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Una vita
È il primo dei sei romanzi di Maupassant, forse il migliore. Racconta la desolata, ma non disperata, odissea di una donna che, accostatasi ignara e fiduciosa alla vita, vi trova miserie e amarezze. Il marito la tradisce, il figlio,c che adora, la delude e fugge di casa. Perfino il ricordo che ha della propria madre verrà deturpato da infamanti, dolorose rivelazioni. Stanca, logorata nell’entusiasmo la Viscontessa di Lamarre si concede un ultimo barlume di fiducia e un’ultima ragione di tenerezza e di pace quando stringe fra le braccia la creatura del figlio. Ritratto mirabile di donna quale solo forse Maupassant poteva darci, il romanzo è privo di retorica, veritiero, crudele. Il suo pessimismo, la sua ironia sono gli strumenti di una lucida e profonda indagine morale.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1883
About the author
Guy de Maupassant
7,690 books3,098 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 - 29 of 963 reviews
April 3, 2025
"Life, you see, is never as good or as bad as one thinks."
Whew! There is a lot going on in this little book, a lot of it depressing. I do not presume to know what a 19th century Frenchman intended, but I found this to be a fiercely feminist story. Horribly so, but a stark critique of raising naive girls then trapping them in marriages where they are miserable and powerless.
A Life (or Une vie) is a truly quite horrible story about how a starry-eyed romantic girl becomes disillusioned with life and love. Raised to be “pure” of mind-- ignorant, basically --Jeanne follows all the rules and adheres to strict morals, only to witness the weakness of everyone else. Eventually, she starts to lose faith in those around her and feel a growing contempt for humanity.
What happens to Jeanne is genuinely very upsetting. I found myself deeply invested in her story, hoping she would find happiness or, at least, peace. Her parents are absolutely useless from the get-go, and her idea of love, marriage and motherhood is quickly shattered. My one criticism is her lack of growth. I understood her naïveté as a young woman, and sympathised with her, but felt frustrated that it followed her into old age after everything she had witnessed and experienced.
Maupassant is an interesting social critic; he obviously doesn't think too highly of rigid social mores, the aristocracy, or the church. In fact, there are two priests in this book-- one of them is a hypocrite and the other is a monster.
There are a couple of other interesting themes. One is class-- when Jeanne professes her ill luck, Rosalie scolds her by reminding her how much worse it would be for a peasant woman. Another is a reflection on the value (or lack of) placed on aging unmarried women. Though a quiet minor character, Aunt Lison is a haunting presence in this book. Completely forgotten and ignored, she floats around in the background like an actual ghost, invisible to those around her.
A very compelling, if bleak, story. Please note that it contains marital sex that would not be considered consensual today, and one horrible scene of animal cruelty.
May 28, 2021
- Excuse me?
- Madame. 'Ow may I 'elp you?
- I'm looking for a book. Une vie.
- Envie, madame?
- By Maupassant.
- Mont Passant?
- Here, let me write it down.
- Ah! Une vie, de Maupassant.
- Yeah, that's what I said.
- Tout à fait, madame, tout à fait. Yes, we 'ave this book.
- Could you tell me a bit about it?
- Avec plaisir, madame. Jeanne, the 'eroine, is a naïve young girl. She knows nothing of the world, she is rich, 'er parents think they are protecting 'er by 'iding from 'er the verities the most simple of the life. She falls in love with an 'andsome young man, Julien. Three months later they are married.
- I think I see where this is going.
- I am sure you do, madame. They 'ave a romantic 'oneymoon on La Corse, 'ow you say, on Corsica. But as soon as they are 'ome, Jeanne sees a terrible change in 'er new 'usband. 'E is cold, 'e is mean with the money, then she finds out that 'e is deceiving 'er with--
- Hey, no spoilers.
- Spoilers, madame?
- I'm already sold. Put it on the pile. Was she a lesbian?
- Who, madame?
- The author. My girlfriend said--
- I fear that l'amie de madame is labouring under a misapprehension. Maupassant was not a woman. Alors, if 'e was not a woman then 'e was not une lesbienne.
- You're saying that Maupassant was a guy?
