Project Gutenberg 2005-02-12 Public domain in the USA. 927 Balzac, Honoré de 1799 1850 Balzac, Honore de Saint-Aubin, Horace de De Balzac, Honoré Balzac, H. de (Honoré de) Marriage, Ellen 1865 1946 Garrett, Ellen The Magic Skin Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Peau_de_chagrin Produced by Dagny, Bonnie Sala, and David Widger "The Magic Skin" by Honoré de Balzac is a novel written during the early 19th century. The story delves into themes of desire, desperation, and the interplay between fate and free will, centering around a young man named Raphael de Valentin. He finds himself on the brink of suicide, feeling the weight of his unfulfilled dreams and suffering from poverty and despair. The opening of the novel sets a dark and atmospheric tone, as Raphael enters a gambling house at the Palais-Royal, drawn by his compulsions yet seemingly untouched by the seasoned gamblers around him. He places his last piece of gold on the table, representing his final gamble against despair, and loses it, hinting at the futility of his situation. As he leaves the gambling den with thoughts of suicide, he encounters a mysterious old merchant who offers him a magical piece of skin that promises to fulfill his desires but at a great price. This encounter lays the groundwork for the profound moral and existential dilemmas that will unfold throughout the novel. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 67.5 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Fantasy fiction Authors -- Fiction Wishes -- Fiction Hides and skins -- Fiction French fiction -- Translations into English Magic -- Fiction PQ Text Category: Novels Category: French Literature 661299 2025-08-01T09:17:55.943494 text/html 680537 2021-01-27T21:42:26 text/html; charset=utf-8 314214 2025-08-01T09:18:03.843472 application/epub+zip 322462 2025-08-01T09:17:57.929451 application/epub+zip 322461 2025-08-01T09:17:56.677460 application/epub+zip 531537 2025-08-01T09:18:08.445403 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 504329 2025-08-01T09:18:03.066457 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 469707 2022-09-01T10:25:07.289692 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 583071 2025-08-01T09:17:55.050486 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 583091 2016-11-22T13:42:42 text/plain; charset=utf-8 18720 2025-08-01T09:18:08.588371 application/rdf+xml 12515 2025-08-01T09:17:57.197463 image/jpeg 3314 2025-08-01T09:17:56.936435 image/jpeg 307549 2025-08-01T09:17:55.993483 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog More titles under Waring, James fr.wikipedia en.wikipedia en.wikipedia