My Journey from Paris to Java

Honoré de Balzac, the renowned French novelist and playwright, and one of the pioneers of literary realism, makes a short fantasy diversion to the mystical island of Java, where he, or rather the narrateur, encounters a deadly poison-breathing tree, civilised monkeys, love-sick sparrows and that epitome of Oriental desirability of his day – the women of Java.

Written just before he started on the multi-volume La Comédie humaine, this charmingly small work was nevertheless much loved by Balzac himself, and it provides a captivating glimpse of the breadth of his imagination.