- Exactement madame, you 'ave expressed it with précision.
- You're sure? I mean, apart from what Chantelle said, the subject matter--
- I am quite sure, madame.
- So what else did he write?
- The most famous novel of Maupassant is Bel-Ami. Georges Duroy is a good-looking, unscrupulous man. 'E becomes a successful writer but all 'is work is written by 'is mistresses. 'E--
- Wait a minute. So let me see if I've got this right, Une vie is supposed to be written by a man but reads like it was written by a woman, and the other one, what's it called, Bel-Ami is about a man who published books under his own name that were actually written by women, and--
- What do you mean, madame?
- Well, you can't help wondering if in real life--
- I am sorry madame, I 'ave other clients to attend to. Does madame wish to buy this book?
- Like I said, sold. I'll take Bel-Ami too.
- That will be one hundred and thirty five euros, madame.
- Thank you for the chat.
- It was my pleasure, madame.
- And I know they'll improve my French.
- It is not possible, madame.
- Well, ah, au revoir.
- Au revoir, madame.
[Ding!]
- Another one, Henri.
- You know Jules, you don't think that maybe--
- I do not think that, Henri.
- Sorry, Jules.
- That's alright, Henri.
- Madame. 'Ow may I 'elp you?
- I'm looking for a book. Une vie.
- Envie, madame?
- By Maupassant.
- Mont Passant?
- Here, let me write it down.
- Ah! Une vie, de Maupassant.
- Yeah, that's what I said.
- Tout à fait, madame, tout à fait. Yes, we 'ave this book.
- Could you tell me a bit about it?
- Avec plaisir, madame. Jeanne, the 'eroine, is a naïve young girl. She knows nothing of the world, she is rich, 'er parents think they are protecting 'er by 'iding from 'er the verities the most simple of the life. She falls in love with an 'andsome young man, Julien. Three months later they are married.
- I think I see where this is going.
- I am sure you do, madame. They 'ave a romantic 'oneymoon on La Corse, 'ow you say, on Corsica. But as soon as they are 'ome, Jeanne sees a terrible change in 'er new 'usband. 'E is cold, 'e is mean with the money, then she finds out that 'e is deceiving 'er with--
- Hey, no spoilers.
- Spoilers, madame?
- I'm already sold. Put it on the pile. Was she a lesbian?
- Who, madame?
- The author. My girlfriend said--
- I fear that l'amie de madame is labouring under a misapprehension. Maupassant was not a woman. Alors, if 'e was not a woman then 'e was not une lesbienne.
- You're saying that Maupassant was a guy?
- Exactement madame, you 'ave expressed it with précision.
- You're sure? I mean, apart from what Chantelle said, the subject matter--
- I am quite sure, madame.
- So what else did he write?
- The most famous novel of Maupassant is Bel-Ami. Georges Duroy is a good-looking, unscrupulous man. 'E becomes a successful writer but all 'is work is written by 'is mistresses. 'E--
- Wait a minute. So let me see if I've got this right, Une vie is supposed to be written by a man but reads like it was written by a woman, and the other one, what's it called, Bel-Ami is about a man who published books under his own name that were actually written by women, and--
- What do you mean, madame?
- Well, you can't help wondering if in real life--
- I am sorry madame, I 'ave other clients to attend to. Does madame wish to buy this book?
- Like I said, sold. I'll take Bel-Ami too.
- That will be one hundred and thirty five euros, madame.
- Thank you for the chat.
- It was my pleasure, madame.
- And I know they'll improve my French.
- It is not possible, madame.
- Well, ah, au revoir.
- Au revoir, madame.
[Ding!]
- Another one, Henri.
- You know Jules, you don't think that maybe--
- I do not think that, Henri.
- Sorry, Jules.
- That's alright, Henri.
April 19, 2018
One of those absolutely beautiful books that leave me almost at a loss for words.
So well-written, in beautifully flowing French, and such a hard topic: a woman's lack of choice in 19th century conventional society. A Madame Bovary without the energetic, yet fatalistic drive to change her condition, Maupassant's Jeanne suffers as much, but has a lot less adventure and passion to remember at the end of her life. She is proof that you indeed regret what you didn't do. Even the suffering 19th century girl breaking down over the symbolic The Yellow Wallpaper has more choice than Jeanne, who remains entirely passive in her dominant social environment.
