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The Great Short Stories
GUY DE MAUPASSANT was a master of the short story. This collection reflects his remarkable diversity, with stories that vary in theme and tone, and range from tragedy and satire to comedy and farce. With a simplicity of style that masks complex philosophy, Maupassant can illuminate an entire code of values by means of a few telling details. He exposes the brutality of war and the hypocrisy it spawns, and depicts the petty limitations, the dissimulations and the vanities inherent at different levels of society. His stories are linked by a trenchant irony and by a preoccupation with the frailty of human nature and the futility of so many lives.
268 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
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About the author
Guy de Maupassant
7,610 books3,084 followersHenri 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.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 25, 2014
*NOTE: We (The Readdicts) received a copy of The Great Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant from Jaico Publishing House in exchange for an honest review. We thank the publishing house for the book!
There's this poster with a bio of Guy de Maupassant hanging in our classroom. With the many French books I've been reading, I thought I might as well give The Great Short Stories a try because short stories aren't that hard to read, although they can be hard to comprehend and this collection, to both, my disappointment and relief, is in English! I thought it was time I gave the author whose picture I keep looking at when I get bored in class, a try.
The Great Short Stories is a very good collection of some fourteen short stories written by Guy de Maupassant and translated to English. These are predominantly war-themed stories, with take up a different subject line each time. Some stories tell these really beautiful and heartbreaking love stories, while others are brave and courageous stories of friendship, while some others take a look at what goes on in a family and the others take up the general lifestyle of the time gone by.
I must admit that I didn't quite understand all the stories so my description of them above might be wrong. There were lots of errors I found in terms of translation (yay me, I can figure it out now) and editorial ones as well. The two stories I enjoyed the most were the first and the last stories, titled Mademoiselle Pearl and Useless Beauty respectively. For a time in which these stories are based, I liked how they focused on the situation of women.
I wish I had understood all the stories in this collection better and maybe someday, when I am in the mood to reread them, I will. For now, I am proud of myself to have started this deep need that I feel to read works of old, famous and most noteworthy authors the world has seen, with a good short stories collection like this.
There's this poster with a bio of Guy de Maupassant hanging in our classroom. With the many French books I've been reading, I thought I might as well give The Great Short Stories a try because short stories aren't that hard to read, although they can be hard to comprehend and this collection, to both, my disappointment and relief, is in English! I thought it was time I gave the author whose picture I keep looking at when I get bored in class, a try.
The Great Short Stories is a very good collection of some fourteen short stories written by Guy de Maupassant and translated to English. These are predominantly war-themed stories, with take up a different subject line each time. Some stories tell these really beautiful and heartbreaking love stories, while others are brave and courageous stories of friendship, while some others take a look at what goes on in a family and the others take up the general lifestyle of the time gone by.
I must admit that I didn't quite understand all the stories so my description of them above might be wrong. There were lots of errors I found in terms of translation (yay me, I can figure it out now) and editorial ones as well. The two stories I enjoyed the most were the first and the last stories, titled Mademoiselle Pearl and Useless Beauty respectively. For a time in which these stories are based, I liked how they focused on the situation of women.
I wish I had understood all the stories in this collection better and maybe someday, when I am in the mood to reread them, I will. For now, I am proud of myself to have started this deep need that I feel to read works of old, famous and most noteworthy authors the world has seen, with a good short stories collection like this.
November 16, 2019
Guy de Maupassant is an immensely popular writer on Goodreads. He has nearly 115,000 ratings and 6,500 reviews of his many works. Born in 1850 in Miromesnil, the Norman region of France, Maupassant came of good but not distinguished stock. Getting a small higher education, he studied under French novelist Gustavo Flaubert. Relinquishing his civil service clerkship to study with Flaubert, his first efforts were not distinguishable, but Flaubert considered him determined and talented. Hardworking and prodigious, he became one of the great figures in the French literary scene. He became known as the father of the modern-day short story, attested to by the long list of credits on Goodreads.
Several months ago, I found my first Maupassant in “The Complete Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant, Part One,” a heavy 560-page collection of 300 short stories. Many of his stories are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s, focusing on the futility of war and the innocent civilians who get crushed and destroyed by it.
