My first french book after a long time 😍

I have to read more by Schmitt. Gorgeous.

One of the best collection of short stories I have ever read.

In these five short-stories, I saw a coherence of one novel. Although they have no connection to each other, the characters in these stories seem to live in the same space, they are part of a hyper-reality, in which the world gains meaning through the force of imagination. These unsuitable heroes of Schmitt manage to live in a far richer imagination than the reality around them. But this imagination is not always beneficial : too much imagination can cause a distortion of truth, with disastrous...

Not even half-way through and I am in love with this book. It is rare for a reader to fall in love with a book, like them sure, but love a book, not so much. I love this so far and am admittedly ashamed for having put off buying it when I would see recommendations for it, because I had turned bitter about reading anything other's raved about- let's face it, often the most popular books are not that well written. I love this so far... nearly as much as I love anything Simon Van Booy writes. Very

Schmitt's short stories read like lovely and literary versions of "The Twilight Zone." Some of the stories tend to end rather abruptly and some of those endings may seem a little anti-climactic; however, the eerie quality about this collection is that the stories stay with you, like a dream that may not seem like much at the time, but for some reason stays with you for days on end. I think the author himself best describes what I felt about this book when he writes, "What is interesting in an en...

This book is incredible and amazing. So beautifully written--I'm not sure quite how to describe it--almost magically/romantically written but the stories are not about magic or romance. I wish I knew French so I could read them in their original language. This is the second book I've read by Mr. Schmitt and I've adored them both. Highly recommend. Just reread. One of the ONLY books I've ever wanted to re-read in my life. Still just as good.

Interesting stories, well written, easy to read - Eric Schmitt sure knows how to write novelettes. The characters are well defined even in this short stretched format, the story is catchy and the reading is flowing.

Tough one to review. Some of the stories are fairly good, some of them are awful. If you want to read Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt short stories, try "Two Gentlemen of Brussels", "The Most Beautiful Book in the World" or "La Vengeance du pardon". Don't waste your time with this one, he has much better books.

It's a lovely book full of good stories about the power of the mind, how our perception changes the world around us (from what we think of people, the power of imagination, or reading a book). I especially liked the first and the last story (although "Bad readings" was quite hilarious). I also enjoyed how the author presents completely ordinary settings and characters and, somehow, makes them quite... unbelievable? novelistic? magical? Anyway, his stories are quite delightful, easy to read and g...

2.5/5Definitely not Schmitt's best!

I revelled in ‘The dreamer from Ostend’. I find the author Eric-Emamanuel Schmitt’s writing, mesmerising; he completely draws me into to his simple, but cleverly written short stories: I loved the story of the young lovelorn writer, who retreated to Ostend to recover from a broken relationship, where he became acquainted with Madame Emma Van A; an elderly, disabled spinster. The old woman regaled her tenant with a compelling story that slowly unravelled to reveal a past that seemed too incredibl...

This classic collection of stories by Schmitt are so reminiscent of great short story writers of the past, e.g., du Maupassant, Poe, Bierce, that one irresistibly turns to see when this collection was published. They were originally published in French in 2007, but they have the feel of institutions already, for they highlight human motivations and peculiarities no matter what the period of time.A favorite story, “Perfect Crime,” so completely captures a person’s frustration with their spouse an...

This is a bundle of 5 short stories/novellas that have for common theme the fuzzy boundaries between dream (fantasy) and reality. In the first story, the writer decides to heal his broken heart in the Belgian seaside resort of Ostende. This busy tourist town does not really conform to his mental image, but at least his room in a room in the Belle Epoque villa of Emma Van A, a wheelchair-bound old lady, lives up to his imagination. He is mystified when this rigid old woman, a remnant of the colon...

This was an interesting read, if somewhat unsatisfying. These are short stories which almost read like morality tales. The foibles of flawed humanity are explored. Often they revolve around mis-communication or lack of communication. The one I liked best which illustrates this is the powerful story "Perfect Crime" in which a wife pushes her husband off a cliff. She is accused of murder and remanded for two years, in which she professes her innocence. In that time she tells over and over the stor...

I won this book through Goodreads Firstreads giveaway contest. I loved it. The stories are heartwarming and unique. My favourite of them all was The Dreamer from Ostend, although all the stories in the book (there are 5) are wonderful and romantic. My favourite quote from the entire book I think was this one:From a truly essential love, one does not recover."I once saw lightning strike a tree. I felt very close to the tree. There is a moment when one burns, one burns up, as it were, it's intense...

Oh, how I loved those stories! This is now definitely my favourite of Schmitt's books so far. His writing is beautiful in the German translation and I imagine even more so in the French original. I honestly couldn't say which story I liked best (though I am not sure I agree with what the third one conveys and certainly loved the title story a lot!). I feel like I've read this book at the right time in my life while trying to get back into reading "serious" literature and at the same time looking...

Must-read! No doubt about that!

So beautifully written and translated. Every short story within has it's own merits, but Schmitt's descriptive and romantic style can be felt throughout each of them.

Sweet, old fashioned stories.