The tragic feeling of loneliness never leaves the main character, and alienation from the rest of the world is the theme of her life:
"Elle sentait entre elle et lui comme un voile, un obstacle, s’apercevant pour la première fois que deux personnes ne se pénètrent jamais jusqu’à l’âme, jusqu’au fond des pensées, qu’elles marchent côté à côté, enlacées parfois, mais non mêlées, et que l’être moral de chacun de nous reste éternellement seul pour la vie."
Sad, beautiful, must-read!
So well-written, in beautifully flowing French, and such a hard topic: a woman's lack of choice in 19th century conventional society. A Madame Bovary without the energetic, yet fatalistic drive to change her condition, Maupassant's Jeanne suffers as much, but has a lot less adventure and passion to remember at the end of her life. She is proof that you indeed regret what you didn't do. Even the suffering 19th century girl breaking down over the symbolic The Yellow Wallpaper has more choice than Jeanne, who remains entirely passive in her dominant social environment.
The tragic feeling of loneliness never leaves the main character, and alienation from the rest of the world is the theme of her life:
"Elle sentait entre elle et lui comme un voile, un obstacle, s’apercevant pour la première fois que deux personnes ne se pénètrent jamais jusqu’à l’âme, jusqu’au fond des pensées, qu’elles marchent côté à côté, enlacées parfois, mais non mêlées, et que l’être moral de chacun de nous reste éternellement seul pour la vie."
Sad, beautiful, must-read!
March 17, 2023
Sometimes it is as bitter to see an illusion destroyed as to witness the death of a friend.
On pleure parfois les illusions avec autant de tristesse que les morts.
A raw and saddening portrayal of the overwhelmingly unhappy life of a woman.
On pleure parfois les illusions avec autant de tristesse que les morts.
A raw and saddening portrayal of the overwhelmingly unhappy life of a woman.
May 11, 2024
قبل از خوندنش این شکلی بودم که این قراره داستان کامل یه زندگی باشه، اما ۳۰۰ صفحه کم نیست؟! چطور میشه تو این حجم واقعا از یه زندگی حرف زد؟
و الان که با کلی عشق و ذوق بهش ۵ ستاره میدم احساسم اینه که موپاسان فراتر از چیزی که تصورش رو میکردم خوب از پسش براومد!
و خب اینکه بعدش سریعا یه کتاب دیگه ازش گذاشتم تو لیستم، یعنی که جزو نویسندههای خیلی خیلی موردعلاقم شده :)
و الان که با کلی عشق و ذوق بهش ۵ ستاره میدم احساسم اینه که موپاسان فراتر از چیزی که تصورش رو میکردم خوب از پسش براومد!
و خب اینکه بعدش سریعا یه کتاب دیگه ازش گذاشتم تو لیستم، یعنی که جزو نویسندههای خیلی خیلی موردعلاقم شده :)
April 3, 2025
"A life" or the banal story of a woman!
Indeed this book of crude realism tells little: Jeanne, a naive young girl, will marry a boor who will humiliate and deceive her.
But the interest lies above all in the painting of women in the nineteenth century: the author, who, let us remember, is a man, manages to put himself in the shoes of this anti-heroine, Jeanne. And he describes his sufferings, these minor daily outrages, with subtlety and clarity.
I don't know Maupassant's feelings for his character: compassion, annoyance, or resentment. But for my part, that's a bit what I felt: Jeanne is moving at the beginning because it is certain she undergoes the mistreatment of an ungrateful husband. But, then, she gradually disturbs us with her passivity. She does not deserve her marital fate. Who is so "flower-blue" in her youth, so sweet and faithful as a wife, will go from disillusionment to frustration. And yet, she has nothing: richer than Julien; she has property and a vital rank, and her parents are always with her to support her. He cannot say that all women are given a chance at birth. So why so few reactions from him? We would have liked her to get carried away by this so cruel husband when, for example, she discovers adultery or pushes him out of her home with the support of her parents, who, let us remember, are the actual owners. Peoples. In short, she could have reacted as much as she has strengths despite her inferior status as a woman.
