Carmen and Other Stories (World's Classics S.)

by Prosper Merimee (Author), N. Jotcham (Translator)

• Used

  Paperback
  1989

  $3.44

  A selection of stories by one of the earliest exponents of the short-story genre, Prosper Merimee (1803-70). His stories are seen to reveal the paradoxical fascination with the cruelty of violence and passion in a man ostensibly urbane and reticent; to an extent they all explore the contrast between primitive and civilized values. Carmen , based on an anecdote recounted to Merimee by a Spanish countess in 1830, may have introduced the literary incarnation of the femme fatale , the woman whose aura of mystery and malevolence exerts a fatal charm on the weak and unwary. Apart from the most famous longer tales Carmen and Colomba , this selection includes the shorter stories, regarded by some as his best or most representative work - Mateo Falcone , The Storming of the Redoubt , Tamango , The Etruscan Vase , The Game of Backgammon , The Venus of Ille and Lokis . Their subjects range across the tragic enforcement of a Corsican bandit's code of honour, a historical reconstruction of a Franco-Russian battle, illegal slave-trading, overweening, jealous passion underlying a veneer of Parisian civilization, guilty remorse and its consequences, and the seductive and lethal nature of erotic love entwined with apparently supernatural forces.

• Used

  Paperback
  1998

  $3.29

  Carmen, Merimee's classic tale of passion and power, provided the inspiration for one of the world's most enduringly popular operas, and numerous films. Like Carmen, the other stories in this book, including Mateo Falcone, The Etruscan Vase, and The Venus of Ille, explore the clash of primitive and civilized values. This is the only selection of Merimee's short stories available.

• New

  Paperback
  2008

  $12.53

  Carmen, Merimee's classic tale of passion and power, provided the inspiration for one of the world's most enduringly popular operas, and numerous films. Like Carmen, the other stories in this book, including Mateo Falcone, The Etruscan Vase, and The Venus of Ille, explore the clash of primitive and civilized values. This is the only selection of Merimee's short stories available ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.