{"product_id":"from-balzac-to-zola-19th-century-short-stories-9781853993312","title":"From Balzac to Zola: 19th Century Short Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Richard Hobbs\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: General\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNineteenth-century French short stories were devoured by their readers\u003cbr\u003ewith an insatiable appetite. A reading public that was itself expanding\u003cbr\u003erapidly, as education and leisure opportunities grew, created an\u003cbr\u003eunprecedented demand for short fiction. Writers quickly responded to\u003cbr\u003ethis; it was a lucrative market, and at the same time it offered the\u003cbr\u003eintrinsic artistic challenge of brevity. From Romanticism to Naturalism\u003cbr\u003eand beyond, novelists such as Balzac and Zola explored the potential of\u003cbr\u003ethe short story as an alternative form to the novel in depicting modern\u003cbr\u003elife. The poetic intensity of 'contes fantastiques' in the manner of\u003cbr\u003ePoe's mysterious and cruel tales was championed by Baudelaire. Flaubert\u003cbr\u003eshowed that short story fiction could be a serious as well as popular\u003cbr\u003eliterary form. Specialists of the short story emerged, such as Merimee\u003cbr\u003eand Maupassant.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":45083841036439,"sku":"9781853993312","price":3061.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9781853993312.webp?v=1767264135","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/from-balzac-to-zola-19th-century-short-stories-9781853993312","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}