Audiobooks by Honore de Balzac

"The story centers on Eugénie, a kind-hearted young woman living under the oppressive rule of her miserly father, Félix Grandet, in provincial France. When her cousin Charles arrives, bringing tales of Parisian glamour and emotional turmoil, Eugénie experiences love for the first time. However, her devotion is met with betrayal as Charles succumbs to greed and societal pressures. Balzac paints a vivid portrait of family dynamics, materialism, and sacrifice, critiquing the destructive power of wealth and selfishness. With poignant detail, the novel explores themes of innocence, resilience, and the enduring impact of love amidst moral decay."

Honore de Balzac (Author), Eloise Fairfax (Narrator)

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Lost Illusions

"Ambitious poet Lucien Chardon leaves his provincial home for Paris, seeking fame and fortune in the literary world. However, he soon becomes entangled in the city’s cutthroat society, where corruption, vanity, and greed reign supreme. Seduced by luxury and manipulated by influential figures, Lucien compromises his ideals, trading integrity for fleeting success. Balzac’s novel exposes the harsh realities of ambition, the commodification of art, and the moral costs of social climbing. With sharp social critique and vivid characters, Lost Illusions paints a timeless portrait of human frailty and the relentless pursuit of power."

Honore de Balzac (Author), Eloise Fairfax (Narrator)

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Doctors As The Protagonists – Short Stories

"The Hippocratic oath is sacred. Until it’s not. Human foibles and frailties can quickly grow and make the Doctor into a romantic hero, or a despised villain, or hopeless professional in the face of what is around him.In this volume our protagonists are the people we look to for help and certainty when we are in distress and pain. Our authors place these characters in stories that are as relevant to our thoughts today as when they were first published. 1 - Stories with The Doctor as Protaganist - An Introduction2 - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - Part 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson3 - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - Part 2 by Robert Louis Stevenson4 - La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac5 - A Country Doctor by Franz Kafka6 - Doctor Heidegger's Experiment by Nathaniel Hawthorne7 - The District Doctor by Ivan Turgenev8 - The Arm of Mrs Egan by W F Harvey9 - Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov10 - Green Tea - Part 1 by Sheridan Le Fanu11 - Green Tea - Part 2 by Sheridan Le Fanu12 - The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac"

Franz Kafka, Honore de Balzac, Ivan Turgenev, Mikhail Bulgakov, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sheridan Le Fanu, W F Harvey (Author), David Shaw-Parker, Mark Rice-Oxley, Richard Mitchley (Narrator)

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The Foundations of Fiction - French Realism

"In this series we turn the pages of classic short stories to put together the literary building blocks of how a particular genre or theme began, how it built its foundations to become the well-loved and well-worn genre that it is today.Do authors have the same ideas at more or less the same time? Or can they sniff out an opportunity as to which way the tastes of an audience are moving. Success undoubtedly builds success and in literary terms we can more politely say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the surest way to reach a hungry readership is to build on the fortune and flair of your literary colleagues. The canon of French authors is both vast and incredibly talented. They have a way of creating characters and describing events to assemble stories with worlds that enthral us.One of the genres they do particularly well is French Realism and here, in this volume, we have many masters of the craft including Victor Hugo, Guy de Maupassant, Emile Zola and Honore de Balzac and a long roll-call of others.01 - Foundations of Fiction - French Realism - An Introduction2 - Two Little Soldiers by Guy de Maupassant3 - Claude Gueux by Victor Hugo4 - The Return of Martin Guerre by Alexandre Dumas5 - Suicides by Guy de Maupassant6 - Three Wars by Emile Zola7 - The Grave by Guy de Maupassant8 - The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac9 - The Maison Tellier by Guy de Maupassant10 - The Siege of Berlin by Alphonse Daudet11 - The Kiss by Guy de Maupassant12 - Mateo Falcone by Prosper Merimee13 - The Piece of String by Guy de Maupassant14 - La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac15 - The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant"

Alexandre Dumas, Alphonse Daudet, Emile Zola, Guy De Maupassant, Honore de Balzac, Prosper Merimee, Victor Hugo (Author), David Shaw-Parker, Elliot Fitzpatrick, Richard Mitchley (Narrator)

