Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870) was an author by hobby, not necessity, being the son of two talented and highly successful artists. He was also a lawyer, a public official, a senator, a painter, an authority on Russian literature and a member of the French
One of the earliest exponents of the short story, Prosper Mérimée wrote the universally-acclaimed tale Carmen, which provided the basis for one of the world's most popular operas. In addition to this classic tale, the book includes Colomba, Mateo Falcon
Un féru d'archéologie est invité à un mariage dans la petite ville d'Ille jusque-là sans histoire, ou presque. En effet, une mystérieuse statue de Vénus "d'une merveilleuse beauté", découverte depuis peu, semble être à l'origine d'événements
With this posthumously published anthology--a successor to his bestselling Italian Folktales--Italo Calvino, a contemporary surveyor of the otherwordly, pays homage to twenty-six of his nineteenth-century precursors. The resulting volume is both an educat
A Short Story from France On leaving Porto-Vecchio from the northwest and directing his steps towards the interior of the island, the traveller will notice that the land rises rapidly, and after three hours' walking over tortuous paths obstructed by great
Claudine’s House is a tender and heartfelt portrayal of childhood and memory. In an idyllic setting of countryside and woods, Colette spent her childhood surrounded by a warm and loving family. Years later, her memories and experiences inspired her to c
Written at the height of the 1848 revolutions, Alexandre Dumas’ One Thousand and One Ghosts is a macabre collection of supernatural tales, told with unrelenting detail and almost unbearable suspense. Paralyzed with fear, a man confesses to the murder of
Memoirs of an Egotist, Stendhal’s fragmentary autobiographical work, is alert, wry, and perpetually self-questioning. Through a series of apparently random impressions of the political, social, and artistic movements of the world around him, he imbues a
An intense, passionate, and profoundly moving work, Flaubert's November explores the notions of desire and longing to most remarkable effect. Wrestling with the agony of loneliness, a young man withdraws deeper into himself, believing he has now reached t
