[NHK]≡ [PDF] Free Selected Short Stories Penguin Classics Guy de Maupassant Roger Colet 9780140442434 Books

Selected Short Stories Penguin Classics Guy de Maupassant Roger Colet 9780140442434 Books

Download As PDF : Selected Short Stories Penguin Classics Guy de Maupassant Roger Colet 9780140442434 Books

Selected Short Stories Penguin Classics Guy de Maupassant Roger Colet 9780140442434 Books

Never having taken a world literature class, I discovered Guy De Maupassant many years ago on my own ... to my utter delight! I love his insights into human behavior, his writing technique of emphasizing some human conditon, dilemma, or foible, his ability to contrast the behavior of the wealthy respectable class against the more common people, his humor, and his creative writing style. The reader learns about the lives of people during the 19th century, their cares, concerns, their vices and passions ... and their secrets, the subjects are as varied as life itself!

This volume of 30 short stories is an extremely fine selection of his works. I was familiar with three of the stories, "The Jewels", "The Piece of String" and the most well known titled "Boule De Suif" (translated as "Ball of Fat"). In this famous story, the prostitute of the region of Rouen is traveling with upper class companions in a coach as each traveler assesses the other one, making judgements as human beings often do. Eventually the upper class passengers are hungry, as they eye Boule De Suif opening her basket filled with fried chicken and other delicious foods. Boule De Souif takes compassion on her fellow passengers by offering them some of her food, to their embarrassment and pleasure, assuaging their hunger pangs. We learn a little about the character and background of the passengers, as the author builds his plot ... The passengers became more chummy, a most unusual situation that would not occur in normal everyday life between such different classes. The coach stopped for a rest at an inn. Prussians occupied the town and were staying at the same inn. As circumstances developed, the Prussian officer wanted to speak with Boule De Suif (Madame Elisabeth Rousset) ... she refused, recognizing at once the reason for his summons. The passengers on the coach sensed the tension and attempted pursuading Ms Rousset to join the officer ... they feared bad consequences for themselves if she did not cooperate, despite their disgust toward that sort of activity. They prevalied, Ms Rousset succumbed. The story ended on a sad note ... after "the event", the snobby behavior of the passengers toward Ms Rousset was evident as they reached their destination. They forgot her kindess in sharing her food, her resistance to the advances of the officer (she had pride in resisting the enemy) ... the passengers looked to their own selfish concerns and had no compassion for the sacrifice made by "Boule De Suif" on their behalf. This story exemplifies one of the main reasons the stories of Guy De Maupassant are so popular, in addition to his creative techniques and writing expertise, he contrasts certain extremes of human behavior to make a very strong point which emphasizes the human condition most accurately. These stories will delight a wide-range of readers. Most highly recommended. Erika Borsos (erikab93)


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Selected Short Stories Penguin Classics Guy de Maupassant Roger Colet 9780140442434 Books Reviews

19th century French writer Guy de Maupassant was a pioneer and master of the short story. My guess is anybody reading this review is familiar with the author's classic tale `The Diamond Necklace' from high school or college. Maupassant once said a good writer should aim to show true human nature in his work, the unexceptional and the everyday of people's lives and their characters, "their feelings and passions; how people love or hate each other, how they fight each other and how they make up." Maupassant followed his own advice as this description fits his stories like a fine leather French glove. Even the famous German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed Maupassant to be a brilliant and delicate psychologist.

To give a taste of what one will find in this collection, I will focus on `A Duel', a 5 page master stroke of fiction. The events of the story are simple and clear enough At the end of the Franco-Prussian war, a fat middle-aged Frenchman travels from Paris by train to join his wife and daughter in Switzerland. He shares a compartment with two fat Englishmen. At a little town, a Prussian officer enters the compartment, joins the Englishmen's conversation and starts bragging about his killing Frenchmen and goes on to say that if he was in charge he would have burned Paris to the ground and killed every man, woman and child in France.

The sequence of events within the story are one thing but how the details of the characters and events are presented are quite another. This is where Maupassant is a master. For example, when the Prussian officer climbs the steps to enter the compartment, he does so with `much clanking of his sword'. We are not surprised when he quickly starts boasting and bragging about killing Frenchmen.