This fact is perhaps what the author seeks to do: make us react, we readers, by telling us about this gloomy and frustrating life "suffered. " Maybe the fate of women will one day change, and they will gain rights and consideration. What will happen a century later in Western societies with their emancipation?
Indeed this book of crude realism tells little: Jeanne, a naive young girl, will marry a boor who will humiliate and deceive her.
But the interest lies above all in the painting of women in the nineteenth century: the author, who, let us remember, is a man, manages to put himself in the shoes of this anti-heroine, Jeanne. And he describes his sufferings, these minor daily outrages, with subtlety and clarity.
I don't know Maupassant's feelings for his character: compassion, annoyance, or resentment. But for my part, that's a bit what I felt: Jeanne is moving at the beginning because it is certain she undergoes the mistreatment of an ungrateful husband. But, then, she gradually disturbs us with her passivity. She does not deserve her marital fate. Who is so "flower-blue" in her youth, so sweet and faithful as a wife, will go from disillusionment to frustration. And yet, she has nothing: richer than Julien; she has property and a vital rank, and her parents are always with her to support her. He cannot say that all women are given a chance at birth. So why so few reactions from him? We would have liked her to get carried away by this so cruel husband when, for example, she discovers adultery or pushes him out of her home with the support of her parents, who, let us remember, are the actual owners. Peoples. In short, she could have reacted as much as she has strengths despite her inferior status as a woman.
This fact is perhaps what the author seeks to do: make us react, we readers, by telling us about this gloomy and frustrating life "suffered. " Maybe the fate of women will one day change, and they will gain rights and consideration. What will happen a century later in Western societies with their emancipation?
October 17, 2023
این اولین کتابی که از موپاسان میخونم همیشه دلم میخواست از این نویسنده کتابی بخونم و اما چه کتاب خوبی برای شروع از آثار این نویسنده خوندم بشدت قشنگ بود.
این کتاب دربارهی دختری به نام ژانت که به تازه گی از صومعه خارج شده و برای ادامهی زندکی نزد خانوادهاش برگشته.
از همون ابتدا متوجه میشیم ژانت روح پاکیزه و لطیفی دارد. و زندگی رو خیلی ساده میبینه.
و زود دلبسته ی پسری به نام ژولین میشه وباهم ازدواج میکنن.
در کتاب یک زندگی در گذر از دوران جوانی با ژان عاشق میشیم ،مادرانه های ژان و خیانت از طرف عزیزترین های زندگی اون رو تجربه میکنیم و مرگ ،عشق...ودر نهایت پا به میانسالی ژان میگذاریم.
ژان قلب پاکی داره و در نعمت و آسایش بزرگ شده اما ازدواجی نابه جا باعث میشه سختی های زیادی را متحمل بشه که استحقاق اونها رو نداشته.
همینطور که میدونیم رمانهای کلاسیک معروفند در توصیفات طبیعت و با جزئیات هستند،اما در این کتاب خیلی زیبا وبه اندازه طبیعت رو توصیف میکنه و اصلا موقعی خوندنش حوصلتونو سر نمیبره.
این کتاب دربارهی دختری به نام ژانت که به تازه گی از صومعه خارج شده و برای ادامهی زندکی نزد خانوادهاش برگشته.
از همون ابتدا متوجه میشیم ژانت روح پاکیزه و لطیفی دارد. و زندگی رو خیلی ساده میبینه.
و زود دلبسته ی پسری به نام ژولین میشه وباهم ازدواج میکنن.
در کتاب یک زندگی در گذر از دوران جوانی با ژان عاشق میشیم ،مادرانه های ژان و خیانت از طرف عزیزترین های زندگی اون رو تجربه میکنیم و مرگ ،عشق...ودر نهایت پا به میانسالی ژان میگذاریم.
ژان قلب پاکی داره و در نعمت و آسایش بزرگ شده اما ازدواجی نابه جا باعث میشه سختی های زیادی را متحمل بشه که استحقاق اونها رو نداشته.