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Lessons from Literature - Stories Exploring the Relationship Between Human and Animal

"Being curious, learning from all of our experiences, is one of our most pleasing traits as human beings. In this series we examine particular facets of ourselves and, with the aid of many classic authors, delve into characters and stories that not only entertain us, but inform us on how short stories can help us both deal and understand issues that touch and weave into our lives with the words and narratives of many wise talents.In this volume our two legged and large brained authors examine just how we and animals co-exist with a mutual dependency on one another. Often these stories will show the finer aspects of our interactions although, of course, humanity often shows a crueller streak.01 - Lessons From Literature - Stories Exploring the Relationship Between Human and Animal - An Introduction2 - To Build a Fire by Jack London3 - A Passion in the Desert by Honore De Balzac4 - Federigos Falcon by Giovanni Boccaccio5 - Mumu by Ivan Turgenev6 - Esme by Saki7 - A Dark Brown Dog by Stephen Crane8 - The Canary by Katherine Mansfield9 - A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett10 - How I Killed a Bear by Charles Dudley Warner11 - The White Silence by Jack London12 - Running Wolf by Algernon Blackwood"

Algernon Blackwood, Charles Dudley Warner, Giovanni Boccaccio, Honore de Balzac, Ivan Turgenev, Jack London, Katherine Mansfield, Saki, Sarah Orne Jewett, Stephen Crane (Author), David Shaw-Parker, Richard Mitchley, William Dufris (Narrator)

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Buried Alive Stories

"Deep within us is the dread of dying of moving on from life to another state of being. We assume it comes about through accident, perhaps even murder or disease that can be sudden or can take years to pull us into oblivion. But perhaps trumping all of these is the fear of being buried alive. The sheer terror of being totally trapped, unable to summon help and escape, fills one and all with a deeply unique terror. In this volume such icons as Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce and Honoré de Balzac take us on a journey that will do our helpless fear of this no good at all. Buried Alive - Short Stories - An Introduction - The Fall of the House of Usher Part 1 by Edgar Allan Poe - The Fall of the House of Usher Part 2 by Edgar Allan Poe - The Iron Shroud by William Mudford - The Cask of Amontillardo by Edgar Allan Poe - La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac - One Summer Night by Ambrose Bierce - The Premature Burial by Edgar Allan Poe - 1 - Inside the Mind of Madness - An Introduction 2 - The Yellow Wall Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman 3 - Diary of a Lunatic by Leo Tolstoy 4 - The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe 5 - Diary of a Madman by Nikolai Gogol 6 - The Devil In Manuscript by Nathaniel Hawthorne 7 - Miss Ogilivy Finds Herself by Radclyffe Hall 8 - The Red Egg by Anatole France 9 - The Diary of a God by Barry Pain 10 - A Red Flower by Vsevolod Garshin 11 - Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne"

Ambrose Bierce, Edgar Allan Poe, Honore de Balzac, William Mudford (Author), Bill Wallis, John-Michael Macdonald, William Dufris (Narrator)

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The Church - A Short Story Collection

"Faith is a wonderful thing. Whether its faith in each other or to a God, Gods, or whatever entity you believe in, it brings a familiar comfort and sustenance to heart, soul and mental well-being. Whilst faith can be practiced anywhere religious faith is usually at a church or temple. The stories in this volume are centered both in houses of worship and with those with a strong association to its calling. Of course, short story authors have a determined belief in their undoubted talents to make us look at this subject from different angles. In this volume they take us on literary journeys that are revealing and challenging yet always entertaining. 1 - The Church - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction 2 - The Altar of the Dead - Part 1 by Henry James 3 - The Altar of the Dead - Part 2 by Henry James 4 - A Fragment of Stained Glass by D H Lawrence 5 - Neccesity. An Eastern Tale by Vladimir Korolenko 6 - Let Loose by Mary Cholmondeley.wav 7 - The Haunted Church by Frederick Cowles 8 - Lucifer by Anatole France 9 - Anathema by Alexander Kuprin 10 - Lazarus by Leonid Andreyev 11 - The Black Crusader by Alicia Ramsay 12 - The Saint by Mary Butts 13 - Marsyas In Flanders by Vernon Lee 14 - The Ankardyne Pew by W F Harvey 15 - The Tomb of Sarah by F G Loring 16 - The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac 17 - A Collector's Company by R H Malden"

