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Selected Short Stories
This collection includes El Verdugo," "Domestic Peace," "A Study in Feminine Psychology," "An Incident in the Reign of Terror," "The Conscript," "The Red Inn," "The Purse," "La Grande Bretèche," "A Tragedy by the Sea," "The Atheist’s Mass," "Facino Cane," and "Pierre Grassou.""
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1836
About the author
Honoré de Balzac
9,912 books4,508 followersFrench writer Honoré de Balzac (born Honoré Balzac), a founder of the realist school of fiction, portrayed the panorama of society in a body of works, known collectively as
La comédie humaine
.
Honoré de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napoléon in 1815, his magnum opus, a sequence of almost a hundred novels and plays, entitled, presents life in the years.
Due to keen observation of fine detail and unfiltered representation, European literature regards Balzac. He features renowned multifaceted, even complex, morally ambiguous, full lesser characters. Character well imbues inanimate objects; the city of Paris, a backdrop, takes on many qualities. He influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles John Huffam Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Jack Kerouac as well as important philosophers, such as Friedrich Engels. Many works of Balzac, made into films, continue to inspire.
An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac adapted with trouble to the teaching style of his grammar. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. Balzac finished, and people then apprenticed him as a legal clerk, but after wearying of banal routine, he turned his back on law. He attempted a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician before and during his career. He failed in these efforts From his own experience, he reflects life difficulties and includes scenes.
Possibly due to his intense schedule and from health problems, Balzac suffered throughout his life. Financial and personal drama often strained his relationship with his family, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.
Honoré de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napoléon in 1815, his magnum opus, a sequence of almost a hundred novels and plays, entitled, presents life in the years.
Due to keen observation of fine detail and unfiltered representation, European literature regards Balzac. He features renowned multifaceted, even complex, morally ambiguous, full lesser characters. Character well imbues inanimate objects; the city of Paris, a backdrop, takes on many qualities. He influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles John Huffam Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Jack Kerouac as well as important philosophers, such as Friedrich Engels. Many works of Balzac, made into films, continue to inspire.
An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac adapted with trouble to the teaching style of his grammar. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. Balzac finished, and people then apprenticed him as a legal clerk, but after wearying of banal routine, he turned his back on law. He attempted a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician before and during his career. He failed in these efforts From his own experience, he reflects life difficulties and includes scenes.
Possibly due to his intense schedule and from health problems, Balzac suffered throughout his life. Financial and personal drama often strained his relationship with his family, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
February 8, 2020
Balzac, I have found, is one of those authors you can read for your whole like, like Dickens, spreading out the oeuvre as necessary. Balzac's books, in my opinion, are not to be consumed like snacks or junk food. They are hearty vegetables, often not terribly exciting, but vigorous and nourishing. One can become enamored with his style or one can become distracted, depending on one's enthusiasm for the everyday lives of 19th century people.
Balzac died at 51, after working 20 years on his Human Comedy, comprising 90 works, and rising to the rank of greatest French author in many critical opinions. For much of his life he was fighting off debt, and 2 months before his untimely death due to overconsumption of coffee, he married a rich Polish countess. He produced 50 short stories, and we have 12 selected here. At first this selection appeared meager and insignificant, but further along in the slim volume the value compounded.
In summation, this is a fabulous depiction of the discrete charm of the bourgeoisie. Balzac drops aphorisms and well-sprinkled witticisms throughout his calm, collected recounting of lives. He is a vastly intelligent writer, on the level of Chekhov, with a subtle wit rarely equalled. He captured the people and key details of his time astutely. Unlike Anatole France, Balzac confined his subject to a set period, wishing to give the fullest picture of a slice of history, concerning almost entirely the French characters he was familiar with, picking and choosing from real life and his imagination as necessary, conjuring perfect examples with precision. He could discern a person's key attributes from a single glance, seemingly, and could draw out descriptions for pages where a lesser writer would have dashed off a few nondescript lines.
