Selected Stories of Guy de Maupassant: Introduction by Catriona Seth

Name: Selected Stories of Guy de Maupassant: Introduction by Catriona Seth
Author: Guy de Maupassant
ISBN: 9780593320211

by Guy de Maupassant, Marjorie Laurie, Brian Rhys, Catriona Seth

401 pages2021Knopf Doubleday Publishing GroupISBN 9780593320211

Classics African Literature Asian Literature

About this book

A beautiful hardcover selection of the best works by one of the greatest short story writers in world literature During his most productive decade, the 1880s, the French writer Guy de Maupassant wrote more than three hundred stories, notably including "The Necklace," "Boule de Suif," "The Horla," and "Mademoiselle Fifi." Marked by the psychological realism that he famously pioneered, the stories selected here take us on a tour of the human experience—lust and love, revenge and ridicule, terror and madness. Many take place in the author's native Normandy, but the settings range farther abroad as well, from Brittany and Paris to Corsica and the Mediterranean coast, and as far as North Africa and India. Maupassant's remarkable psychological range and ability to evoke an entire world in a few pages have ensured that his stories have entertained generations of readers, and this volume of thirty-two of his most enduring masterpieces makes a perfect gift for any lover of classic fiction. Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free cream-colored paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket.

Publication Details

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2021
Pages: 401
ISBN: 9780593320211
Language: en

About Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant, né le 5 août 1850 au château de Miromesnil près de Tourville-sur-Arques (France) et mort le 6 juillet 1893 dans le 16e arrondissement de Paris, est un écrivain et journaliste littéraire français. Lié à Gustave Flaubert et à Émile Zola, Maupassant a marqué la littérature française par ses six romans, dont *Une vie* en 1883, *Bel-Ami* en 1885, *Pierre et Jean* en 1887-1888, et surtout par ses nouvelles (parfois intitulées contes) comme *Boule de Suif* en 1880, les *Contes de la bécasse* (1883) ou Le Horla (1887). Ces œuvres retiennent l’attention par leur force réaliste, la présence importante du fantastique et par le pessimisme qui s’en dégage le plus souvent, mais aussi par la maîtrise stylistique. La carrière littéraire de Maupassant se limite à une décennie — de 1880 à 1890 — avant qu’il ne sombre peu à peu dans la folie et ne meure peu avant l'âge de 43 ans. Reconnu de son vivant, il conserve un renom de premier plan, renouvelé encore par les nombreuses adaptations cinématographiques de ses œuvres. ---------- (Henry René Albert) Guy De Maupassant is generally considered to be the greatest French writer of short stories. One account says the location of his birth was the Château de Miromesnil, in Dieppe, though this is not certain. His paternal ancestors were of the minor aristocracy, and his maternal grandfather, Paul Le Poittevin, was Gustave Flaubert's godfather. His parents separated when he was 11 years old. Maupassant was gifted with a photographic memory, which aided him in recollecting events and characters for his stories. As a teenager, Maupassant was shown, by the poet Algernon Swinburne (1837-1909), a mummified hand. He used this haunting image in his early short story La Main Ecorchée (1875). In 1869 Maupassant started to study law in Paris, but soon, at age 20, he volunteered to serve in the army during Franco-Prussian War. After his return to Paris, Maupassant joined the literary circle of Gustave Flaubert, who intro