Droll Stories — Complete: Collected from the Abbeys of Touraine
1832
In the early 1830s, Balzac embarked on a wildly unexpected project: writing medieval fabliaux. The result is Droll Stories, a collection of ribald, mischievous tales set in 16th-century Touraine, populated by lustful priests, cunning courtesans, and noblemen whose schemes unravel in spectacular fashion. These aren't the sober Realist portraits of La Comédie Humaine. They're something rarer: Balzac having an absolute blast, channeling Boccaccio and Rabelais with evident glee. The comedy is earthy, the satire sharp, and the storytelling propulsive. Whether a clergyman is being outwitted by a clever woman or a nobleman's greed leads to his own humiliation, these stories pulse with life, desire, and the glorious absurdity of human behavior. The opening tale follows Philippe de Mala, a young priest at the Council of Constance, wrestling with his desires amid the clergy's notorious excesses. It's a perfect entry point to a world where virtue and vice collide constantly, and vice frequently wins. If you've never imagined Balzac as a rogue, these tales will rearrange your understanding of him entirely.