His stories are often simple. 10 sous can mark the border between life and death. Money and ambition take center stage, as does the honest work of the poor. He describes abject poverty like a pro, and the many guises it takes, its resonating affects upon families and great geniuses, for, as has been said, most everyone in Balzac is a genius. He utilizes melodramatic displays of charity and good will worthy of Dickens. There is much sacrifice, injustice and sorrow mingled with the surprisingly uncommon instances of romance.
There is only one decapitation in the whole collection, which is to say that Balzac is no Dumas. Dumas relied on cinematic gestures, grand statements, and a flair akin to the stage plays I imagine he devoured. Balzac rather, reveled in the tiny tragedies, the heartwarming moments, without entirely neglecting the grand episodes of the climaxes of his novels and the occasional "pulp" story. There is to be found the attendant troubles which come from the sudden acquisition of wealth, and much more in several entertaining stories in the second half of the book. The first half is rather droll, though it contains deep irony and brilliant characters. My rating verged on 5 stars after the final story - an amusing satire on the life of a painter. In short, these stories will not satisfy everyone, but if you are an appreciator of delicate sensibilities, prose which moves elegantly and logically through crystalline storytelling, it is hard to do better than Balzac. Take, for instance this quote:
"...creditors being today the most real shape assumed by the ancient Furies. He wore his poverty with a gaiety which is perhaps one of the greatest elements of courage, and like all those who have nothing, he contracted few debts."
Much meaning in a tight package. Look to Balzac for both distraction and enlightenment.
Balzac died at 51, after working 20 years on his Human Comedy, comprising 90 works, and rising to the rank of greatest French author in many critical opinions. For much of his life he was fighting off debt, and 2 months before his untimely death due to overconsumption of coffee, he married a rich Polish countess. He produced 50 short stories, and we have 12 selected here. At first this selection appeared meager and insignificant, but further along in the slim volume the value compounded.
In summation, this is a fabulous depiction of the discrete charm of the bourgeoisie. Balzac drops aphorisms and well-sprinkled witticisms throughout his calm, collected recounting of lives. He is a vastly intelligent writer, on the level of Chekhov, with a subtle wit rarely equalled. He captured the people and key details of his time astutely. Unlike Anatole France, Balzac confined his subject to a set period, wishing to give the fullest picture of a slice of history, concerning almost entirely the French characters he was familiar with, picking and choosing from real life and his imagination as necessary, conjuring perfect examples with precision. He could discern a person's key attributes from a single glance, seemingly, and could draw out descriptions for pages where a lesser writer would have dashed off a few nondescript lines.
His stories are often simple. 10 sous can mark the border between life and death. Money and ambition take center stage, as does the honest work of the poor. He describes abject poverty like a pro, and the many guises it takes, its resonating affects upon families and great geniuses, for, as has been said, most everyone in Balzac is a genius. He utilizes melodramatic displays of charity and good will worthy of Dickens. There is much sacrifice, injustice and sorrow mingled with the surprisingly uncommon instances of romance.
There is only one decapitation in the whole collection, which is to say that Balzac is no Dumas. Dumas relied on cinematic gestures, grand statements, and a flair akin to the stage plays I imagine he devoured. Balzac rather, reveled in the tiny tragedies, the heartwarming moments, without entirely neglecting the grand episodes of the climaxes of his novels and the occasional "pulp" story. There is to be found the attendant troubles which come from the sudden acquisition of wealth, and much more in several entertaining stories in the second half of the book. The first half is rather droll, though it contains deep irony and brilliant characters. My rating verged on 5 stars after the final story - an amusing satire on the life of a painter. In short, these stories will not satisfy everyone, but if you are an appreciator of delicate sensibilities, prose which moves elegantly and logically through crystalline storytelling, it is hard to do better than Balzac. Take, for instance this quote:
"...creditors being today the most real shape assumed by the ancient Furies. He wore his poverty with a gaiety which is perhaps one of the greatest elements of courage, and like all those who have nothing, he contracted few debts."
