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The imaginitive breadth and the intellectual depth of The Wild Ass's Skin make it one of the greatest of Balzac's 'Etudes philosophiques'. With its central symbol of the magic piece of shagreen, it expresses the peculiary Balzacian idea of the of the human will and dramatizes with startling urgency the choice between ruthless self-gratification and asceticism, between vice and virtue, between dissipation and restraint. The symbolism is powerful but not overpowering: shrewed psychology, superbly chiselled dialogue and the sheer energy of the descriptive passages,--the gambling den, the orgy, the devastating finale--give The Wild Ass's Skn a compelling and forceful realism. By capturing both the nuances of Balzac's irony nad the boldness of his prose style, this fine translation by Herbert J. Hunt allows the English reader to appreciate the intimitable exuberance of Balzac at his best.
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