questioned this notion as well as masochism’s associations with passivity and femininity, using the behavior to defy heteronormative and heteropatriarchal gender dynamics.
The Thirteen
Author: Honoré de Balzac
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 415
Book Description
In Honoré de Balzac's 'The Thirteen', the reader is immersed in the intriguing world of Parisian society during the early 19th century. Balzac's rich and detailed descriptions bring to life the multifaceted characters and their complex relationships within the secretive society of 'The Thirteen'. The novel is written in a realistic and nuanced style, reflecting the author's keen observation of human nature and societal dynamics. The intricate plot weaves together themes of power, loyalty, and betrayal, keeping the reader captivated until the very end. 'The Thirteen' is a must-read for those interested in French literature and the romanticism movement of the 19th century. Balzac's deep understanding of human psychology and his ability to craft a compelling narrative make this novel a timeless classic. The book provides a fascinating glimpse into the moral dilemmas and societal pressures faced by the characters, making it a thought-provoking and engaging read for any literature enthusiast.
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 415
Book Description
In Honoré de Balzac's 'The Thirteen', the reader is immersed in the intriguing world of Parisian society during the early 19th century. Balzac's rich and detailed descriptions bring to life the multifaceted characters and their complex relationships within the secretive society of 'The Thirteen'. The novel is written in a realistic and nuanced style, reflecting the author's keen observation of human nature and societal dynamics. The intricate plot weaves together themes of power, loyalty, and betrayal, keeping the reader captivated until the very end. 'The Thirteen' is a must-read for those interested in French literature and the romanticism movement of the 19th century. Balzac's deep understanding of human psychology and his ability to craft a compelling narrative make this novel a timeless classic. The book provides a fascinating glimpse into the moral dilemmas and societal pressures faced by the characters, making it a thought-provoking and engaging read for any literature enthusiast.
The Selected Works of Honore de Balzac
Author: Honore de Balzac
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465527745
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 19641
Book Description
Half-way down the Rue Saint-Denis, almost at the corner of the Rue du Petit-Lion, there stood formerly one of those delightful houses which enable historians to reconstruct old Paris by analogy. The threatening walls of this tumbledown abode seemed to have been decorated with hieroglyphics. For what other name could the passer-by give to the Xs and Vs which the horizontal or diagonal timbers traced on the front, outlined by little parallel cracks in the plaster? It was evident that every beam quivered in its mortices at the passing of the lightest vehicle. This venerable structure was crowned by a triangular roof of which no example will, ere long, be seen in Paris. This covering, warped by the extremes of the Paris climate, projected three feet over the roadway, as much to protect the threshold from the rainfall as to shelter the wall of a loft and its sill-less dormer-window. This upper story was built of planks, overlapping each other like slates, in order, no doubt, not to overweight the frail house. One rainy morning in the month of March, a young man, carefully wrapped in his cloak, stood under the awning of a shop opposite this old house, which he was studying with the enthusiasm of an antiquary. In point of fact, this relic of the civic life of the sixteenth century offered more than one problem to the consideration of an observer. Each story presented some singularity; on the first floor four tall, narrow windows, close together, were filled as to the lower panes with boards, so as to produce the doubtful light by which a clever salesman can ascribe to his goods the color his customers inquire for. The young man seemed very scornful of this part of the house; his eyes had not yet rested on it. The windows of the second floor, where the Venetian blinds were drawn up, revealing little dingy muslin curtains behind the large Bohemian glass panes, did not interest him either. His attention was attracted to the third floor, to the modest sash-frames of wood, so clumsily wrought that they might have found a place in the Museum of Arts and Crafts to illustrate the early efforts of French carpentry. These windows were glazed with small squares of glass so green that, but for his good eyes, the young man could not have seen the blue-checked cotton curtains which screened the mysteries of the room from profane eyes. Now and then the watcher, weary of his fruitless contemplation, or of the silence in which the house was buried, like the whole neighborhood, dropped his eyes towards the lower regions. An involuntary smile parted his lips each time he looked at the shop, where, in fact, there were some laughable details. A formidable wooden beam, resting on four pillars, which appeared to have bent under the weight of the decrepit house, had been encrusted with as many coats of different paint as there are of rouge on an old duchess' cheek. In the middle of this broad and fantastically carved joist there was an old painting representing a cat playing rackets. This picture was what moved the young man to mirth. But it must be said that the wittiest of modern painters could not invent so comical a caricature. The animal held in one of its forepaws a racket as big as itself, and stood on its hind legs to aim at hitting an enormous ball, returned by a man in a fine embroidered coat. Drawing, color, and accessories, all were treated in such a way as to suggest that the artist had meant to make game of the shop-owner and of the passing observer. Time, while impairing this artless painting, had made it yet more grotesque by introducing some uncertain features which must have puzzled the conscientious idler. For instance, the cat's tail had been eaten into in such a way that it might now have been taken for the figure of a spectator—so long, and thick, and furry were the tails of our forefathers' cats. To the right of the picture, on an azure field which ill-disguised the decay of the wood, might be read the name "Guillaume," and to the left, "Successor to Master Chevrel." Sun and rain had worn away most of the gilding parsimoniously applied to the letters of this superscription, in which the Us and Vs had changed places in obedience to the laws of old-world orthography. To quench the pride of those who believe that the world is growing cleverer day by day, and that modern humbug surpasses everything, it may be observed that these signs, of which the origin seems so whimsical to many Paris merchants, are the dead pictures of once living pictures by which our roguish ancestors contrived to tempt customers into their houses. Thus the Spinning Sow, the Green Monkey, and others, were animals in cages whose skills astonished the passer-by, and whose accomplishments prove the patience of the fifteenth-century artisan. Such curiosities did more to enrich their fortunate owners than the signs of "Providence," "Good-faith," "Grace of God," and "Decapitation of John the Baptist," which may still be seen in the Rue Saint-Denis.
