Guy de Maupassant

A Parisian civil servant turned protégé of Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant is considered not only one of the greatest short story writers in all of French literature, but also a pioneer of psychological realism and modernism who helped define the form. Credited with influencing the likes of Chekhov, Maugham, Babel, and O. Henry, Maupassant had, at the time of his death at the age of forty-two, written six novels and some three hundred short stories. Yet in English, Maupassant has, curiously, remained unappreciated by modern readers due to outdated translations that render his prose in an archaic, literal style. In this bold new translation, Sandra Smith—the celebrated translator of Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise—brings us twenty-eight of Maupassant's essential stories and two novellas in lyrical yet accessible language that brings Maupassant into vibrant English. In addition to her sparkling translation, Smith also imposes a structure that captures the full range of Maupassant's work. Dividing the collection into three sections that reflect his predominant themes—nineteenth-century French society, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, and the supernatural—Smith creates "an arrangement suggesting a culture of relation, of structure, of completion" (Richard Howard). In "Tales of French Life," we see Maupassant explore the broad swath of French society, not just examining the lives of the affluent as was customary for writers in his day. In the title story of the collection, "The Necklace," Maupassant crafts a devastating portrait of misplaced ambition and ruin in the emerging middle class. The stories in "Tales of War" emerge from Maupassant’s own experiences in the devastating Franco-Prussian War and create a portrait of that disastrous conflict that few modern readers have ever encountered. This section features Maupassant's most famous novella, "Boule de Suif." The last section, "Tales of the Supernatural," delves into the occult and the bizarre. While certain critics may attribute some of these stories and morbid fascination as the product of the author's fevered mind and possible hallucinations induced by late-stage syphilis, they echo the gothic horror of Poe as well as anticipate the eerie fiction of H. P. Lovecraft. The result takes readers from marriage, family, and the quotidian details of life to the disasters of war and nationalism, then to the gothic and beyond, allowing us to appreciate Maupassant in an idiom that matches our own times. The Necklace and Other Stories enables us to appreciate Maupassant as the progenitor of the modern short story and as a writer vastly ahead of his time.

Jeanne, ayant fini ses malles, s'approcha de la fenêtre, mais la pluie ne cessait pas. L'averse, toute la nuit, avait sonné contre les carreaux et les toits. Le ciel bas et chargé d'eau semblait crevé, se vidant sur la terre, la délayant en bouillie, la fondant comme du sucre. Des rafales passaient pleines d'une chaleur lourde. Le ronflement des ruisseaux débordés emplissait les rues désertes où les maisons, comme des éponges, buvaient l'humidité qui pénétrait au-dedans et faisait suer les murs de la cave au grenier.

Pierre, médecin, ne comprend pas pourquoi un ami de sa famille a légué sa fortune à Jean, son frère cadet. Au terme d'une véritable enquête policière, il mettra au jour un terrible secret. Le quatrième roman de Maupassant (1850-1893), publié en 1888, est sans doute le meilleur. Le récit, qui tient à la fois de l'étude naturaliste et de l'analyse psychologique, s'appuie sur une intrigue, simple et forte. Dans sa célèbre préface, l'auteur développe une théorie qui préfigure la modernité romanesque : il s'agit moins de reproduire le réel que d'en donner l'illusion.

Pendant l'hiver, 1870-71, durant la guerre franco-prussienne, la ville de Rouen (Normandie) est envahie par les Prussiens. Pour fuir l'occupation, dix personnes prennent la diligence de Dieppe : un couple de commerçants, un couple de bourgeois, un couple de nobles, deux religieuses, un démocrate et enfin Boule de suif. Le voyage s'annonce difficile, la diligence n'avance pas. Les voyageurs ont faim et seule la jeune femme a pensé à emporter des provisions, qu'elle partage généreusement. Les voyageurs font étape pour la nuit dans une auberge à Tôtes (sur le modèle de l'Auberge du cygne), occupée par les Prussiens. Le lendemain, ils ne peuvent pas partir, l'officier prussien exerce un chantage, Boule de suif doit coucher avec lui s'ils veulent repartir, mais elle refuse. Au début, tous sont outrés par le comportement du prussien, mais les jours passant et l'ennui s'installant, ils font pression sur Boule de suif qui finit par accepter. Le lendemain, les voyageurs ignorent Boule de suif qui, étant occupée, n'a pas pu faire de provisions alors que les autres avaient préparé leur déjeuner. Aucun d'eux ne donnera ne serait-ce qu'un petit morceau de pain à la jeune fille. L'histoire se termine sur Boule de suif en larmes. Boule de Suif -- L'ami Patience -- La dot -- La moustache -- Le lit 29 -- Le protecteur -- La chevelure -- Le crime au père Boniface -- Rose -- L'aveu -- La parure -- Le bonheur -- Une vendetta -- Coco -- Auprès d'un mort -- La serre -- Un duel -- Une soirée -- Le vengeur -- L'attente -- Première neige --