I wouldn't want to say anything more specific and possibly spoil anybody's experience of reading, so I will turn to a general observations about one of the author's themes national pride. Here is what 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer has to say on the subject "The cheapest sort of pride is national pride; for if a man is proud of his own nation, it argues that he has no qualities of his own of which he can be proud; otherwise he would not have recourse to those which he shares with so many millions of his fellowmen. The man who is endowed with important personal qualities will be only too ready to see clearly in what respects his own nation falls short, since their failings will be constantly before his eyes. But every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud adopts, as a last resource, pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and glad to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority."

Schopenhauer's words have a ring of truth but Maupassant knew there are those occasions in life when we are pushed in a corner and are forced to act and react. Indeed, living in a world with people of all nationalities and cultural backgrounds, encountering conflict, confrontation and interpersonal challenges is inevitable. One can imagine how the French cheered for the story's main character at the time when the story was published and probably still cheer today.

And what did Maupassant think, in turn, of Schopenhauer's pessimistic philosophy urging us to stand apart and above the turmoil of everyday passions, worldly aspirations, romantic love, and yearnings of the heart? The French author penned a penetrating tale entitled `At the Death Bed' relaying what happened to a couple of students who sat at Schopenhauer's death bed, a tale of black humor with a trace of mockery of those who would disdain life and the common people he wrote about with such tenderness and compassion in his short stories.
Guy De Maupassant's short stories are peopled with characters that the reader feels an almost immediate connection to. He is a master of characterization and pacing which is so critical to the writing of short fiction. This collection is an excellent introduction to his work with some of the stories standing out more than others although all are worth the time investment requred to digest a story that will typically inspire the reader with thought and reflection.

I don't know if I would agree with other reviewers that he is the best since others, most notably, Chekov have also produced masterpieces of short fiction. Nevertheless the reader's life will be enriched by becoming familiar with de Maupassant and this collection is a fine way to start.
Never having taken a world literature class, I discovered Guy De Maupassant many years ago on my own ... to my utter delight! I love his insights into human behavior, his writing technique of emphasizing some human conditon, dilemma, or foible, his ability to contrast the behavior of the wealthy respectable class against the more common people, his humor, and his creative writing style. The reader learns about the lives of people during the 19th century, their cares, concerns, their vices and passions ... and their secrets, the subjects are as varied as life itself!

This volume of 30 short stories is an extremely fine selection of his works. I was familiar with three of the stories, "The Jewels", "The Piece of String" and the most well known titled "Boule De Suif" (translated as "Ball of Fat"). In this famous story, the prostitute of the region of Rouen is traveling with upper class companions in a coach as each traveler assesses the other one, making judgements as human beings often do. Eventually the upper class passengers are hungry, as they eye Boule De Suif opening her basket filled with fried chicken and other delicious foods. Boule De Souif takes compassion on her fellow passengers by offering them some of her food, to their embarrassment and pleasure, assuaging their hunger pangs. We learn a little about the character and background of the passengers, as the author builds his plot ... The passengers became more chummy, a most unusual situation that would not occur in normal everyday life between such different classes. The coach stopped for a rest at an inn. Prussians occupied the town and were staying at the same inn. As circumstances developed, the Prussian officer wanted to speak with Boule De Suif (Madame Elisabeth Rousset) ... she refused, recognizing at once the reason for his summons. The passengers on the coach sensed the tension and attempted pursuading Ms Rousset to join the officer ... they feared bad consequences for themselves if she did not cooperate, despite their disgust toward that sort of activity. They prevalied, Ms Rousset succumbed. The story ended on a sad note ... after "the event", the snobby behavior of the passengers toward Ms Rousset was evident as they reached their destination. They forgot her kindess in sharing her food, her resistance to the advances of the officer (she had pride in resisting the enemy) ... the passengers looked to their own selfish concerns and had no compassion for the sacrifice made by "Boule De Suif" on their behalf. This story exemplifies one of the main reasons the stories of Guy De Maupassant are so popular, in addition to his creative techniques and writing expertise, he contrasts certain extremes of human behavior to make a very strong point which emphasizes the human condition most accurately. These stories will delight a wide-range of readers. Most highly recommended. Erika Borsos (erikab93)