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465527745
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 19641
Book Description
Half-way down the Rue Saint-Denis, almost at the corner of the Rue du Petit-Lion, there stood formerly one of those delightful houses which enable historians to reconstruct old Paris by analogy. The threatening walls of this tumbledown abode seemed to have been decorated with hieroglyphics. For what other name could the passer-by give to the Xs and Vs which the horizontal or diagonal timbers traced on the front, outlined by little parallel cracks in the plaster? It was evident that every beam quivered in its mortices at the passing of the lightest vehicle. This venerable structure was crowned by a triangular roof of which no example will, ere long, be seen in Paris. This covering, warped by the extremes of the Paris climate, projected three feet over the roadway, as much to protect the threshold from the rainfall as to shelter the wall of a loft and its sill-less dormer-window. This upper story was built of planks, overlapping each other like slates, in order, no doubt, not to overweight the frail house. One rainy morning in the month of March, a young man, carefully wrapped in his cloak, stood under the awning of a shop opposite this old house, which he was studying with the enthusiasm of an antiquary. In point of fact, this relic of the civic life of the sixteenth century offered more than one problem to the consideration of an observer. Each story presented some singularity; on the first floor four tall, narrow windows, close together, were filled as to the lower panes with boards, so as to produce the doubtful light by which a clever salesman can ascribe to his goods the color his customers inquire for. The young man seemed very scornful of this part of the house; his eyes had not yet rested on it. The windows of the second floor, where the Venetian blinds were drawn up, revealing little dingy muslin curtains behind the large Bohemian glass panes, did not interest him either. His attention was attracted to the third floor, to the modest sash-frames of wood, so clumsily wrought that they might have found a place in the Museum of Arts and Crafts to illustrate the early efforts of French carpentry. These windows were glazed with small squares of glass so green that, but for his good eyes, the young man could not have seen the blue-checked cotton curtains which screened the mysteries of the room from profane eyes. Now and then the watcher, weary of his fruitless contemplation, or of the silence in which the house was buried, like the whole neighborhood, dropped his eyes towards the lower regions. An involuntary smile parted his lips each time he looked at the shop, where, in fact, there were some laughable details. A formidable wooden beam, resting on four pillars, which appeared to have bent under the weight of the decrepit house, had been encrusted with as many coats of different paint as there are of rouge on an old duchess' cheek. In the middle of this broad and fantastically carved joist there was an old painting representing a cat playing rackets. This picture was what moved the young man to mirth. But it must be said that the wittiest of modern painters could not invent so comical a caricature. The animal held in one of its forepaws a racket as big as itself, and stood on its hind legs to aim at hitting an enormous ball, returned by a man in a fine embroidered coat. Drawing, color, and accessories, all were treated in such a way as to suggest that the artist had meant to make game of the shop-owner and of the passing observer. Time, while impairing this artless painting, had made it yet more grotesque by introducing some uncertain features which must have puzzled the conscientious idler. For instance, the cat's tail had been eaten into in such a way that it might now have been taken for the figure of a spectator—so long, and thick, and furry were the tails of our forefathers' cats. To the right of the picture, on an azure field which ill-disguised the decay of the wood, might be read the name "Guillaume," and to the left, "Successor to Master Chevrel." Sun and rain had worn away most of the gilding parsimoniously applied to the letters of this superscription, in which the Us and Vs had changed places in obedience to the laws of old-world orthography. To quench the pride of those who believe that the world is growing cleverer day by day, and that modern humbug surpasses everything, it may be observed that these signs, of which the origin seems so whimsical to many Paris merchants, are the dead pictures of once living pictures by which our roguish ancestors contrived to tempt customers into their houses. Thus the Spinning Sow, the Green Monkey, and others, were animals in cages whose skills astonished the passer-by, and whose accomplishments prove the patience of the fifteenth-century artisan. Such curiosities did more to enrich their fortunate owners than the signs of "Providence," "Good-faith," "Grace of God," and "Decapitation of John the Baptist," which may still be seen in the Rue Saint-Denis.