Maupassant, Guy de Books - Page 2

Selected Short Stories (Penguin Popular Classics) (Spanish Edition)

Guy de Maupassant

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

the undisputed master of the short fiction form 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 14 people found this review helpful.

Guy de Maupassant is today considered by most literary historians to be the greatest short story writer who ever lived, in any century. When it comes to just telling a great story, he was the best, couldn't be topped. Both aspiring and established fiction writers should read Maupassant's finest stories to learn or brush up on the basics--plot, pacing, conciseness, character, mood, description, as well as to learn how simple naturalness and clarity of technique are important for writing engaging and readable fiction.

This is a very good selection of some of his most memorable tales. I would also recommend "A Day In The Country and Other Stories", which I believe is the best Maupassant collection available in English.

Maupassant was considered shocking a hundred years ago because he wrote about prostitutes and adultery in frank and unashamed terms. He was ahead of his time in that way. He never wrote a truly great novel, but 50 or 60 of his stories are real classics. Nobody who reads a great Maupassant story will soon forget it.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

Editorial Review:

Ranging in subject from murder, adultery and war to the simple pleasures of eating and drinking, Guy de Maupassant's short stories are his greatest achievements. Maupassant's instinctive insight into the vices and passions of "respectable" men and women is tempered by a sensual appreciation of the good things in life and a robust humor.

A Life: The Humble Truth (Oxford World's Classics)

Guy de Maupassant

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A portrait of meekness, brilliantly drawn. 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.

Henri Rene Albert Guy de Maupassant was born at Chateau de Miromesnil near Dieppe, Normandy, and educated in Rouen and Yvetot, likewise in that Northern French region bordering on the Channel and the North Sea. Introduced to Gustave Flaubert by his mother, an old friend of Flaubert's, the creator of "Madame Bovary" soon became Maupassant's mentor and in turn, introduced him to Emile Zola, Tourgeniev and other proponents of literary realism. And encouraged by Flaubert, the erstwhile volunteer of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 eventually turned to journalism and published his first book, a collection of poetry, in 1880. He soon became known as a masterful short story writer, owing the clarity and concise nature of his prose in no small part to the lessons learned from his fatherly friend. Normandy, the beloved land of his childhood and adolescence, plays a dominant role in much of Maupassant's writing; both as a backdrop and as a means of highlighting emotions and plot developments.

In six novels, Maupassant condensed the motifs explored in his numerous short stories, which would ultimately count over 300. "Une Vie" ("A Life") is the first of these novels, published in 1883. It traces the life of Jeanne de Lamare, nee Jeanne des Vauds, only daughter and heiress to the fortune of a Norman aristocrat family, from the moment she leaves her convent school at the age of seventeen, to advanced age and grandmotherhood. Naive by nature and sheltered from the harsh realities of life behind the walls of the convent, young Jeanne's outlook on life upon returning to her parents' chateau on the Norman coast, les Peuples, which she shall eventually inhabit with her husband, is innocently optimistic. Only a few months after her arrival, she falls in love with the viscount de Lamare whom she marries in very short order. But from here on out her life changes rapidly, because once married, her husband drops any pretence at the charm he has displayed while wooing her. Jeanne, wholly unprepared by nature and education to adequately respond to her husband's miserly attitude and multiple forms of abuse, nor finding forceful support in her parents, sees no other way than to passively tolerate his behavior; even when she stumbles into proof after proof of the extent of his transgressions against common decency and against his marital vows. And her son, in his childhood her one remaining pride and joy (and therefore, hopelessly spoiled), once grown to manhood turns out another major disappointment. Jeanne grows disillusioned and bitter, frequently complaining that life has treated her excessively unfairly.

"Une Vie" draws, inter alia, on themes developed in seven short stories published in the years 1881 - 1883. The critically acclaimed novel sold 25,000 copies within the first few months after its publication. It has all the features of the writing style for which Maupassant, by then, had already become known: a crisp prose very much to the point being expressed; a sharp eye for the heroine's social context and the daily life of the Norman aristocracy; a vibrant tableau of Normandy's sea, fields, woods, seasons and weather; wit, irony, and great insight into human nature. From the torrential rain storm which accompanies Jeanne's transition from the convent to her familial chateau at the beginning of the story to a tranquil sunset several decades later when Jeanne finally makes her peace with life, nature is brilliantly used to highlight the heroine's feelings, trials and tribulations.