This volume, “The Great Shirt Stories” is subtitled, The master story teller who probed the inmost secrets of the human heart.” This volume contains 36 short stories, about equally split between love, war and the politics of the church. My favorites include Legion of Honor in which the protagonist yearns so much to be decorated, he looses his wife to a junior officer. The Dancers was a charming story of how an aged couple regain their youth when the music plays and they dance a minuet. A Fushing Excursion brings together two old friends to fish a river with the French on one side, while being bombarded by the Prussians on the other side.
Maupassant is a great storyteller, but the reading goes slow because the language is archaic and the syntax was quite different 150 years ago, as well as being complicated by the French to English translation. To enjoy Maupassant, I suggest a quiet place without distractions. Just focus on the crafting of an excellent story.
Several months ago, I found my first Maupassant in “The Complete Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant, Part One,” a heavy 560-page collection of 300 short stories. Many of his stories are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s, focusing on the futility of war and the innocent civilians who get crushed and destroyed by it.
This volume, “The Great Shirt Stories” is subtitled, The master story teller who probed the inmost secrets of the human heart.” This volume contains 36 short stories, about equally split between love, war and the politics of the church. My favorites include Legion of Honor in which the protagonist yearns so much to be decorated, he looses his wife to a junior officer. The Dancers was a charming story of how an aged couple regain their youth when the music plays and they dance a minuet. A Fushing Excursion brings together two old friends to fish a river with the French on one side, while being bombarded by the Prussians on the other side.
Maupassant is a great storyteller, but the reading goes slow because the language is archaic and the syntax was quite different 150 years ago, as well as being complicated by the French to English translation. To enjoy Maupassant, I suggest a quiet place without distractions. Just focus on the crafting of an excellent story.
October 10, 2020
I am sitting here with mixed feelings. And those are good sort of mixed feelings. These stories can be depressing as well as pleasant.
Many stories are themed by love, some by war, and some are funny. There are moral lessons in many stories while others are just simply good to read. Almost all stories are unique. I have enjoyed them.
The part that makes the stories as good as they are is the essence of psychology of characters. The author did well on that aspect. Very well.
Of course, there is few stories with adultery in here but that is the only bad point in my view.
Many stories are themed by love, some by war, and some are funny. There are moral lessons in many stories while others are just simply good to read. Almost all stories are unique. I have enjoyed them.
The part that makes the stories as good as they are is the essence of psychology of characters. The author did well on that aspect. Very well.
Of course, there is few stories with adultery in here but that is the only bad point in my view.
June 25, 2020
"Ball-of-Fat" is certainly the best and fullest story collected here, as well as the longest. de Maupassant is also skilled in miniature, as sub-five-pagers like "The Mad Woman" and "Love" are frozen, eerie, and arresting. Of the rest, there are brazen bursts of anti-psychological wit in "The Duel" or cruel street games in "The Signal," but I don't think this hack job 1940s mass market translation can be the patsy for the impatience and indifference I occasionally felt when reading this collection. de Maupassant's worldly fables about clerks and whores are often far too skeletal, though they can be wry, economical summertime reading, or reference material for your literary theory of choice.
November 8, 2017
Most of the stories compiled here are wonderful. You'll find food for thought on every story. I think that the more ambiguous ones might require a prior knowledge of French culture and history, but they're still rewarding. The main themes in Maupassant's stories are the absurdity of fate and the black humor in the human attempt to control it.
January 16, 2021
My edition was published by Pocket Books in 1940 and has 384 pages. I'm sure it includes many more stories than this version. I was entranced by these stories from the late 1800s, most were very entertaining and very perceptive of human nature. Each a satisfying vignette. I can see why he's considered a master of the short story.
November 1, 2025
Just finished this great collection of Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant. There is no doubt that Maupassant is the father of Short Stories. He had a great impact on a race of writers and still is lamp in the dark for all. In Urdu Language Saadat Hassan Manto is said to follow his steps and the everyone knows that Manto is a legend in Short Stories world.
December 19, 2017
Extraordinary work by the author but poor effort by the publishing company.
November 13, 2018
Oh my! these stories... similar to Aesop's Fables, but so French, so Adult and Human, some are really very funny, while some are forehead slapping unbelievable, or straight up, jaw agape tragic.
March 8, 2022
A wonderful collection, many memorable tales.
