Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac

This small piece contains a nice little twist ending and delights the reader in its’ comedy. Here is what the eminent George Saintsbury had to say in the Introduction: Pierre Grassou is much slighter and smaller; it is not even on a level with Honorine or Le Colonel Chabert. But it is good in itself; [...]

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The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola

En Francais>Le Ventre de Paris http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext04/8vntr10.txt in French. http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=32NomB4ADC4C&dq=the+belly+of+paris&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=fC-oP15_AU&sig=bNGfeYYBxos2WcWQ47HVhHGVi_M&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA248,M1 in English.   This episode in the Rougon-Macquart series is one of the better books I have read from Zola.  It centers on Les Halles, the central food market in Paris at the time.  It is highly class-conscious, though extremely engaging and enjoyable.  There is a brief review of [...]

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