In her passivity and weakness, Jeanne is not an easy heroine to like or at least, to emphasize with; nor does Maupassant make the point that she had no alternative to her inert tolerance of her husband's and her son's wrongdoings: the image of her bonne Rosalie, pragmatic and down to earth and ultimately much better equipped than Jeanne to deal with life's uncertainties and deceptions, and the example of several other local noblewomen makes it clear that it is Jeanne's character more than anything else that renders her unable to adequately respond to her situation in life and to the abuse she suffers. Yet, Maupassant was not interested in those other women - so little, in fact, that their characterization barely exceeds the level of a superficial sketch; including and in particular the portrayal of the one woman with whom Jeanne's husband is involved in a lasting and profound affair and who claims, nevertheless, to be Jeanne's friend. Similarly, Jeanne's husband is almost two-dimensional in his boorishness. Nevertheless, from the first page on there is no denying that this novel was written by one of the master storytellers of his time.

Guy de Maupassant died at the age of only 43 years, of an illness which drove him to madness and alcohol abuse and rendered him unable to write during the last three years of his life, thus forcing him to leave only fragments of his last two novels, L'Ame Etrangere and L'Angelus. Emile Zola said at his funeral that future generations who, unlike Maupassant's numerous friends, would only know him through his literary work, would come to love him for the eternal love song to life which he sang in his writings. Although given the pessimistic outlook to life taken by its heroine, "Une Vie" is an unlikely candidate to put these words to proof, and although it does not quite reach the brilliance of Maupassant's short stories and later novels, particularly the piercingly accurate and sardonic "Bel Ami," the writer's first novel is the manifestation of a unique talent and, yes, a declaration of love to a life which is after all, as Jeanne's bonne Rosalie muses, "never as good nor as bad as one believes."

Also recommended:
Bel-Ami (Penguin Classics)
Selected Short Stories (Penguin Popular Classics)
Madame Bovary (Bantam Classics)

Editorial Review:

A Life (1883), the first of Maupassant's six completed novels, tells the story of Jeanne de Lamare, the only daughter of wealthy Norman aristocrats. From the day she leaves convent school, her head full of innocent hopes for the future, to the moment twenty-nine years later when she becomes a grandmother under very changed circumstances, Jeanne slowly discovers that her reality does not resemble romantic fiction. Despite a handsome husband, two lovely children, and a fine chateau by the sea, her life is beset by treachery and disillusion. Now in a new translation, this Oxford World's Classics edition preserves the poignant beauty of Maupassant's prose.

The Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant (Classics Collection)

Guy de Maupassant

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Cynical, disturbing, hilarious - a fine anthology 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I picked this up on a whim - I like de Maupassant, but since the package didn't list which stories were included on the tapes, it was a bit of a gamble. It paid off, though; Anthony Quayle's reading is very good indeed, and the selection includes a number of stories that I hadn't read before. (The label says "Abridged," but as far as I could tell the individual stories were uncut; it might just mean that this is a subset of stories from a published collection.)

Here's the table of contents as I jotted it down:

Tape 1, Side 1:
Lost at Sea
In the Spring
In the Country
Tape 1, Side 2:
In the Country (cont.)
The Umbrella
A Deal
Playing with Fire
Tape 2, Side 1:
Playing with Fire (cont.)
An Encounter
The Hand
Tape 2, Side 2:
The Hand (cont.)
The Hostelry

Some are dark tales, some very funny ("A Deal," which begins in a courtroom during a trial for attempted murder, is unexpectedly hilarious); some, like "In the Country," are both (and rather cynical - the author doesn't seem to *like* people very much; even in the lightest stories, few of the characters come off in a very good light). Other tales are positively eerie; both "The Hand" and "The Hostelry" have appeared in horror anthologies, and the latter is wonderfully evocative of howling blizzards and snowbound isolation, as it grinds towards its icy, grim conclusion...

Editorial Review:

The volume collects 128 of Guy de Maupassant's finest short stories, from "Ball-of-Fat" to "The Last Step."

My Uncle Jules and Other Stories/Mon oncle Jules et autres contes: A Dual-Language Book

Guy de Maupassant

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Editorial Review:

Admired and emulated by writers from Chekhov and Lawrence to Pirandello and Dos Passos, Maupassant is the master of the short-story form. Twelve critically acclaimed stories represent all of the author's major recurrent subjects and themes, both comic and tragic. Introduction, new English translation, and notes by Stanley Appelbaum.

La Maison Tellier (French Edition)

Guy de Maupassant

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great Story 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is one of my favorite stories. It details the trip of a group of brothel prostitues on holiday for the first communion of the Madam's niece. In the course of the story, it highlights both the virtues of the prostitutes and the corrupt morals of the general public, thus exposing the hypocrisy of burgeoisie society. Pick it up in French if you are able, there is wonderful slang and interesting nuances that you can't get from the English version.

Réaliste et émouvant 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Dans ce recueil de nouvelles, Guy de Maupassant peint dans des couleurs riches mais très contrastées des sentiments intenses et des explosions d'émotions, basés sur des impulsions sexuelles, l'instinct de possession ou de pouvoir. Elles évoquent par des scènes très vivantes, réalistes et émouvantes, des réminiscences, des regrets, des occasions manquées, des rencontres furtives, des frustrations, des règlements de comptes ou des trahisons. En même temps, elles exposent férocement l'hypocrisie moraliste de la bourgeoisie.