Much meaning in a tight package. Look to Balzac for both distraction and enlightenment.
July 25, 2015
Introduction
--El Verdugo
--Domestic Peace
--A Study in Feminine Psychology
--An Incident in the Reign of Terror
--The Conscript
--The Red Inn
--The Purse
--La Grande Bretèche
--A Tragedy by the Sea
--The Atheist's Mass
--Facino Cane
--Pierre Grassou
Chronology
Further Reading
--El Verdugo
--Domestic Peace
--A Study in Feminine Psychology
--An Incident in the Reign of Terror
--The Conscript
--The Red Inn
--The Purse
--La Grande Bretèche
--A Tragedy by the Sea
--The Atheist's Mass
--Facino Cane
--Pierre Grassou
Chronology
Further Reading
October 29, 2021
I’ve dipped in and out of Balzac’s selected Short Stories over a couple of weeks. Mildly entertained by them; about three enthralled me but I’m afraid some rather bored me. A mixed bag.
I tried reading some French classics many years ago, but my French comprehension made it slow work. Asterix and Tintin were more fun in improving my French! However after recently reading the excellent novella,The Vicar Of Tours, I’ve been tempted to try this English translation of Balzac.
Balzac has a distinct style that some may find off putting - his sentences are often ‘dense’, with plenty of commas sub-dividing the sentence to allow it to be packed with information or asides, for an event or action he’s describing. I found this interesting though it prevents you skimming through the prose if you’re tempted! I also found Balzac’s frequent declarations about how one should live ones life, or when momentous events might happen in life, or about the characteristics of whole classes of people, to be less than insightful, though I think he intended them to be declarations of wisdom!
As to the various stories contents. I was unmoved by descriptions of the bourgeois at play; in particular a ball with female ‘coquettes’ apparently tempting dukes or senior military officers whose own game is seduction, and new mistresses. Maybe that’s how the wealthy behaved in Restoration France but I didn’t find it interesting.
Just three stories that I found memorable; A Tragedy by the Sea where Balzac shows his awareness of crushing poverty, in a fishing community in Brittany; the Reign of Terror, a story about people hiding from the Terror after the French Revolution, all the more valuable for being told barely a generation after those events; the Atheists Mass, a rather warm story about a successful surgeon with an atheistic outlook, effectively judging people on their behaviour rather than their beliefs.
The author was a complex character - a monarchist and conservative with contempt for democracy, which I don’t mind so much, despite it not reflecting my outlook, as the recent terrors of the French Revolution, and Napoleon’s endless wars, must have encouraged many to favour a less radical agenda! On the other hand, he’s scathing about the church, on occasion, and famously sensitive to the poverty in society at his time. The stories do seem to reflect his distinctive outlook.
But if I had to recommend one short example of Balzac’s work I’d still favour The Vicar Of Tours enlivened also by wit that I generally found lacking in these stories.
I tried reading some French classics many years ago, but my French comprehension made it slow work. Asterix and Tintin were more fun in improving my French! However after recently reading the excellent novella,The Vicar Of Tours, I’ve been tempted to try this English translation of Balzac.
Balzac has a distinct style that some may find off putting - his sentences are often ‘dense’, with plenty of commas sub-dividing the sentence to allow it to be packed with information or asides, for an event or action he’s describing. I found this interesting though it prevents you skimming through the prose if you’re tempted! I also found Balzac’s frequent declarations about how one should live ones life, or when momentous events might happen in life, or about the characteristics of whole classes of people, to be less than insightful, though I think he intended them to be declarations of wisdom!
As to the various stories contents. I was unmoved by descriptions of the bourgeois at play; in particular a ball with female ‘coquettes’ apparently tempting dukes or senior military officers whose own game is seduction, and new mistresses. Maybe that’s how the wealthy behaved in Restoration France but I didn’t find it interesting.