همینطور که میدونیم رمانهای کلاسیک معروفند در توصیفات طبیعت و با جزئیات هستند،اما در این کتاب خیلی زیبا وبه اندازه طبیعت رو توصیف میکنه و اصلا موقعی خوندنش حوصلتونو سر نمیبره.
August 16, 2023
Жанна росла в хорошей, любящей семье, быстро выскочила замуж по любви за красавца Жюльена, родила от него сына. Но всю жизнь после замужества она была несчастна. Психологический портрет Жюльена де Ламара великолепен и скульптурно выпукл – такой подлый и пошлый типаж часто встречается во все времена. Болезненно мелочный и жадный, охочий до присвоения жениных денег, никчемный и тратящий всю свою энергию на то, чтобы недоплатить за оказанные услуги, при всем этом любитель волокититься за женщинами, изменять жене и принимать как должное все, что ему удается загрести - как имущество, так и любящих его женщин. Жанне достался плохой муж. Она тоже неидеальна - своими руками испортила сына Поля, заласкав и занянчив его до потери трезвой оценки его места в мире и обществе, и продолжая безвольно потакать всем его прихотям. Жанна пытается найти утешение и поддержку в религии. Но напрасно. Антиклерикальность романа подчеркивает великолепная аллегория, когда аббат Тольбиак забивает тростью только что ощенившуюся суку, это воплощение самой жизни. Жанне повезло, что мудрая служанка Розали отплатила добром на добро, сотворенное Жанниными родителями, людьми порядочными и добрыми, но абсолютно непрактичными. Всю свою жизнь Жанна живет не для себя, а во имя других людей – мужа, родителей, сына. Она была и осталась неприспособленной к жизни, как вьющийся цветок, постоянно нуждающейся в опоре и поддержке. Отдавшись на попечение Розали, ей удалось остаться на плаву, а иначе сынок пустил бы ее по миру. Но мудрость жизни в том, что какая бы она ни была, она ни хороша, ни плоха, и смысл ее в ее продолжении и любви.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2024
وای خدایا خیلی وقت بود کتابی اشکمو درنیاورده بود.
نه چیز اشک آوری نداشت فقط من زیادی سر این موضوعِ "دم پیری یادی از خاطرات جوانی کردن" احساساتی میشم.
این رمان باعث میشه نخواید زندگی کنید و هرچه زودتر تو دوران اوج یعنی جوونی بمیرید تا هیچ رنج کوفتی ای نکشید.اما لعنتی به شخصه همیشه همین پیر شدن و زندگیِ طولانی داشتن برام قشنگه...همیشه همه چیز رو از منظرِ پیری های خودم به عنوان یه خاطره نگاه میکنم. چون شخصیت اصلی نباید بمیره، باید مرگ و زندگیِ بقیه و خودش رو تا ته تماشا کنه و در نهایت وقتی آهی از خوشیِ خاطرات جوونیش میکشه تنها بمیره.
خیلی دوستش داشتم.در عرض سه چهارروز یه عمرِ ژان رو باهاش زندگی کردم و خندیدم و ذوق کردم و اشک ریختم. داستان یک زن از کودکی تا پیریشه و بنظرم حتما بخونیدش چون در عین سادگی خیلی آدمو درگیر میکنه و تحت تاثیر قرار میده.
جناب موپاسان هم که گفتم. نویسندهی موردعلاقهی جدیدی که خودم کشفش کردم و تا همهی داستانهاشو نخونم دست برنمیدارم و خداروشکر که بیش از ۲۰۰-۳۰۰ تا داستان و رمان داره.
توصیفاتش بینظیره، جوری که به عنوان راوی احساسات و شخصیت هرکدومو توصیح میده و جوری که انقدر درونیات یک زن رو میشناسه و به درستی تعریف میکنه!
خلاصه که به به.
دلم میخواد کل بهار رو از اینجور کتابای کلاسیک بخونم چون سیرابی ندارم.
نه چیز اشک آوری نداشت فقط من زیادی سر این موضوعِ "دم پیری یادی از خاطرات جوانی کردن" احساساتی میشم.