La maison Tellier : une prostituée est invitée à la première communion de sa nièce.

Dans `Les tombales', une femme cherche des amants dans un cimetière.

Dans `Sur l'eau', un bateau bute sur le corps d'une femme noyée.

Dans l `Histoire d'une fille de ferme', une mère célibataire essaie de devenir patronne d'une ferme.

`En famille' décrit les soubresauts d'une bataille pour un héritage.

Dans `Le papa de Simon', un enfant d'une mère célibataire cherche un père.

Dans `Une partie de campagne' (mis à l'écran par Jean Renoir) l'auteur peint le contraste entre une première rencontre amoureuse et la vie après le mariage.

`Au printemps': avec le retour du printemps, les citoyens français doivent prendre garde à l'amour.

Dans `La femme de Paul', une femme a une relation lesbienne. Comment réagira le mari ?

Hautement recommandé.

Editorial Review:

This Elibron Classics book is a reprint of a 1908 edition by Louis Conard, Paris.

The Complete Works of Guy de Maupassant (New Edition)

Guy de Maupassant

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

NOT The Complete Works 1 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

The title of this book is very misleading; it is not "the complete works". Rather, this is a reprint of a 1917 selection of 29 of the author's short stories.

Don't ever buy this book 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is possibly the worst purchase I have made on Amazon. First off, it is erronously advertised: it is nowhere in the ballpark of being the complete works of Maupassant; it is a 220 page text (extra large print) of some of Maupassant's more mediocre short stories, like "Ugly" or "An Artist's Wife." Secondly, the translation is poor: 'Victorianized' for turn-of-the-century bourgeoisie, it reads nothing like Maupassant, and the power of his naturalist prose is all but obliterated.

My advice: stick to the French, or find a newer edition/ translation.

This is NOT the complete works of the Guy de Maupassant 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I have no qualms against the Guy de Maupassant or his stories. In fact, he is one of my favorite writers. The reason I gave this only two stars is because of how misleading the title is. When I see the word complete, I expect it to mean that all of his stories are included. There are only 29 stories in this book. Two of my favorites aren't even included--The Necklace, Bellflower. If you want a book that includes all of his stories, as I did, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Editorial Review:

The Complete Works Of Guy de Maupassant (1917)

Une Vie (French Edition)

Guy de Maupassant

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Le Horla (French Edition)

Guy de Maupassant

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

One of the best vampire stories ever 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Read this three days after you read Carmilla, or better yet, two days before if you can.

Where to begin?... Guy de Maupassant's genius shines through in this all-too-short tale of a tortured soul and his stalker vampire. It would be positively sinful to reveal any of the plot as the magic that is woven is delicate like spider silk, and holds you best when you have no idea hat is to come next. A truly chilling tale, all I can do is to implore you to experience it for yourself. To say any more would be like revealing the end of The Raven ("Nevermore") in recommending Poe.

A word of caution however. This version is in French. Be sure to buy the English version if that is the language you seek. It is often known as "The Horla" and can be found in any quality anthology.

I hope this helped.

Editorial Review:

Bilingual E-book - Ebook bilingue.

Learning French? Let help you. Read "Le Horla", a classic horror tale in French. All of our bilingual e-books contain the original masterpiece and an expert translation. Each line of dialogue or paragraph is hyperlinked to the other language. If you don't understand the meaning of a phrase, you can instantly look up its translation. Vous apprenez l'anglais? Laissez vous aider. Lisez les classiques dans leur langue d'origine. Tous nos ebooks contiennent l'?uvre en version originale ainsi que sa traduction. Chaque ligne de dialogue ou chaque paragraphe est li? ? sa version fran?aise et vice versa. Si vous ne comprenez pas la signification d'une phrase vous pouvez instantan?ment trouver sa traduction.

A Day in the Country and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics)

Guy de Maupassant

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Editorial Review:

In addition to the title story, this selection of twenty-seven stories includes one of Maupassant's most famous tales, "The Necklace," and "Le Horla," a tale with strange parallels to the author's own descent into madness, as well as many other provocative and often chilling works--spanning the whole range of human experiences--from low farce, to high tragedy.

The Necklace

Guy de Maupassant, Artine Artinian

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Best Kept Secret for ESL Teachers 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 11 people found this review helpful.

ESL teachers you don't know what you're missing. Students love this play, get excellent practice with pronunciation, and even become familiar with the Guy de Maupassant original. Lots of humor and a much more satisfying ending than the original.

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 23 people found this review helpful.

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Editorial Review:

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.