Just three stories that I found memorable; A Tragedy by the Sea where Balzac shows his awareness of crushing poverty, in a fishing community in Brittany; the Reign of Terror, a story about people hiding from the Terror after the French Revolution, all the more valuable for being told barely a generation after those events; the Atheists Mass, a rather warm story about a successful surgeon with an atheistic outlook, effectively judging people on their behaviour rather than their beliefs.
The author was a complex character - a monarchist and conservative with contempt for democracy, which I don’t mind so much, despite it not reflecting my outlook, as the recent terrors of the French Revolution, and Napoleon’s endless wars, must have encouraged many to favour a less radical agenda! On the other hand, he’s scathing about the church, on occasion, and famously sensitive to the poverty in society at his time. The stories do seem to reflect his distinctive outlook.
But if I had to recommend one short example of Balzac’s work I’d still favour The Vicar Of Tours enlivened also by wit that I generally found lacking in these stories.
March 3, 2026
Stunning selection of twelve of Balzac's short stories. Many with strong elements of mystery, suspense and surprise endings. No weak ones, but special mentions to "The Purse", "The Atheist's Mass" and "An Incident In The Reign Of Terror". I probably wouldn't give 5 Stars to any of the individual stories, but this collection is just so well balanced/irresistible (and well translated!) that it's impossible to mark it down.
February 13, 2017
Spectacular! I can't remember when I've enjoyed a collection of short stories so much. In these tales, Balzac deals with Parisian high society (e.g., "Domestic Peace"), as well as grinding provincial poverty ("A Tragedy by the Sea"). It may take a reader a minute or two to get into a story, but once in, they'll be hooked. I was moved to tears by "The Atheist's Mass" and "Facino Cane." But Balzac had me laughing out loud in "Pierre Grassou." Honestly, I cannot recommend this little volume highly enough.
August 8, 2017
Detailed review coming soon...
For now:
(Please keep in mind the generation gap between the author and me)
"What's with the women?"
"What's with the affairs?"
"Some real great stories, others vain and confusing."
"Again, what's with the perception of woman nature!?"
In short, among his greatest short stories, absolutely loved some, especially the arduous description of the panther, hated some and couldn't understand one. Given that it is a part of a very respected literature, I guess my first tryst was an okay one.
Happy reading! :)
For now:
(Please keep in mind the generation gap between the author and me)
"What's with the women?"
"What's with the affairs?"
"Some real great stories, others vain and confusing."
"Again, what's with the perception of woman nature!?"
In short, among his greatest short stories, absolutely loved some, especially the arduous description of the panther, hated some and couldn't understand one. Given that it is a part of a very respected literature, I guess my first tryst was an okay one.
Happy reading! :)
March 23, 2009
i love balzac. nothing short of genius.
my favorite stories are The Purse, Tragedy by the Sea, and The Atheist's Mass,
p75: "There is a kind of poverty which the poor can recognize instinctively."
p73: "Boldly she walked through the deserted streets, as if her age were a talisman which was bound to preserve her from any misfortune."
p109: "...gastronomic felicities..."
my favorite stories are The Purse, Tragedy by the Sea, and The Atheist's Mass,
p75: "There is a kind of poverty which the poor can recognize instinctively."
p73: "Boldly she walked through the deserted streets, as if her age were a talisman which was bound to preserve her from any misfortune."
p109: "...gastronomic felicities..."
February 28, 2025
"he seems to be waiting impatiently until the birth of a second son gives him the right to join the shades who never leave him."
—favorites: el verdugo, domestic peace, an incident in the reign of terror and la grande breteche.
April 22, 2025
Lost the physical book somewhere in southern Tijuana. The stories I read, though, were full of tension and flavor but patchy. Altogether a fun read certainly.
