Stendhal lets his readers experience in the act of reading what his protagonists experience in the act of living, argues this original, well-written study about the relationship between novelist and reader. Novels discussed include Armance, Le Rouge et le Noir, Lucien Leuwen, and La Chartreuse de Parme.

This is the first comprehensive study in English of Voltaire's contes philosophiques--the philosophical tales for which he is best remembered and which include his masterpiece Candide. Pearson situates each story in its historical and intellectual context and offers new readings in light of modern critical thinking. He rejects the traditional view that Voltaire's contes were the private expression of his philosophical perplexity, and argues that it is narrative that is Voltaire's essential mode of thought. His book is a witty, lucid, and scholarly guide to the "fables of reason" through which...

Unfolding Mallarme provides a coherent account of Mallarme's poetic developments from his earliest verse to his final masterpiece, "Un coup de Des." A series of close readings demonstrate the intricate linguistic and formal play to be found in many of his major poems; and, in a detailed analysis of "Un coup de Des," Pearson explores the "profound calculation" upon which Mallarme's final, seemingly chaotic masterpiece is based.
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The first comprehensive study of Mallarme's "poetry of circumstance" in any language, this book is a companion volume to the author's well-received Unfolding Mallarme: The Development of a Poetic Art. It provides a series of lucid and accessible readings of Mallarme's verse and prose writings.
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