I love the way this author describes the stories of normal people and cares about them and his point of view. Every one of his short stories opens a door for us to a beautiful peaceful world and that's why I love all his books.

Odette Toulemonde et autres histoires = The Most Beautiful Book in the World: Eight Novellas, Éric-Emmanuel SchmittThe eight stories in this collection, his first to be published in English, represent some of his best writing and most imaginative storylines: from the love story between Balthazar, wealthy and successful author, and Odette, cashier at a supermarket, to the tale of a Barefooted Princess; from the moving story of a group of female prisoners in a Soviet gulag to the ....عنوانهای چاپ

The reviews here are on opposite extremes: from the 1-2 stars (extremely annoying, does absolutely nothing, etc.) to the 4-5 stars (excellently written, highly recommended!, etc.) with a vast international audience who made reviews in English, Polish, French, German, Italian and perhaps a few other languages I don't recognize.This is not a full-length novel but a collection of eight novellas (or maybe eight short stories but longer than the usual, or eight novels much shorter than the usual). So...

The 8 stories, written in simple prose, are all stories about women - women dealing with heartbreak, love affairs, death, dementia. In 'The Intruder', an elderly journalist, Odile, living alone in an apartment, keeps seeing an old lady. She calls out to her, "What are you doing in my house? How did you get in?" When she phones the police and they arrive, there is no one there. Was Odile's mind playing tricks on her? It's a very sad story.'The Forgery' is about an aging mistress left abandoned by...

The lack of subtlety in these stories is just not to my taste. The penultimate story seems very self-serving, as if the author is both answering his own literary critics and perhaps also trying to feed the romantic fantasies of his female readership, which come to think of it might be what most of these stories try to do. There were several stories I didn't intend to finish, but I went back and did so, because this was the last unread book I had in my backpack while on sleepless flights -- the e...

I could hardly put this book down; what a great storyteller Schmitt is! All the stories featured women who were dealing with different things in their lives (loves, death, dementia, disappointments, etc.), and their stories truly fascinated me.

Wanda Winnipeg is a beautiful, rich, demanding woman who's made a successful career out of marrying rich men and then divorcing them. But what happens when she sees her first lover on the beach, now an old man and a failure of a painter?Hélène likes everything just so, including her men, but has never been satisfied with what she's got - including her man. It is only after she loses something she didn't realise was so important to her, that she learns about the beauty of imperfection. But is it

8 stories about happiness and how one should not look too far away to find it, happiness is in front of your eyes and these imaginative stories portray it too well. I enjoyed the simple style, the forward way of characters, the somewhat unbelievable happenings, yet down-to earth. A mixture of feelings cannot tell how this book made me feel.

It trully is the most beautiful book in the world

I found this book to be charming and I truly enjoyed reading these the stories. They were uncommon, surprising and had unexpected endings. The subjects varied and the themes were thought-provoking, wondering myself how I would feel if I were to walk in the characters' shoes? I can't say I find them to be realistic, but I surely had a pleasant time reading them.

I've read some of Schmitt's best books (which,of course,all of 'em have been plays and NOT novellas or short stories) and I can say this is 100% his most ordinary book.Just like Balthazar Balsan in the 'Odette Toulemonde' story, I think Schmitt must had been worried that this book of him might be too much of a mediocre book.The most annoying story to me was the last story,"The most beautiful book in the world".The most annoying page of the book to me was the last one and the most annoying line o...

8 novellas of women facing different challenges in their lives. The stories are imaginative, intriguing and very well-written. I'm always on the lookout for interesting new (for me) storytellers and this is one of them, I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.

I just really don't think this collection of short stories was for me. The inside cover says it's about finding happiness after searching for it and realizing that it was there all along right in front of us. OK, great that sounds like it's going to be uplifting, maybe even inspirational. However... most of the women in these stories were horrible. They were mean, manipulative, rude, and just down right horrible people. There were only 2 stories in this that I read and didn't make me want to thr...

Just read this book, in French, in one sitting. Also read quite a few comments. It seems the title in the English version isn't the same and retains the title of the last novel "the most beautiful book in the world". I'm surprised as to that choice of title in the English version, it seems quite vain, while the book doesn't seem so to me (I had the impression Schmitt wanted to emphasise the down-to-earth quiet but steady sort of sentiments his characters seem to feel)I very much enjoyed the book...

There are writers and there are storytellers. Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt is now on my list of storytellers.I loved this book so much that I didn't know how to put it into words. Easily one of my favorite books this year......So I read some reviews -positive and negative- just to get some outside perspective. Here's what I came up with when I was done:First of all, this is a collection of stories about women, most of which are narrated by women. Unlike another book that I read recently that was narrat...

3.5*A collection of 8 stories, some of them pretty good, some not so much.

Book Review:Title: The Most Beautiful Book in the World: Eight NovellasAuthor: Éric-Emmanuel SchmittDate Read: September 4th - September 26th, 2016Date Reviewed: September 26th, 2016Introduction: I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. I wanted to read this because I was lacking in anthologies as of lately - I had almost none on my shelf! Spoilers Ahead?: No.Quick Summary: This anthology is full of eight different novellas that are not related. They are cute, short stories t...

8 stories about life and love, an easy book for short breaks:) perfect for those moments when you don’t have the mood for a complex reading.

Virtually unknown in America, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt is a beloved French author. While the title, The Most Beautiful Book in the World, leans toward hyperbole, it is, in fact, the name of the last and one of the most beautiful short stories in this collection of eight.Save Wanda Winnipeg and The Barefoot Princess, which read like fairy tales penned by Jackie Collins, the stories reveal the drama inherent in quiet lives. Using a few details devastating in their precision, Schmitt sketches charact...

In this collection of short stories, by the French author and filmmaker, character is held to the highest esteem. More importantly, though, these are stories about love. People in love. Marriages working and not working. Affairs are known and unknown, truths are revealed and in the process lives are altered. Wanda Winnipeg struggled out of poverty to become one of the wealthiest and most desirable women in the world, but she never forgot where she came from. The main character of "Every Reason t...