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The Most Beautiful Book in the World
The Most Beautiful Book in the World: 8 Novellas | Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
7 posts | 11 read | 8 to read
One of Europe's most popular and best-loved authors, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt captivates the reader with his spirited, buoyant style and enchanting stories that move effortlessly from the everyday to the fantastical. The 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 entertaining portrait of a perennially disgruntled perfectionist. Here are eight contemporary fables, populated by a cast of extravagant and affecting characters, about people in search of happiness. Behind each story lies a simple, if elusive, truth: happiness is often right in front of our eyes, though we may frequently be blind to it.
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Gleefulreader
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Pickpick

My Europa journey continues! This jumped into my cart when placing an order on Abe Books. Each story is about finding happiness is an unexpected way. While that may sound twee, it really wasn‘t as the stories are themselves not always happy. A fast and enjoyable read and I‘m loving Carousel of Desire by the same author up my TBR list! #europacollective

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Readergrrl
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Has anyone here read Octunnumi? I can‘t find it in the search cache. I bought this simply because it was so striking and so intriguing. The aligned website is gorgeous and even the packaging was a treat. I haven‘t dared to read because I‘m afraid of marring its beauty!!

https://www.the-octunnumi.com

DrexEdit Wow! That is a nifty cover! 😍 4y
The_Literary_Jedi Legend says if you talk about it, gnomes will come to your house at night and steal all your left shoes. 😈 (and it IS a pretty book & website) 4y
Headinherbooks_27 Got this book too! It's so beautiful. 4y
See All 11 Comments
Sweetkokoro They closed orders for this and I‘m so sad as I finally got the money for it. Hopefully it‘s everything it‘s cracked up to be. 4y
Palimpsest I saw this recently on an Instagram post and was initially intrigued by the name and typeface, but I couldn‘t even find out what it is about. 🤷‍♀️ I felt the Goodreads description was sort of vague. Still intrigued by whatever fantasy this is. 4y
Clare-Dragonfly Hmm… somebody I follow was reading this. Maybe @Branwen ? 4y
Books88 I have this book too! Have not gotten a chance to read it yet though. 4y
Branwen @Clare-Dragonfly @Readergrrl Yes! It was me! I'm about halfway through it and absolutely LOVE it! It's confusing, wacky, strange, beautiful, and utterly unlike anything I've ever read before! 😍📚💕 #theoctunnumi 4y
LibrarianRyan Did you unbox this on TikTok? I think I saw it. I am horrible at names and screen names so I probably didn't connect the two. 4y
Readergrrl @LibrarianRyan No, that wasn‘t me! But I sure would have loved to have seen someone else‘s reaction!! 4y
Suet624 So beautiful! 4y
60 likes11 comments
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ValerieAndBooks
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Pickpick

Started reading after I pulled this for #7days7covers. Actually short stories, not “novellas”. Translated from French to English by Alison Anderson (also did The Elegance of the Hedgehog), so word flow occasionally tripped up. Stories are not complicated but have a touch of profoundness. Titular story was very unexpected— about female prisoners in a Soviet gulag trying to write for their daughters on the outside. Cover photo is based on....👇

ValerieAndBooks ... the story *Odette Toulemonde* who “began to levitate” on the bus while reading her favorite author whose name is on the title in the photo. 5y
65 likes1 comment
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ValerieAndBooks
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#7days7covers #covercrush Day 1

@KarenUK thanks for the tag🥰!

@Lynnsoprano would you like to post one cover you love, each day for 7 days? no explanation needed and use the hashtags 😊

erzascarletbookgasm Love the Europa editions 🙂 5y
Leftcoastzen That‘s how I feel when I read!😂 5y
BarbaraBB Great cover indeed! 5y
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KarenUK I love this one! 💕 5y
LeahBergen This is a great cover! 5y
ValerieAndBooks @erzascarletbookgasm Yes! And I always scan the spines for their logo when I‘m at bookstores 😊 5y
ValerieAndBooks @Leftcoastzen same, especially if it‘s a good book 😂! 5y
ValerieAndBooks @BarbaraBB it is, and the title fits, too 😂 5y
ValerieAndBooks @KarenUK still TBR, but I have it staying out so that maybe I‘ll start it soon 🙂 5y
ValerieAndBooks @LeahBergen there‘s another Europa cover by this author that is lovely, too — I may post that this week too 😊 5y
78 likes5 stack adds10 comments
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Demibom
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Pickpick

When you look like a giant red lobster 🦞 after you finish your book, you know it was a great read. I burned so bad, but no regrets. ”When I was a piece of art” was undoubtedly one of the most memorable books in my life time. Sadly Mr. Schmitt doesn‘t like his novels to be translated in English, because he thinks we, the Americans, are big prudes. And he may be right.

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LubicaP
Mehso-so

This may be quite elegant in the original, but the translation felt clunky. The stories would probably form a good basis for Sunday afternoon TV but none of them touched me.

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Balibee146
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@Caroline2 this is a stock photo but I own most of these White's Fine Editions.... Gorgeous books😍

TrishB They‘re lovely ❤️ 7y
minkyb Lovely! 7y
LeahBergen Oooo! I‘ve never seen these before. 😍😍 7y
Caroline2 Ooooo!! 😮 they're so pretty!! 😍 7y
Cathythoughts Gorgeous ♥️♥️♥️ 7y
54 likes5 comments