Guy de Maupassant's scandalous tale of an opportunistic young man corrupted by the allure of power, "Bel-Ami" is translated with an introduction by Douglas Parmee in "Penguin Classics". Young, attractive and very ambitious, George Duroy, known to his admirers as Bel-Ami, is offered a job as a journalist on La Vie francaise and soon makes a great success of his new career. But he also comes face to face with the realities of the corrupt society in which he lives - the sleazy colleagues, the manipulative mistresses, and wily financiers - and swiftly learns to become an arch-seducer, blackmailer and social climber in a world where love is only a means to an end. Written when Maupassant was at the height of his powers, "Bel-Ami" is a novel of great frankness and cynicism, but it is also infused with the sheer joy of life - depicting the scenes and characters of Paris in the belle epoque with wit, sensitivity, and humanity. Douglas Parmee's translation captures all the vigour and vitality of Maupassant's novel. His introduction explores the similarities between Bel-Ami and Maupassant himself and demonstrates the skill with which the author depicts his large cast of characters and the French society of the Third Republic.

Olivier Bertin is at the height of his career as a painter. After making his name with his Cleopatra, he went on to establish himself as “the chosen painter of the Parisiennes, the most adroit and ingenious artist to reveal their grace, their figures, and their souls.” And though his hair may be white, he remains a handsome, vigorous, and engaging bachelor, a prized guest at every table and salon. Anne, the comtesse de Guilleroy, is a youthful forty, the wife of a busy politician. The painter and the comtesse have been lovers for many years. Anne’s daughter, Annette—the spitting image of her mother in her lovely youth—has finished her schooling and is returning to Paris. Her parents are putting together an excellent match. Everything is as it should be—until the painter and comtesse are each seized by an agonizing suspicion, like death . . . In its devastating depiction of the treacherous nature of love, Like Death is more than the equal of Swann’s Way. Richard Howard’s new translation brings out all the penetration and poetry of this masterpiece of nineteenth-century fiction.

Invisible, indéfinissiable, malfaisante, la " chose " rôde autour de lui. L'homme est pris de fièvres, d'insomnies, de cauchemars. L'eau de sa carafe disparaît, la tige d'une rose se brise sous ses yeux, les pages de son livre tournent d'elles-mêmes. À l'angoisse succèdent la peur puis l'épouvante. Qui est cet Autre qui maintenant crie son nom, " le Horla " ? " C'est lui, lui le Horla, qui me hante ! Il est en moi, il devient mon âme ; je le tuerai ! " Le thème de la folie court comme un motif effrayant chez Maupassant. Mais Le Horla, journal d'un fou, demeure l'œuvre d'un artiste au sommet de son art, une des plus troublantes de la littérature fantastique.

En 1870, dans une France occupée par les Prussiens, une diligence quitte Rouen et se dirige vers Dieppe. A son bord, un couple d’aristocrates, deux marchands et leurs épouses, un journaliste, un jeune prêtre et une blanchisseuse, Elisabeth Rousset (Simone Simon).

After devoting their energies and income for ten years to replacing a borrowed diamond necklace which they have lost, a woman and her husband learn the irony of their efforts.

Madame Mathilde Loisel longs to be wealthy and to live a lifestyle her low-paid clerk husband cannot afford to give her, though he does his best to make her happy. After lots of begging, he produces for her two invitations to a fancy party, which she at first refuses for she has nothing to wear. Her husband gives her money he had saved for a luxury purchase of his own for her to buy a gown with, and she borrows a diamond necklace from a wealthier friend. When she arrives home late after the party and discovers the necklace missing from her neck, Mathilde and her husband attempt to replace the piece of jewelry without alarming Mathilde's friend, but it proves an expensive and painstaking task.