Henry Murger wrote a series of popular short stories in the late 1840s describing the poverty of the young artists of his generation in Paris, basing them on his personal experiences. These were adapted for the stage by Théodore Barrière in 1857. The play follows the fortunes of several young people, including Marcel (a painter), Musette (his promiscuous lover), Rodolphe (a writer), and Mimi (his... [click here for more]
In 1828 a young man in rags appeared in the German city of Nurnberg, saying that he'd been kept isolated in a dungeon all of his life.
Was he the bastard offshoot of some noble or royal family, secreted away to preserve the honor of the house? Within a few months he was dead under mysterious circumstances, his mystery still unsolved.
CASPER HAUSER uses the uproar caused by Hauser's emergence to... [click here for more]
In CASTOR AND POLLUX, by Pierre Bernard, one of the twins from ancient myth attempts to rescue his brother from the underworld.
The freshness and charm of this French dramatization is remarkable.
Note: This digital edition includes the PDF, ePub and Mobi (Kindle) versions of the book. ... [click here for more]
Three French comedies revolving around marriage, misidentification, medicine--and money!
DOCTOR SCRATCH, by Noël le Breton, is a clever and hilarious farce, in which love becomes hopelessly entangled in the attempts by the characters to improve their declining financial situations.
THE SERVANT PROBLEM, by Alain-René Lesage, the well-known novelist, two criminals manage to insert themselves... [click here for more]
Based on the classic novel by Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary tells the tale of Emma Bovary, who is romantic by nature, and believes herself the equal of the heroines depicted in the romantic novels she reads. When she moves to a rural town in France, she finds herself utterly bored by country and small-town life. Although her husband is a good man, Emma has no respect for him. Eventually she takes... [click here for more]