Sign-In
Cart
The Magic Skin
Hardcover
Publisher: Indoeuropeanpublishing.com
Published: Mar 2 2024
Pages: 212
Weight: 0.94
Height: 0.69 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
La Peau de chagrin (The Skin of Shagreen), known in English as The Magic Skin and The Wild Ass's Skin, is an 1831 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850). Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen (untanned skin from a wild ass) that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. La Peau de chagrin belongs to the Études philosophiques group of Balzac's sequence of novels, La Comédie humaine.
Before the book was completed, Balzac created excitement about it by publishing a series of articles and story fragments in several Parisian journals. Although he was five months late in delivering the manuscript, he succeeded in generating sufficient interest that the novel sold out instantly upon its publication. A second edition, which included a series of twelve other philosophical tales, was released one month later.
Although the novel uses fantastic elements, its main focus is a realistic portrayal of the excesses of bourgeois materialism. Balzac's renowned attention to detail is used to describe a gambling house, an antique shop, a royal banquet, and other locales. He also includes details from his own life as a struggling writer, placing the main character in a home similar to the one he occupied at the start of his literary career. The central theme of La Peau de chagrin is the conflict between desire and longevity. The magic skin represents the owner's life-force, which is depleted through every expression of will, especially when it is employed for the acquisition of power. Ignoring a caution from the shopkeeper who offers him the skin, the protagonist greedily surrounds himself with wealth, only to find himself miserable and decrepit at the story's end.
La Peau de chagrin firmly established Balzac as a writer of significance in France. His social circle widened significantly, and he was sought eagerly by publishers for future projects. The book served as the catalyst for a series of letters he exchanged with a Polish baroness named Ewelina Hańska, who later became his wife. It also inspired Giselher Klebe's opera Die tödlichen Wünsche. (wikipedia.org)
2 different editions
Also available
Also from
de Balzac, Honoré
Learn French with Short Stories: Interlinear French to English
de Balzac, Honoré
Hyplern, Bermuda Word
de Maupassant, Guy
Paperback
Cousin Bette (Royal Collector's Edition) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)
de Balzac, Honoré
Hardcover
Darkness Brews: Draughts, Elixirs, Vintages, and Libations in Classic Speculative Fiction
de Balzac, Honoré
Hauff, Wilhelm
Paperback
Histoires Drôlatiques De L'empereur Napoléon Ier
de Balzac, Honoré
Soulié, Frédéric
Tousez, Étienne Augustin
Paperback
The Works of Honoré De Balzac: Eugénie Grandet, Ursule Mirouët, and Other Stories
Saintsbury, George
de Balzac, Honoré
McSpadden, Joseph Walker
Paperback
La Comédie Humaine of Honoré De Balzac; Volume 31
Wormeley, Katharine Prescott
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
La Comédie Humaine of Honoré De Balzac; Volume 20
de Balzac, Honoré
Wormeley, Katharine Prescott
Paperback
Eugénie Grand: Les intrigues provinciales et les transitions cachées dans "Eugénie Grandet"
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Modeste Mignon: Les épreuves d'une famille face à la ruine et à la trahison
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Eugénie Grandet (The Human Comedy) (Royal Collector's Edition) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)
de Balzac, Honoré
Hardcover
Scènes De La Vie Privée: Honorine; Le Colonel Chabert; La Messe De L'athée; L'interdiction; Pierre Grassou
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Scènes De La Vie Politique: I. Un Épisode Sous La Terreur. Ii. Le Réquisitionnaire
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
The Lily of the Valley. the Firm of Nucingen. the Country Doctor: And Other Stories
Saintsbury, George
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
The Works of Honoré De Balzac: The Magic Skin, the Quest of the Absolute, and Other Stories. Illustrated Sterling Edition; Illustrated Sterling Editi
Saintsbury, George
de Balzac, Honoré
Hardcover
The Unknown Masterpiece: (Le Chef-D'hoeuvre Inconnu) and Other Stories
de Balzac, Honoré
Marriage, Ellen
Paperback
The Correspondence of Honoré De Balzac; Volume 1
Surville, Laure
de Balzac, Honoré
Kenney, Charles Lamb
Hardcover
La Comédie Humaine of Honoré De Balzac: Cousin Pons
de Balzac, Honoré
Wormeley, Katharine Prescott
Paperback
Les Français Peints Par Eux-Mêmes: Encyclopédie Morale Du Dix-Neuvième Siècle
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Fiche de lecture La Femme de trente ans de Balzac (Analyse littéraire de référence et résumé complet)
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Fiche de lecture Le Colonel Chabert de Balzac (Analyse littéraire de référence et résumé complet)
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Fiche de lecture Le Lys dans la vallée de Balzac (Analyse littéraire de référence et résumé complet)
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Fiche de lecture Le Père Goriot de Balzac (Analyse littéraire de référence et résumé complet)
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Histoire des Treize: trois courts romans d'Honoré de Balzac: Ferragus, La Duchesse de Langeais, La Fille aux yeux d'or
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
The Rise and Fall of César Birotteau: (Grandeur Et Décadence De César Birotteau)
Saintsbury, George
de Balzac, Honoré
Marriage, Ellen
Hardcover
Les Français Peints Par Eux-Mêmes: Encyclopédie Morale Du Dix-Neuvième Siècle; Volume 3
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Fiche de lecture La Cousine Bette de Balzac (Analyse littéraire de référence et résumé complet)
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Histoire de la grandeur et de la décadence de César Birotteau: L'ascension et la chute d'un parfumeur parisien
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Séraphîta: Une exploration mystique des paysages norvégiens et des âmes humaines
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Histoire des Treize: trois courts romans d'Honoré de Balzac: Ferragus, La Duchesse de Langeais, La Fille aux yeux d'or.
de Balzac, Honoré
Paperback
Also in
Classic Fiction
James Fenimore Cooper: The Leatherstocking Tales Vol. 1 (Loa #26): The Pioneers / The Last of the Mohicans / The Prairie
Cooper, James Fenimore
Hardcover
Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, a Midsummer Night's Dream, the Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
Before Gatsby: The First Twenty-Six Stories
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Bruccoli, Matthew J.
Baughman, Judith
Paperback
The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Paperback
The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Paperback
The Lord of the Rings Illustrated by the Author: Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Hardcover
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Hardcover
The Pilgrim's Progress: A Readable Modern-Day Version of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (Revised and easy-to-read)
Vermilye, Alan
Bunyan, John
Paperback
Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Shelley, Mary
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Stoker, Bram
Paperback