April 21, 2025
At some point I will re-attempt reading this, I had to give up after reading 3 of the stories in it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
April 14, 2015
This book was my introduction to Balzac: a solid, if not wholly spectacular set of short stories with quite diverse themes and premises. Balzac is quite brilliant in laying a foundation of very rich detail and slowly threading the relevance of these details into the fabric of the story, followed often by a surprise twist at the end or an ironic revelation.
Personal favourites among the 12 stories here are The Conscript (about the metaphysical bond between a mother and son with tragic consequences), The Red Inn (where a man wanting to unearth the identity of a murderer becomes complicated by love-doesn't it always?), The Atheists Mass (a heartwarming story about a doctor who proves lack of religion doesn't necessarily mean a lack of faith or gratitude), A Tragedy by the Sea (a lover's vacation near the salt marshes of Breton turns sour when they stumble upon a recluse and discover his tragic secret), and one of my favourites, the chilling La Grande Breteche with shades of Edgar Allan Poe.
Personal favourites among the 12 stories here are The Conscript (about the metaphysical bond between a mother and son with tragic consequences), The Red Inn (where a man wanting to unearth the identity of a murderer becomes complicated by love-doesn't it always?), The Atheists Mass (a heartwarming story about a doctor who proves lack of religion doesn't necessarily mean a lack of faith or gratitude), A Tragedy by the Sea (a lover's vacation near the salt marshes of Breton turns sour when they stumble upon a recluse and discover his tragic secret), and one of my favourites, the chilling La Grande Breteche with shades of Edgar Allan Poe.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2013
These are not among my favorites, but there are some good ones within. In particular I enjoyed "The Atheist's Mass".
May 26, 2020
This is misogynistic claptrap. How come none of the cheating husbands are ever mentioned?
July 31, 2024
Stopped during my travel to Peru, back half of stories were better than the first. Atheist’s Mass, Pierre Grassou, Facino Cane, A Tragedy by the Sea. Excellent.
November 26, 2016
The Red Inn and An Incident in the Reign of Terror will stay with me forever.
December 20, 2023
This was my first time reading Balzac and it was a joy.
French society during the early 1800s is revealed in so many ways in this work.
I was transported to the balcony of a Spanish family's mansion to await their beheading at the hands of their brother.
I found myself in a ruinous and rickety building in an upper floor room populated by two nuns and a priest hiding from revolution. Hiding in dimly candlelit crumbling smoke stained blocks enveloped by darkness and peppered with blots of bitter austere whiteness.
I felt a mother's anguish and anxiety for an unlikely return of a son.
I found myself by the Rhine in a Red Inn in the mind of a man contemplating murder while dealing with the ramifications of his thoughts manifesting without their actions.
I visited numerous painters looking for love in a world of deceit and fraud.
We learn of the walled in lover and the horrific cruelty of a scorned hypocrite.
We see people with religious principles who are not religious (quite common now but arguably immense to be stated by Balzac back then).
And on and on it goes. Wonderfully so.
Describing people's appearance like they are pieces of fruit combined was also a joy!
Will definitely read more by this author.
French society during the early 1800s is revealed in so many ways in this work.
I was transported to the balcony of a Spanish family's mansion to await their beheading at the hands of their brother.
I found myself in a ruinous and rickety building in an upper floor room populated by two nuns and a priest hiding from revolution. Hiding in dimly candlelit crumbling smoke stained blocks enveloped by darkness and peppered with blots of bitter austere whiteness.
I felt a mother's anguish and anxiety for an unlikely return of a son.
I found myself by the Rhine in a Red Inn in the mind of a man contemplating murder while dealing with the ramifications of his thoughts manifesting without their actions.
I visited numerous painters looking for love in a world of deceit and fraud.
We learn of the walled in lover and the horrific cruelty of a scorned hypocrite.
We see people with religious principles who are not religious (quite common now but arguably immense to be stated by Balzac back then).
And on and on it goes. Wonderfully so.
Describing people's appearance like they are pieces of fruit combined was also a joy!
