Suspended Judgments: Essays on Books and Sensations

book can forget the portentous weight of realistic background with

which it begins.

After "Lost Illusions" I would put "Cousin Bette" as Balzac's master-piece, and, after that, "A Bachelor's Establishment." But I lay no particular stress upon these preferences. With the exception of such books as "The Wild Ass's Skin" and ...