The Best Short Stories (Classics Library) [Paperback]

Guy de Maupassant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 1999

With a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. Guy de Maupassant was a master of the short story. This collection displays his lively diversity, with tales that vary in theme and tone, ranging from tragedy and satire to comedy and farce. In a lucidly direct style, he provides unflinching realism and sceptical irony. He depicts the deceptions, hypocrisies and vanities at different levels of society. Prostitution is frankly described, while the harshness of war is deftly exposed. His tales have been televised and have influenced films, operas and rock music. Unillusioned but humane, Maupassant remains our contemporary.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)
Original Language: French

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd (December 5, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853261890
• ISBN-13: 978-1853261893
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a different word for everything, October 18, 2005

By 

Dr. Eigenvalue (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

Anyone who's tried to learn a foreign language knows that the early stages involve a lot of frustration. It helps to practice speaking as much as possible, but conversation without a good vocabulary can be really tedious. That's why dual-language books are such a valuable resource. They allow the reader to learn lots of new words without memorizing lists or flipping through dictionaries.

Dual-language books are even better when they happen to be great literature, as is clearly the case with Guy De Maupassant's short stories. Despite being written in the 19th century, the collection will be of interest to 21st century readers. In fact the last story in this collection (The Horla) reads like a modern-day ghost story.

The only downside is that the text often makes use of a literary verb tense that may be confusing to beginning students of grammar. But this is a problem with all written French, and shouldn't dissuade the motivated student. This book, along with the dual-language version of Voltaire's Candide, is definitely recommended for the intermediate-level student of French.

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars charming stories, June 8, 2000

By A Customer

Useful both for English and French advanced students, in their search for Literature progress. Stories which are sometimes dramatic, sometimes funny, but always artfully written.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful and poignant stories of people in diverse situations, March 11, 2008

By 

John Martin (Beijing, China) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best Short Stories (Classics Library) (Paperback)

Many of the reviews of this book focus on the fact that it features both French and English. By contrast I will discuss it as a piece of literature.

Guy de Maupassant, along with Anton Chekov and O. Henry, is widely regarded as the best writer of short stories in modern literature. The Classics Library edition of The Best Short Stories provides ample proof of this judgment. A total of 17 stories are presented including his most famous ones (The Necklace, The Piece of String) and perhaps his best (Boule de Soif). But all of these stories are wonderful. They are full of humor, tragedy, satire, love, disappointment, despair, in short the full range of human emotions and experiences are covered by a talented and perceptive writer.

On of the best aspects of the book is the great diversity in the stories. One theme that Maupassant returns to the brutality of war. But this viciousness is shown by its effects on individuals, not in a massive scale. For example, Two Friends tells of two men who enjoy fishing together. In the story their fishing place is under Prussian control and they are arrested and accused as spies. Madamoiselle Fifi relates how war brings out the worst in men. Boule de Suif shows how "respectable" people react to adversity. Depression, despondency and the negative effects of unrequited love are further themes explored by Maupassant. Two Little Soldiers shows what happens when two friends are split by the love of a woman. Madamoiselle Pearl tells a tale of unrecognized and unreturned love. The Olive Orchard treats of what happens when an early discretion comes back to haunt you. Miss Harriet, perhaps the saddest tale of all, tells of a woman who finds fulfillment in nature and then discovers love only to have it come crashing down on her.

But humor also can be found in these stories. That Pig of a Morin pokes good fun at a shopkeeper who commits a sexual faux pax and as a result becomes the butt of jokes among his friends and neighbors. Madame Hussan's "Rosier" tells what can happen when virtue is rewarded. A Sale is a ribald tale in which a husband tries to sell his wife to another man.

The final story, Happiness, is perhaps the most satisfying. It relates a simple story of a young woman of means who gives up wealth and a life of ease for the love of an ordinary peasant and the joys of their long life together.

All in all, these stories will warm your heart and touch your soul.