May 24, 2023
The scoundrels of humanity on full display. Requieres reading for the naive.
March 9, 2026
Really liked it!! Feels a bit purposeless and too decadent (I came from Chekhov
March 6, 2016
Zbirka od dvadesetak kratkih priča (Na vodi, Pijevac je kukuriknuo, Zvjerokradice, Vuk, Strah, Šljuka, Luđakinja, Prikaza, Samoubojstva, On?, Grob, Ruka, Kukavica, Samoća, Strah #2, Rastava braka, Horla, Gospođa Hermet, Noć, Moiron, Tko zna?) koje se većinom mogu dijeliti, izm. ostalog, po kriteriju čudno/čudesno Cvetana Todorova. Često meh dojam. Prostodušno, lako se čita. (Hergešić: „Publika mu je raznolika, da ne kažemo šarena, a neki mu stoga osporavaju da je velik pisac.“) Na mahove čak šarmantno, u neku ruku. Ako nije riječ o (prevladavajućoj) tematici rubnog– luđaci, samoubojice, nekrofilija, neobične pogibije, smrti, morbidnosti (ponajviše „Moiron“), onda su to priče- kuriozitetni svjedoci buržujskih običaja jednog doba. Previše jako slabih priča da bi prevagnulo na jači sveukupni dojam.
Još neke značajke:
u „Samoubojstvima“ 1 uspjeli moment (pismo majčici na koje samoubojica nailazi pred skončanje), ostalo nula bodova.
„Samoća“- (kvazi)filozofiranje. Usp. Platonov simpozij (razdvojeno biće).
„Strah“ - rasprava o granici čudno-čudesno- u društvu Flauberta i Turgenjeva. O praznovjerju.
„Horla“ - pionir, originalno. Spada u fantastičarsku antologiju. Vješto napisano za svoje doba.
„Gđa Hermet“- majčina bolesna narcisoidnost. Sin joj dobije boginje i umre, ona nije htjela izaći pred njega na samrti. Poludi.
„Noć“- blisko Hamsunovoj Gladi, ali jako slabo.
„Moiron“ – o monstrumu. Ehh... Kompleksno, originalno, izrazito morbidno. Čovjek koji se pobunio protiv Boga jer su mu djeca pomrla.
Fantastični / neobjašnjivi trenutci uvijek su pisani kurzivom- signal rane faze žanra.
Reference na Poea i Hoffmana. Pokušaji horrora.
„Tko zna?“ - ekstremni introvert. 209 wth pokućstvo bježi van kuće. 216 šou završetak 3/5
Solidan Hergešićev pogovor. Činjenice. Maupassantova mizoginija. U 26-oj obolio od sifilisa. Bio pod svojevrsnim Flaubertovim pokroviteljstvom. Drogirao se zbog fizičke boli slično kao Kurt Cobain stoljeće poslije .
Još neke značajke:
u „Samoubojstvima“ 1 uspjeli moment (pismo majčici na koje samoubojica nailazi pred skončanje), ostalo nula bodova.
„Samoća“- (kvazi)filozofiranje. Usp. Platonov simpozij (razdvojeno biće).
„Strah“ - rasprava o granici čudno-čudesno- u društvu Flauberta i Turgenjeva. O praznovjerju.
„Horla“ - pionir, originalno. Spada u fantastičarsku antologiju. Vješto napisano za svoje doba.
„Gđa Hermet“- majčina bolesna narcisoidnost. Sin joj dobije boginje i umre, ona nije htjela izaći pred njega na samrti. Poludi.
„Noć“- blisko Hamsunovoj Gladi, ali jako slabo.
„Moiron“ – o monstrumu. Ehh... Kompleksno, originalno, izrazito morbidno. Čovjek koji se pobunio protiv Boga jer su mu djeca pomrla.
Fantastični / neobjašnjivi trenutci uvijek su pisani kurzivom- signal rane faze žanra.
Reference na Poea i Hoffmana. Pokušaji horrora.
„Tko zna?“ - ekstremni introvert. 209 wth pokućstvo bježi van kuće. 216 šou završetak 3/5
Solidan Hergešićev pogovor. Činjenice. Maupassantova mizoginija. U 26-oj obolio od sifilisa. Bio pod svojevrsnim Flaubertovim pokroviteljstvom. Drogirao se zbog fizičke boli slično kao Kurt Cobain stoljeće poslije .
