La Peau de chagrin is an 1831 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850). Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. La Peau de chagrin belongs to the Études philosophiques group of Balzac's sequence of novels, La Comédie humaine. Although the novel uses fantastic elements, its main focus is a realistic portrayal of the excesses of bourgeois materialism. The book's central theme is the conflict between desire and longevity. The magic skin represents the owner's life force, which is depleted through every expression of will, especially when it is employed for the acquisition of power. Ignoring a caution from the shopkeeper who offers the skin to him, the protagonist greedily surrounds himself with wealth, only to find himself miserable and decrepit at the story's end. La Peau de chagrin firmly established Balzac as a writer of significance in France and abroad. His social circle widened significantly, and he was sought eagerly by publishers for future projects. It inspired Giselher Klebe's opera Die tödlichen Wünsche and may have influenced Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1588:

Anglo-Spanish War: The Spanish Armada , with 130 ships and over 30,000 men, set sail from Lisbon for the English Channel to engage English naval forces. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada

1644:

English Civil War: Royalist troops allegedly slaughtered up to 1,600 people during their storm and capture of the Town of Bolton. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolton_Massacre

1892:

Aided by a group of professors from the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University, Preservationist John Muir founded the environmental organization Sierra Club in San Francisco. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir

1936:

English mathematician Alan Turing submitted his paper "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem" for publication, introducing the Turing machine, a basic abstract symbol-manipulating device that can simulate the logic of any computer algorithm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing

1961:

The British newspaper The Observer published English lawyer Peter Benenson's article The Forgotten Prisoners, starting a letter-writing campaign that grew and became the human rights organization Amnesty International. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

unsung (adj): 1. Not having been lauded or appreciated.

2. Not sung http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unsung

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

In my books I have lifted bits from various religions in trying to come to a better understanding; I've made use of religious themes and symbols. Now, as the world becomes more pagan, one has to lead people in the same direction in a different way... --Patrick White http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Patrick_White