Alexander Kuprin, Alicia Ramsay, Anatole France, D.H. Lawrence, F G Loring, Frederick Cowles, Henry James, Honore de Balzac, Leonid Andreyev, Mary Butts, Mary Cholmondeley.Wav, R H Malden, Vernon Lee, Vladimir Korolenko, W F Harvey (Author), Eric Meyers, Mark Rice-Oxley, Richard Mitchley (Narrator)

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Stories About Affairs And Infidelity

"Being together is not always the love-strewn path of true happiness rolling off into the sunset. It involves all sorts of other issues that come up to investigate that relationship with questions, pain and trouble. Perhaps infidelity is the most corrosive. The wronged partner seeks justice and answers as well as feeling betrayed and hurt. The other almost certainly knows their behaviour is wrong but seeks to justify it with barely literate utterances. The relationship may not survive, trust and respect will be damaged even broken. Our classic authors including Marjorie Bowen, Gustav Meyrink, Kenneth Grahame, Thomas Hardy and many others bring all facets of this genre into needle-sharp focus. 1 - Stories About Affairs and Infidelity - An Introduction 2 - The Legacy by Virginia Woolf 3 - An Imaginative Woman by Thomas Hardy 4 - Souls Belated by Edith Wharton 5 - The Kiss by Kate Chopin 6 - The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov 7 - The Caballero's Way by O Henry 8 - La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac 9 - The Phantom Rickshaw by Rudyard Kipling 10 - The Cone by H G Wells 11 - The Strength of God by Sherwood Anderson 12 - The Converts by Israel Zangwill 13 - The Difference by Ellen Glasgow 14 - The Inquity of Oblivion by Kenneth Grahame 15 - The Man in the Bottle by Gustav Meyrink 16 - Brown of Calaveras by Bret Harte 17 - Lucy Wren by Ada Radford 18 - Behind the Curtain by Gertrude Barrows Bennett writing as Francis Stevens 19 - Modern Melodrama by Hugo Crackanthorpe 20 - The Other Woman by Sherwood Anderson 21 - The Pleasant Husband by Marjorie Bowen 22 - The Moonlit Road by Ambrose Bierce 23 - The Storm by Kate Chopin 24 - From The Dead by Edith Nesbit"

Ada Radford, Ambrose Bierce, Anton Chekhov, Bret Harte, Edith Nesbit, Edith Wharton, Ellen Glasgow, Gertrude Barrows Bennett Writing As Francis Stevens, H.G. Wells, Honore de Balzac, Hugo Crackanthorpe, Israel Zangwill, Kate Chopin, Kenneth Grahame, Marjorie Bowen, O Henry, Rudyard Kipling, Sherwood Anderson, Thomas Hardy, Virginia Woolf (Author), David Shaw-Parker, Janet Maw, Kelly Burke (Narrator)

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[French] - Scènes de la vie privée

"La Comédie humaine est le titre sous lequel Honoré de Balzac a regroupé un ensemble de plus de quatre-vingt-dix ouvrages — romans, nouvelles, contes et essais — de genres réaliste, romantique, fantastique ou philosophique, et dont l’écriture s’échelonne de 1829 à 1850. Par cette œuvre, Balzac veut faire une « histoire naturelle de la société », explorant de façon systématique les groupes sociaux et les rouages de la société, afin de brosser une vaste fresque de son époque susceptible de servir de référence aux générations futures."

