'The Magic Skin' appears to have a straightforward plot created by Honor? de Balzac, who goes by the pen name Balzac. It tells the story of Raphael and how the miracle of his being saved by a mystical talisman in his most pitiful state actually turns out to be a terrifying curse of never-ending terror and contempt. The premise is straightforward, but Balzac uses an abundance of character description along with a quick narrative arc to completely subdue the reader and take him through the entirety of a man's life experience, including childhood, the loss of innocence, impossible love, despair, and the pains of old age. The author manages to be concise without sacrificing the in-depth and potent use of quality description in both the characters and the environment, which is how this technique manages to be completely successful. The novel is a bit of a marvel on many levels, and it's hard to pin down the metaphor at any given point. On the one hand, "the skin's influence" seems to be a reactionary phenomenon that borders on the psychosomatic. Each supporting character in 'The magic skin' takes on the attributes of their different professions metaphorically.
