Customer Reviews

The Necklace and Other Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)

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Boule de Suif is the story that made Maupassant famous, a story admired by his mentor Flaubert shortly before he died.

The translation in this volume has been in circulation since 1903. It is done by someone who does not know the French language at all and is full of astonishing howlers.

It is depressing to think that the English-speaking world has read this great story in such a dreadful translation for a century.

Some examples of the translator's incompetence:

"choqua" translated as "choked" (should be "shocked")
"grouillaient" translated as "grumbled" (should be "swarmed")
"interloque" translated as "interlocutor" (should be "struck dumb")
"glissaient" translated as "glistened" (should be "slipped)
"inattendue" translated as "unwitting" (should be "unexpected")
"entre deux couplets" translated as "between the two rows of people" (should be "between verses")
"grallait une pipe sur le siege" translated as "had a lighted pipe under the seat" (should be "smoked a pipe on the seat")
"Il sont verts" translated as "he is very green" (should be "sour grapes")
"par convenance" translated as "for convenience" (should be "out of propriety)
"defiant" translated as "defiant" (should be "mistrustful")
"propre" translated as "proper" (should be "clean")
"malpropre" translated as "improper" (should be "dirty")
"lapin" translated as "little wolf" (should be "rabbit")
"le faisant s'interesser a des choses qui, vraiment, ne le regardaient guere" translated as "making themselves interested in things that, in truth, they would never think of noticing" (should be "making God interested in things that, in truth, were no concern of his")
"ce ton... que les hommes poses emploient avec les filles" translated as "tone... after the manner of men having girls in their employ" (should be "the tone... that men of experience use with prostitutes")

The text is entirely denatured in this appalling anonymous translation, which should never have been distributed commercially.

"La Maison Tellier," another fine tale, is again sorely mistreated.

The two key scenes are an emotive First Communion ceremony at which the ladies distinguish themselves by their piety; as a pendant to this the story ends with another scene at their brothel that can only be described as an orgy.

In the present bowdlerized translation the two pages describing the Communion scene are omitted and it becomes a Confirmation ceremony instead, and the orgy becomes an innocent dance at which the ladies become a little tipsy!

The title story is one of the most popular stories I teach! My college students love the irony used to raise questions about where we place our values. The surprise ending always provokes the most animated discussions. "Angry guy" probably doesn't "get it." Most people do, and I know you will love reading this story and the others in the collection!

I love the Dover Thrift Edition series. I originally bought Kafka's "The Metamorphasis and other Stories" and was delighted by the selction of a few fine representative works by that author. Again, for a shockingly low price, I decided to revisit a story I read many years ago and bought this volume. "The Necklace" is a great tale of irony in which the old adage "no good deed goes unpunished" is illustrated. It is a tale of honorably living up to one's resposibilities and it ends with quite a twist. This was a great read when I was very young and it still is well into my middle age. I recommend the "Thrift Editions," including this one, to quicky and inexpensively build a library of representative works of great writers.

This ...Dover collection of short stories, written by arguably the best writer ever in the genre, traces the invention of modern short fiction. After Maupassant’s parents divorced, his mother became friends with Gustave Flaubert of the “Madame Bovary” fame. Flaubert committed himself to tutoring the young aristocrat – hence the “de” in his surname – and said of his protégé, “I love him like a son.” What an apprenticeship?

An artist owes much to his or her environment hence the background just volunteered reveals decisive influences that informed Guy’s craft. In turn, Maupassant’s work would influence those of Chekhov, Joyce, James, Babel and Hemingway! Chekhov’s oeuvre then influenced Katherine Mansfield and so on - an impressive literary family tree indeed!

Maupassant, who studied law, was a master of irony and the title story exemplifies that. “The Necklace” and “A Piece of String” (otherwise translated from French as “The String”) are much anthologized. Of the more than 360 short stories he wrote, the nine stories in this collection are well plotted and, like most of his followers, the author avoids imposing any moral judgments on his characters – not even on the prostitute in his sensational first story, “Ball-of-Fat” (“Boule de Suif”). ...- enjoy the dreams!

Guy de Maupassant was a master of short stories and he is best read in the original French language as the translation is not at its best. However - even so, I really enjoyed re-reading them especially 'Ball of Fat' 'A Piece of String' and 'The Necklace'. He has a great power of observation of human frailties and there is that 'twist in the tail' which rather reminds me of Roald Dahl's 'Tales of Unexpected'.

Dover should be congratulated for putting out these really cheap editions. It gets great stuff to people w/ limited budgets. Thanks.
The book of course is terrific. Guy DuM is the best short story write in French lit. Try it, you'll like it.

It is unfortunate that Guy De M is known in the USA for his short stories. They are well-written and were ground-breaking 150 years ago, but they do not age well. This translation is particularly poor and the Dover edition is so cheap and flimsy that the only thing good you can say about it is that it's cheap. And cheap isn't always the best value. For great French short fiction, try Emile Zola. De M's novels are great and age much better than this stuff. Historically they're interesting but have an O. Henry quality that doesn't work much anymore.

I remember reading this for a high school class. Loved the story: "The Necklace" and wanted my daughter to read it as well. Good stories with irony and moral dilemmas. If you are looking for a classic, this one has great short stories. Awesome price.

What an ironic ending! Although some may say that it was predictable I quite thoroughly enjoyed reading this short story. If you haven't read any of Maupassant's work you should start with this one because it is very good. I have read it in both French and English and I was impressed both times.

De Maupassant, Saki (H.H. Munro), Hawthorne, Joyce, Henry James, O. Henry (William Sydney Porter)--what a blessing and joy to read a collection of short stories by such writers! The authors may have lived in an earlier time, but their character studies, humor or insights remain true to today. De Maupaussant's stories are often brief, well crafted and absorbing. If you've only been exposed to one or two of his short stories in a literature class, try a whole book.