The Wild Ass's Skin (Penguin Classics)

Rating:
Summary: A familiar tale
Review: A very familiar moral tale, in which Raphael, disappointed in his unsuccessful attempts to woo the rich Faedora (underlying theme perhaps - is she a lesbian??) enters into a Faustian pact, the "talisman" of which is the strange and exotic wild ass's skin. The consequences are of course, disasterous for Raphael and those with whom he comes into contact.

The messages are unsurprising - wealth without responsibility and/or the maturity to use it wisely is a curse both on the wealthy and on others. It's difficult to feel any sympathy for the hero (or is he an anti-hero?) Raphael: his love for Faedora is driven by her wealth and his poverty; and essentially he gets what he deserves.

The book I think suffers from the familiarity of its themes, and the hackneyed devices it uses - the skin is exotic as it has Arabic writing on it (everything from the East is mysterious, and curses of course are always powerful). The mood shifts of the book make it difficult to judge how Balzac indended it to be read - the first part is an eerie meeting leading to the possession of the skin, then a long section on the pursuit of Faedora, the last section being Raphael's decline beneath the effects of the skin (including a long satire on scientists, as they aim to analyse and neutralise the skin).

In all, not a bad book, but it suffers from the author's lack of a consistent approach the the story, and it contains nothing to surprise the modern reader.

Rating:
Summary: A familiar tale
Review: A very familiar moral tale, in which Raphael, disappointed in his unsuccessful attempts to woo the rich Faedora (underlying theme perhaps - is she a lesbian??) enters into a Faustian pact, the "talisman" of which is the strange and exotic wild ass's skin. The consequences are of course, disasterous for Raphael and those with whom he comes into contact.

The messages are unsurprising - wealth without responsibility and/or the maturity to use it wisely is a curse both on the wealthy and on others. It's difficult to feel any sympathy for the hero (or is he an anti-hero?) Raphael: his love for Faedora is driven by her wealth and his poverty; and essentially he gets what he deserves.

The book I think suffers from the familiarity of its themes, and the hackneyed devices it uses - the skin is exotic as it has Arabic writing on it (everything from the East is mysterious, and curses of course are always powerful). The mood shifts of the book make it difficult to judge how Balzac indended it to be read - the first part is an eerie meeting leading to the possession of the skin, then a long section on the pursuit of Faedora, the last section being Raphael's decline beneath the effects of the skin (including a long satire on scientists, as they aim to analyse and neutralise the skin).

In all, not a bad book, but it suffers from the author's lack of a consistent approach the the story, and it contains nothing to surprise the modern reader.

Rating:
Summary: Wacky!
Review: Certainly not Balzac's finest, but still compelling in its own way. The thing ya gotta understand firstly is that this is one of the man's self-consciously 'philosophical' novels, meaning that drawing realistic and complex character portraits is not a primary concern. It's certainly possible to feel a certain amount of sympathy for Raphael, but he's not really much of a 'character,' and if this was one's first encounter with Balzac, one might get the false impression that he just wasn't able to draw deep characters. Anyway: this is, if I recall, only the second novel of the Human Comedy, and in many ways the ideas presented form the basis for his later works. The idea of success without any real work--success which turns out to be fleeting and ephermeral--is a common Balzacian theme, but here it's taken in a literal sense: Raphael acheives success not through his own merits but rather through the magical powers of the skin in question, even as this continued 'success' gradually diminishes his life-force. Compare this with Lucien in Lost Illusions, who rises and falls in much the same manner, only without any sort of physical representation of this rise and fall.

Bleh. The real question is, is the book a good read? Yeah, more or less. It definitely gets better as it goes along; one's patience is definitely tried by the antique shop sequence near the beginning, and I found the banquet/orgy scene to be more than a little tedious. However! Things do pick up: Raphael's courtship of Faedora is well done, and the novel's climax is wonderfully bizarre and nightmarish (I swear, it made me think of Lovecraft). The reader's patience is rewarded; it just takes a little while. As previously noted, not a good first Balzac (try Old Goriot), but once you're hooked, a worthwhile piece of work that provides priceless insights into the author's mode of thinking.

Rating:
Summary: Wacky!
Review: Certainly not Balzac's finest, but still compelling in its own way. The thing ya gotta understand firstly is that this is one of the man's self-consciously 'philosophical' novels, meaning that drawing realistic and complex character portraits is not a primary concern. It's certainly possible to feel a certain amount of sympathy for Raphael, but he's not really much of a 'character,' and if this was one's first encounter with Balzac, one might get the false impression that he just wasn't able to draw deep characters. Anyway: this is, if I recall, only the second novel of the Human Comedy, and in many ways the ideas presented form the basis for his later works. The idea of success without any real work--success which turns out to be fleeting and ephermeral--is a common Balzacian theme, but here it's taken in a literal sense: Raphael acheives success not through his own merits but rather through the magical powers of the skin in question, even as this continued 'success' gradually diminishes his life-force. Compare this with Lucien in Lost Illusions, who rises and falls in much the same manner, only without any sort of physical representation of this rise and fall.

Bleh. The real question is, is the book a good read? Yeah, more or less. It definitely gets better as it goes along; one's patience is definitely tried by the antique shop sequence near the beginning, and I found the banquet/orgy scene to be more than a little tedious. However! Things do pick up: Raphael's courtship of Faedora is well done, and the novel's climax is wonderfully bizarre and nightmarish (I swear, it made me think of Lovecraft). The reader's patience is rewarded; it just takes a little while. As previously noted, not a good first Balzac (try Old Goriot), but once you're hooked, a worthwhile piece of work that provides priceless insights into the author's mode of thinking.

Rating:
Summary: Solid Balzac
Review: This is bo no means the man's best book. I have read 4 of his other works and this is the worst yet it is still an excellent book.

The plot focuses around Raphael, a depressed man who acquires a talisman that will grant your wishes. The catch is everytime you make a wish, the talisman diminishes, as does your health. The book is divided up almost into three seperate parts. The first deals with Raphael going to an elegant diner with colleagues followed by an orgy. The second part is cloddish and long as it discusse Raphael's romance towards Foedora. She is a sly temptress who really comes across as an uncompelling ice queen. Why Raphael would go after her is beyond me.

The third part features the books most touching moments and also its most wonderful imagery. This is where Raphael flees to the country and ponders his existence.

Overall a good book, worth reading and all of that. If you are considering Blazac read Eugenie Grandet and Ursule Mirouet first. Then read La Pere Goriot and Cesar Birrotteau. They are all far more compelling books.