Honore de Balzac (Author), Françoise Gillard, Michel Vuillermoz, Pierre-François Garel, Vanessa Bile-Audouard (Narrator)

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Short Stories About Suicide

"Life has the capacity of great moments and attainment, of lives well lived, fulfilling for ourselves and for those we touch.But for others life is arduous. There is no spark to ignite the curiosity, to explore and achieve a stability and a growth to their lives. Indeed their lives, in their own eyes, become almost meaningless, their sense of themselves subsumed under a myriad of problems, whether real or imagined. Seismic events in a life might crush them; the loss of a loved one for instance. Coping is difficult, support hard to find and isolation abounds. We never really know the reason or motivation but sometimes one final, dreadful way out is the solution. In this volume our authors including, Amy Levy, Willa Cather, Honore de Balzac, O Henry, Franz Kafka and a wealth or others explore stories that help us to understand and recognise a tragic circumstance.1 - Short Stories About Suicide - An Introduction2 - Suicides by Guy de Maupassant3 - The Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostovesky4 - A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka5 - The Legacy by Virginia Woolf6 - The Informer by Joseph Conrad7 - Claude Gueux by Victor Hugo8 - The Furnished Room by O Henry9 - The Mourner by Mary Shelley10 - The Victory by Rabindranath Tagore11 - A Passion in the Desert by Honore De Balzac12 - An Imaginative Woman by Thomas Hardy13 - An Egyptian Cigarette by Kate Chopin14 - Volodya by Anton Chekhov15 - Paul's Case by Willa Cather16 - A Slav Soul by Alexander Kuprin17 - Cohen of Trinity by Amy Levy18 - The Story of A Conscience by Ambrose Bierce19 - The Cold Embrace by Mary Elizabeth Braddon20 - Blessed Are the Meek by Mary Webb21 - The Crystal Man by Edward Page Mitchell22 - The End of a Show by Barry Pain23 - An Outcast of the People by Bithia Mary Croker24 - A Responsibility by Henry Harland25 - When Spirits Steal by Philippa Forest26 - The Spider by Hanns Heinz Ewers27 - The Quadroons by Lydia Maria Child28 - Sokratics in the Strand by Amy Levy29 - In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka"

Ambrose Bierce, Amy Levy, Franz Kafka, Fyodor Dostovesky, Guy De Maupassant, Honore de Balzac, Joseph Conrad, Kate Chopin, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, O Henry, Rabindranath Tagore, Thomas Hardy, Victor Hugo, Virginia Woolf (Author), Laurel Lefkow, Mark Rice-Oxley, Richard Mitchley (Narrator)

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The Top Ten - 19th Century

"Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author's brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted 'Top Tens' across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions - Why that story? Why that author? The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.Across far flung territories that are undergoing a forced globalization by military and Imperial means stories emerge from near and far of times that perfectly illustrate societies as they make their way through this bustling century of demands, opportunities, greed and despair. The need for mass entertainment in a myriad of cheap periodicals and magazines brought forth wonders of word, of wit and of narrative.1 - The Top 10 - The 19th Century - An Introduction2 - An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce3 - The Bet by Anton Chekhov4 - Desirees Baby by Kate Chopin5 - Passion In The Desert by Honoré de Balzac6 - The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant7 - The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman8 - The Cloak by Nikolai Gogol9 - Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne10 - The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe11 - The District Doctor by Ivan Turgenev"

Ambrose Bierce, Anton Chekhov, Honore de Balzac (Author), David Shaw-Parker, Liza Ross, Mark Rice-Oxley (Narrator)

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[Turkish] - Goriot Baba

"'Goriot Baba'nın arkasında Shakespeare'in Kral Lear oyununun ruhu vardır.' — Yavuz Ekinci Goriot Baba; dünya edebiyatının para, güç ve iktidar uğruna erdemlerinden vazgeçen insanların hikâyesini anlatan en tanınmış klasik eserlerinden biri. Kızları uğruna servetini, gücünü, onurunu bir kenara bırakan Goriot Baba; 'sosyete'ye girmeyi tek amaç edinen Rastignac ve burjuva çağının Mephistopheles'i Vautrin'in kesişen yolları toplumsal bir eleştiri, dünyaya tutulan bir ayna…"

Honore de Balzac (Author), Mehmet Ertuğrul Altınözen (Narrator)

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