European Comedy

Yegor could not imagine his future works, but he could see distinctly how the papers would talk of him, how the shops would sell his photographs, with what envy his friends would look after him.

When Gustavus Pulvertoft finds himself saddled with a horse with the power of human speech, he little imagines how quickly he will come a cropper. His courtship of the horse-loving Diana Chetwynd goes swimmingly so long as his talking horse is on good terms with Miss Chetwynd's grey mare... but when their trusty mounts fall out, a series of terrible events ensues which Pulvertoft is powerless to prevent. His determination to get revenge on the horse leads to his ultimate downfall.

Arnold Appleforth claims getting old is all about attitude. And if that's the case, he needs all the attitude he can get, because his journalistic career is on life support, his sex life nonexistent (except for a recent regrettable incident at a well-known chain restaurant), his financial position precarious and his alcohol consumption prodigious. Add to that his abysmal parenting of his three (or is it four?) children and the biohazard status of his flat, and life isn't a bed of roses.

As her 30th birthday approaches, spirited and unconventional Carlotta is a little nervous. She's just been fired because of her irrepressible frankness, her family is a mess, and her love life is nonexistent. Plus, living in Rome isn't cheap, so she's forced to rent out a room in her apartment to make ends meet.

Tom Jones is a splendid Hogarthian panorama of 18th-century English life and morals, encompassing both city and country, and comprising some of the greatest comic characters in British literature. First published in 1749, it was an instant success and has gone on to become a classic of its genre. Quite simply, there has never been anything like it.

Fifteen years ago in the colourful bustle of Vietnam, Celine and Patrick met and shared four blissful days together. It felt like true love, but soon reality tore them apart and Celine moved on. But now, when she sees him unexpectedly on a busy London street, suddenly nothing else matters. As she deals with the mixed emotions of an amicable divorce, Celine becomes preoccupied with her daughter and the dating agency she founded - not least when her ex-husband, Mike, asks her to find him someone new.

Œuvre maîtresse de la littérature française du XIXe siècle, à l'exemple du "Rouge et le Noir" et de "Madame Bovary", "Le père Goriot" sera dès sa première édition un immense succès. En scribe de son temps, Balzac y décrit l'intimité de la pension Vauquer, dont les habitants secrètent toutes les humeurs, toutes les ambitions et toutes les amertumes du Paris populaire.

"La Spéculation, dit le parfumeur, quel est ce commerce ? C'est le commerce abstrait, reprit Claparon, un commerce qui restera secret pendant une dizaine d'années encore, au dire du grand Nucingen, le Napoléon de la finance, et par lequel un homme embrasse les totalités des chiffres, écrème les revenus avant qu'ils n'existent, une conception gigantesque, une façon de mettre l'espérance en coupes réglées, enfin une nouvelle Cabale !"

Le banquier allemand Hermann, de passage à Paris, dîne en compagnie de la haute société. Il raconte à la fin du repas une étrange histoire qu'il a entendue lors de son emprisonnement à Andernach, au moment des guerres napoléoniennes.

Jérôme, Sacha, Marc et David sont quatre quadragénaires qui partagent tout depuis l'adolescence. Lorsque Jérôme meurt d'une crise cardiaque, ses amis vont à Honfleur disperser ses cendres dans la mer. Mais durant ce week-end de deuil, leur amitié est mise à l'épreuve...

"The Conscript" is one of the stories from the great collection making up "The Human Comedy"; it captures the human cost of revolution in a terribly touching way. Madame de Dey is a noble, rich widow whose son, an officer in the dragoons, has chosen to follow the princes into exile. She remains behind in a precarious position to look after his fortune. She is now awaiting her son's arrival in disguise.

Ces trois nouvelles, "Mademoiselle Fifi", "L'odyssée d'une fille" et "L'armoire", mettent en scène des "filles publiques" - leurs peines, leurs joies, leurs obligations. Maupassant décrit, avec l'ironie qu'on lui connaît, une société du libre-échange dont le moteur est l'argent et où circulent les corps, les pulsions, les désirs. Au-delà du réalisme cru, ces nouvelles ont le charme particulier des histoires sombres, tendres et édifiantes.

2031. La plupart des grandes espèces animales sont en voie d'extinction. Face au péril, Martin, un généticien vétérinaire et prix Nobel, alerte les chefs d'État de la planète réunis en conclave : il faut voter d'urgence un "Traité de protection de la Nature". Mais les résistances sont fortes et Martin ne fait pas le poids.

Evie Clement has perfected the art of avoiding attention as she works at her family’s bakery and dreams of a life where she can trade dusting flour for designing dresses. Her focus is on honing her sewing skills—she doesn’t need to be fawned over by some teenage boy. Least of all Beau Bellegarde—the playboy of Paris, the second son of the ultra-wealthy Bellegarde family, the most popular guy in their prestigious high school. Others may swoon over his rakish charm and winning smile, but not Evie.

Vadim, adolescent intuitif et caustique, cherche encore à faire le deuil de son père lorsqu'il perd son amie Valentine. Jour après jour, sous les regards impuissants de ses proches, il s'isole. Incapable de retourner au collège, cloîtré chez lui, Vadim s'échappe sur les toits de son immeuble pour trouver une issue à sa mélancolie. Une rencontre va le sauver : par le hasard d'une chute, Vadim tombe sur Alma... Le roman poignant de deux solitudes, qui vont s'amadouer, s'épauler, se heurter parfois. Une très belle histoire d'amitié.