The Fatal Skin
Title | The Fatal Skin PDF eBook |
Author | Honoré de Balzac |
Publisher | Signet Classics |
Total Pages | 336 |
Release | 1949 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN |
Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. Bent on killing himself by throwing himself into the Seine after losing his shirt at the gaming tables, Raphael de Valentin, the romanticised, doomed young hero of Balzac's early novel, 'La Peau de chagrin' (1831), turns into an antiques shop to while away the hours till darkness (when he can be sure not to be rescued). There he finds himself in an emporium of civilisation's treasures, from all over the world and in every marvellous material, executed to the highest degree of human art. Eventually, the eerie, wizened keeper appears and shows Valentin the magic skin which gives the novel its title. It's the hide of a wild ass and, like the ring of the Nibelungen, has the power to grant its owner every wish. But in return it will take possession of Valentin, body and soul. Every time it performs, it will shrink and Valentin's life will shorten in accord.
The Fatal Skin ... Translated ... by Cedar Paul
Title | The Fatal Skin ... Translated ... by Cedar Paul PDF eBook |
Author | Honoré de Balzac |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 310 |
Release | 1949 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
The Wild Ass's Skin
Title | The Wild Ass's Skin PDF eBook |
Author | Honoré de Balzac |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 318 |
Release | 1908 |
Genre | France |
ISBN |
A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence
Title | A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence PDF eBook |
Author | Alfred Swaine Taylor |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 834 |
Release | 1892 |
Genre | Forensic toxicology |
ISBN |
Poisons, their effects and detection
Title | Poisons, their effects and detection PDF eBook |
Author | Alexander Wynter Blyth |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 820 |
Release | 1906 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
The New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal
Title | The New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 1010 |
Release | 1884 |
Genre | Medicine |
ISBN |
The American Chauffeur
Title | The American Chauffeur PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 600 |
Release | 1916 |
Genre | Automobiles |
ISBN |