April 20, 2009
My quest to read all the books I got at the most recent Books to Prisoners sale continues. I bought this because I can't resist a vintage paperback, which has gotten to be kind of a bad habit with me. I am literally judging books by their covers.
But the story has a happy ending, because I did really enjoy reading this. These are short stories written in like 1880's France. They have a really interesting sensibility, because they're in some ways very modern, and in other ways totally old fashioned. Many of these stories are about sex, the basic way I feel reading them is that weird blend of "wow I am so lucky I live in the modern era" and "things never change". Many of them are off-kilter and end abruptly, but also they managed to really surprise me. Some very strong and weird images.
Side note: there are alot of prostitutes in these stories, and it's fascinating the archetypes that appear, many of which have completely disappeared. "The Jewess", for instance. Or, and more personally sad for me, the jolly little chubby one. There's a story called "Ball of Fat" about a sweet and ultimately noble prostitute. That's her name. Ball of Fat. AWESOME. It's so too bad we've lost that stereotype, associating abundance of flesh with abundance of enjoyment of the physical pleasures of life.
But the story has a happy ending, because I did really enjoy reading this. These are short stories written in like 1880's France. They have a really interesting sensibility, because they're in some ways very modern, and in other ways totally old fashioned. Many of these stories are about sex, the basic way I feel reading them is that weird blend of "wow I am so lucky I live in the modern era" and "things never change". Many of them are off-kilter and end abruptly, but also they managed to really surprise me. Some very strong and weird images.
Side note: there are alot of prostitutes in these stories, and it's fascinating the archetypes that appear, many of which have completely disappeared. "The Jewess", for instance. Or, and more personally sad for me, the jolly little chubby one. There's a story called "Ball of Fat" about a sweet and ultimately noble prostitute. That's her name. Ball of Fat. AWESOME. It's so too bad we've lost that stereotype, associating abundance of flesh with abundance of enjoyment of the physical pleasures of life.
January 31, 2010
Instead of the overrated, sentimental, O. Henry-esque “The Necklace,” often misattributed as Maupassant’s best work, read “The False Gems,” which exemplifies exquisitely his finest features: the companionable, pragmatic narration, the discreet moral wit, the devastating understatement, the sparkling, gem-like compression of comment and incident. The ending arrives with a blow that will leave you sobbing with compassionate laughter, and despair. Don't miss "The Wolf" or "The Duel," either. Sigh.
June 5, 2010
I just checked this out after hearing part of a story the other day on Selected Shorts. Haven't read short stories for a while, and am eager to get back into it and take a break from reading novels and nonfiction.
June 21, 2013
Though I did enjoy reading this book I would still hold O Henry to be the master of short stories. Maupassant's stories are very simple yet have a subtle underpinning which leaves you thinking beyond the story. His depiction of war torn France is livid and his flow lucid.
July 21, 2009
So simple and beautiful and funny are these stories!
March 22, 2011
Re-reading GdM after many years... he is THE master of the short story... 'A Country Excursion' is a favorite...
September 15, 2014
"How he got the Legion of Honor" was my favorite story.
October 13, 2014
After Shakespeare, Guy de Maupassant is my favorite classical writer. His way of writing is absolute perfection. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it :)
October 14, 2007
Maupassant ringan dibaca, ringan dicerna, sangat menghibur...
December 9, 2018
“The woman, who was one of those who are generally known as ‘Lights o’ Love’, had achieved fame by reason of her precocious plumpness which had earned her the nickname of Boule de Suif – Suet Dumpling. She was small, completely round, a mass of fat, with puffy fingers constricted at rhe joins so that they looked like strings of miniature sausage. Her skin wss tightly stretched and shiny. Her enournous bust showed prominently beneath her dress. Nevertheless, she was appetizing and much patronized, so fresh and blooming did she look. Her face was like a ruddy apple, or a peony bud about to burst into flower, and out of it looked two magnificent black eyes shaded by thick lashes. Beneath them was a charming mouth, snall, moist, provocative of kisses, and furnished with two rows of gleaming, miscrocopic nibblers…”
-Boule de Suif, Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant
Full review is available at https://literatureisliving.wordpress....
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