Will definitely read more by this author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2017
My first venture into the comedie humaine of Balzac, on the urging of the films of Truffaut and Akira Kurosawa, and well just about everybody who ever lived. There are 12 stories in this book, and most are fantastic. Starts off a little slow with the first one, but gets exceedingly better as the selection rolls along, so keep going if you are bored at first. Looking forward to reading the rest of his works, which are so numerous they could provide a reading supply for the next few years. If you haven't read Balzac, but are hoping he is good, this seems like a good place to start. Up next, Louis Lambert..
February 10, 2020
4.5 stars. This set of short stories, mostly set in the period from the French revolution to the mid 1800's, show Balzac's skill in depicting human foibles and motivations. Even 200 years later, the author conveys to the reader a real understanding of these characters and their interactions. Simple misunderstandings that could change the path of someone's whole life are brought to life (as in The Purse), as are the struggles of the parents of a spoilt and out-of-control son (in A Tragedy by the Sea). In each story the reader is drawn into the drama, and serves almost like an advisor to the protagonists as they grapple with the choices that shape their lives.
April 23, 2022
I have no idea how this book crossed my path. It’s not my usual style, and I have no recollection of who suggested it to me.
Let me say, though — each story was a genuine delight. A perfect slice of cake. I’d start a story reluctantly, clouded by my own life, a begrudging and untrusting first bite. A few pages later, I’d be wholly gripped, the world disappearing around me, devouring every turn. By the delicious end, I would have licked the plate if I could.
Balzac was the M. Night of his time. I never knew how a story would end until the last page. Happy, sad, blunt as can be. The suspense and tension he built in just 20 pages each story was incredible.
Let me say, though — each story was a genuine delight. A perfect slice of cake. I’d start a story reluctantly, clouded by my own life, a begrudging and untrusting first bite. A few pages later, I’d be wholly gripped, the world disappearing around me, devouring every turn. By the delicious end, I would have licked the plate if I could.
Balzac was the M. Night of his time. I never knew how a story would end until the last page. Happy, sad, blunt as can be. The suspense and tension he built in just 20 pages each story was incredible.
December 25, 2020
A book of twelve short stories, some that were excellent and some that were just okay. I had already read three of the better ones, The Conscript, The Purse and The Atheist's Mass, but of the others I thought The Red Inn was the best. It was about a young man who is in love with and wants to marry the daughter of a man he knows committed murder to obtain his fortune. Balzac wrote in a very proper and melodramatic manner that was fitting for the period of the early 1800's but is still an enjoyable read today.
August 21, 2020
These stories were like stepping into paintings, lovely for lingering, but lacking in story and characterization. The translator’s prose was lovely, which I appreciate because at my age I’ll never learn to read French. The observational eye on the bourgeoisie felt as relevant today as it must have then. Balzac is also quite witty, though I’m sure even more of the humor was lost on me for lack of context, I didn’t laugh but smiled knowingly and often.
September 15, 2019
Wonderful if a soupcon archaic; few writers of short stories, even in translation, can attain the standards of the genius Honore de Balzac. He captured tbs human comedy in his work with astonishing depth & width...& with the literary gifts of a genius.
May 13, 2020
It was a good introduction to the French culture! Loved most of those stories ans their global appeal.
Read
May 19, 2022I want to read Balzac Short Stories
July 30, 2022
overwritten
July 15, 2023
Balzac was a master of literary fiction, every single story in this book is deep and full of facts, situations, events, emotions, so richly compositioned, short stories at their best
i-get-the-picture
August 20, 2025Not very appealing….
December 31, 2025
What a punch right in the gut. Just….*sigh* had to pause a moment and reflect on it. Well written and such a tragic story line.
January 29, 2026
i do honoré de balzac
February 9, 2020
actually reading balzac affirm's gass's statement that barthes only used him to argue for death of the author because balzac's writing is so cliche and characterless
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews