The Best Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant

by Guy de Maupassant

19 stories

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1920

About the author

Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer. He is one of the fathers of the modern short story. A protege of Flaubert, Maupassant's short stories are characterized by their economy of style and their efficient effortless dénouement. He also wrote six short novels. A number of his stories often denote the futility of war and the innocent civilians who get crushed in it - many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s.

Reviews

[Reet · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 🌟
From intro:
"Besides his writing, maupaussant found time to devote himself to rowing. According to popular story, he is reputed to have Rowed as many as 50 miles in one day. His other interest was women and he became the center figure in many whispered Tales of conquest. It was at this time in his life that the first hint appeared of his later bouts with serious illness. He complained of various illnesses and spent much time in doctor's offices. The Tragic Truth was that Maupassant had contracted syphilis. He went to take the Cure at various thermal baths, but there was no absolute remedy for the disease at that time. The best that could be hoped for was that the disease would enter into a period of remission from time to time before continuing on its deadly course."
Ball-of-Fat, 4 🌟
"... her face was a round apple, a peony Bud ready to pop into bloom, and inside that opened two great black eyes, shaded with thick brows that cast a shadow within; and below, a Charming mouth, humid for kissing, furnished with shining, microscopic baby teeth. She was, it was said, full of admirable qualities.
As soon as she was recognized, a whisper went around among the honest women, and the words 'prostitute' and 'public shame' were whispered so loud that she raised her head. Then she threw at her neighbors such a provoking, courageous look that a great silence reigned, and everybody looked down except loiseau, who watched her with an exhilarated air."
All these Society people, who at first disdained and were offensive to the sex worker, were later on starving to death, as the coach was traveling very slowly and there were no Inns to be found on the road. Ball-of-Fat had Packed a whole basket full of food and she drew it out from underneath her seat. As soon as she started eating it, all of the people in The Carriage were salivating.
"It is the first step that counts. The Rubicon passed, one lends himself to the occasion squarely. The basket was stripped. Is still contained a pate de foie gras, a pate of larks, a piece of smoked tongue, some preserved pears, a loaf of hard bread, some wafers, and a full cup of pickled gherkins and onions, of which crudities ball of fat, like all women, was extremely fond."
The story focuses on the Supreme hypocrisy of the upper classes and the cruelty towards the lower classes. Though they feed from them.

The Diamond Necklace, 4 🌟
I have read this story several times before, and always enjoyed it.
" she was simple, not being able to Adorn herself; but she was unhappy, as one out of her class; for women belong to no caste, no race; their grace, their beauty, and their charm serving them in the place of birth and family. Their inborn finesse, their instinctive Elegance, their suppleness of wit are their only aristocracy, making some Daughters of the people the equal of great ladies."
I'm just sorry for the husband.

A Piece of String, 3 🌟
" Then he began to recount the adventures again, Prolonging his history every day, Adding each time, new reasons, more energetic protestations, more solemn oaths which he imagined and prepared in his hours of solitude, his whole mind given up to the story of the string. He was believed so much the less as his defense was more complicated and his arguing more subtile."

The Story of a Farm Girl, 1 🌟
Fucked-up story of a man getting a woman pregnant and abandoning her, and then when her "master" marries her, he beats her. Just wow.

Mme. Tellier's Excursion, 4 🌟
" madame, who came of a respectable family of peasant Proprietors in the department of the Eure, had taken up her profession, just as she would have become a milliner or a dressmaker. The Prejudice against prostitution, which is so violent and deeply rooted in large towns, does not exist in the country places in normandy. The Peasant simply says: 'it is a paying business,' and sends his daughter to keep a harem of fast girls, just as he would send her to keep a girls' school."
A weekend that is one long party. Everyone's had a good time.

Mademoiselle Fifi, 3 🌟
" the major graf von farlsburg, the Prussian Commandant, was reading his newspaper, lying back in a great armchair, with his booted feet on the beautiful marble fireplace, where his Spurs had made two holes, which grew deeper every day, during the three months that he had been in the Chateau of urville.
A cup of coffee was smoking on a small, inlaid table, which was stained with his liquors, burnt by cigars, notched by the pen knife of the Victorious officer, who occasionally would stop while sharpening a pencil, to jot down figures, or to make a drawing on it, just as it took his fancy."
I hate him already. The Nazis acted just as bad as you would expect them to.

Useless Beauty, 3 🌟
" 'oh! Yes; you understand me well enough. It is now 3 months since I had my last child, and as I am still very beautiful, and as, in spite of all your efforts you cannot spoil my figure, as you just now perceived, when you saw me on the outside flight of steps, you think it is time that I should become enceinte again.'
'but you are talking nonsense!'
'No, I am not; I am 30, and I have had seven children, and we have been married 11 years, and you hope that this will go on for 10 years longer, after which you will leave off being jealous.' "
It was going along so great, and then the ending sucked. Otherwise it would have been four stars.

That Pig of a Morin, 2 🌟
Pigs are way more intelligent than the character Morin. Abd Labarbe, too, for that matter.

The Signal, 1 🌟
" the little marchioness de rennedon was still asleep in her dark and perfumed bedroom.
In her soft, low bed, between sheets of delicate cambric, fine as lace and caressing as a kiss, she was sleeping alone and tranquil, the happy and profound sleep of divorced women."
Laugh out loud you got that right.
Madame de Grangerie (who tried out what it was like to be a sex worker):
"... I have been told ( and it was a physician who told me ) that the brain of a monkey is very like ours. Of course we must imitate someone or other. We imitate our husbands when we love them, during the first month after our marriage, and then our lovers, our female friends, our confessors when they are nice. We assume their ways of thought, Their Manners of speech, their words, their gestures, everything. It is very foolish."
what the fuck?

The Devil, 3 🌟
" La Rapet was getting exasperated; every passing minute now seem to her so much time and money stolen from her. She felt a mad inclination to choke this old ass, this headstrong old food, this obstinate old wretch - to stop that short, rapid breath, which was robbing her of her time and money, by squeezing her throat a little. But then she reflected on the danger of doing so, and other thoughts came into her head, so she went up to the bed and said to her: 'have you ever seen the devil?'
Mother Bontemps whispered: 'no.'
Then the sick-nurse began to talk and to tell her Tales likely to terrify her weak and dying mind. 'Some minutes before one dies the devil appears,' she said, 'to all. He has a broom in his hand, a saucepan on his head and he utters loud cries. When anybody had seen him, all was over, and that person had only a few moments longer to live'; and she enumerated all those to whom the devil had appeared that year: Josephine Loisel, Eulalie Ratier, Sophie Padagnau, seraphine Grospied."
Saw the old bitch dresses up like the devil, and scares the old lady to death.

The Mad Woman, 1 🌟
The Prussians occupying France throw a woman who won't get out of bed into the forest, still on her mattress.

Love's Awakening, 2 🌟
A woman gets conned by a man who marries her for her money, then dumps her.

One Phase of Love, 2 🌟
A man falls in love with a swatch of hair.

The Will, 2 🌟

A Mesalliance, 1 🌟
Another story about a skunk of a husband.

The Farmer's Wife, 2 🌟
When women died of pining for love, in the old days.

My Uncle Sosthenes, 4 🌟
" it was, however, indeed a sight to see my uncle when he had a Freemason to dinner.
On meeting they shook hands in a manner that was irresistibly funny; one could see that they were going through a series of secret mysterious pressures. When I wished to put my uncle in a rage, I had only to tell him that dogs also have a manner which savors very much of freemasonry, when they greet one another on meeting."
The nephew plays a trick on his uncle and it comes back to stab him in the back.

The Englishman, 3 🌟
" I asked: 'what is that?'
The Englishman responded tranquility: 'it belonged to my worst enemy. It came from america. It was broken with a saber, cut off with a sharp stone, and dried in the Sun for 8 days. Oh, very good for me, that was!'
I touched the human relic, which must have belonged to a colossus. The fingers were immoderately long and attached by enormous tendons that held the straps of skin in place. This dried hand was frightful to see, making one think, naturally, of the Vengeance of a savage."

A Lucky Burglar, 2 🌟
3 young men get drunk and have a joke on a burglar.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a hit and miss collection for me. Highlights were ‘The Diamond Necklace’, ‘One Phase of Love’, ‘The Englishman’ and ‘A Lucky Burglar.’ In general, the weirder stories were the better ones. Another charity shop book that fell apart in my hands as I read it so I might have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t such a chore to hold onto.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Short Stories gives an idea of late 19th Century France. Some very familiar stories like the poor woman who lost a borrowed necklace and some I've never read before such as the Englishman murdered in Corsica under "inexplicable" circumstances.

[Backoff51 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short stories.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read--what an author.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best Short Stories, Guy De Maupassant. (Various editions)
I read this again after many years but the man still impresses. His vast knowledge of human nature and his fearlessness at exposing it when characters are trying their best to hide it, is difficult to match. The diversity of theme and his ability to reveal social customs, beliefs, opinions and values in a short time and space is startling. His style is simple (or appears so) but his subject, the human condition, is vast. Yet he manages to plumb depths other writers don’t match in long novels. He is spectacularly good at a showing the evils and fall-out of war and its effects on ordinary people. Always rewarding.

[Dimitar Dimitroff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man knows human nature so well that I am glad he hadn't known me back in the days... wondering what kind of a story he would have written.

[Concordian Library]

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