این رمان باعث میشه نخواید زندگی کنید و هرچه زودتر تو دوران اوج یعنی جوونی بمیرید تا هیچ رنج کوفتی ای نکشید.اما لعنتی به شخصه همیشه همین پیر شدن و زندگیِ طولانی داشتن برام قشنگه...همیشه همه چیز رو از منظرِ پیری های خودم به عنوان یه خاطره نگاه میکنم. چون شخصیت اصلی نباید بمیره، باید مرگ و زندگیِ بقیه و خودش رو تا ته تماشا کنه و در نهایت وقتی آهی از خوشیِ خاطرات جوونیش میکشه تنها بمیره.
خیلی دوستش داشتم.در عرض سه چهارروز یه عمرِ ژان رو باهاش زندگی کردم و خندیدم و ذوق کردم و اشک ریختم. داستان یک زن از کودکی تا پیریشه و بنظرم حتما بخونیدش چون در عین سادگی خیلی آدمو درگیر میکنه و تحت تاثیر قرار میده.
جناب موپاسان هم که گفتم. نویسندهی موردعلاقهی جدیدی که خودم کشفش کردم و تا همهی داستانهاشو نخونم دست برنمیدارم و خداروشکر که بیش از ۲۰۰-۳۰۰ تا داستان و رمان داره.
توصیفاتش بینظیره، جوری که به عنوان راوی احساسات و شخصیت هرکدومو توصیح میده و جوری که انقدر درونیات یک زن رو میشناسه و به درستی تعریف میکنه!
خلاصه که به به.
دلم میخواد کل بهار رو از اینجور کتابای کلاسیک بخونم چون سیرابی ندارم.
January 22, 2025
واقعاً قلمِ موپاسان رو تحسین میکنم. 👏 بدونِ هیچ اضافه گویی، نقاط قوت و ضعفِ شخصیت ها، حوادث و حتی طبیعت رو توصیف میکنه و میتونه چندین دهه زندگی رو خیلی راحت توی چند صفحه به تصویر بکشه.
داستانِ "یک زندگی" درباره ی دختری به اسم ژان هست که سرد و گرمِ روزگار رو نچشیده، چونکه پدرش تصمیم گرفته بوده دخترش رو به صومعه بفرسته تا دختری خوب، پاکدامن، درستکار و مهربان بار بیاد. بعد از ترکِ صومعه، ژان غرق در احساسات، رویاها و امیدها تصمیم میگیره با ژولین ازدواج کنه و اونجاست که زندگی رویِ واقعیش رو به ژان نشون میده.
"Une Vie" ("A Woman's Life") by Guy de Maupassant is a deeply moving and intricately woven novel that explores the rich tapestry of love, marriage, and the often unforgiving realities of life. First published in 1883, it follows the journey of Jeanne Le Perthuis des Vauds, a sensitive young woman from a noble family. Her hopeful dreams of love and joy gradually face the sobering challenges posed by the constraints of marriage and the societal expectations of 19th-century France. Through Jeanne's experiences, the novel invites us to reflect on the trials she endures and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of life's disappointments.
Overall, "Une Vie" is a beautifully crafted and deeply moving novel that resonates on so many levels. It invites readers to reflect on the fragility of life and the often painful journey of self-discovery. This poignant story is a compassionate exploration of the complexities of the human experience, capturing the delicate balance between hope and despair. It's a read that will stay with you long after the last page, touching your heart and inspiring empathy for the struggles we all face.
داستانِ "یک زندگی" درباره ی دختری به اسم ژان هست که سرد و گرمِ روزگار رو نچشیده، چونکه پدرش تصمیم گرفته بوده دخترش رو به صومعه بفرسته تا دختری خوب، پاکدامن، درستکار و مهربان بار بیاد. بعد از ترکِ صومعه، ژان غرق در احساسات، رویاها و امیدها تصمیم میگیره با ژولین ازدواج کنه و اونجاست که زندگی رویِ واقعیش رو به ژان نشون میده.
"Une Vie" ("A Woman's Life") by Guy de Maupassant is a deeply moving and intricately woven novel that explores the rich tapestry of love, marriage, and the often unforgiving realities of life. First published in 1883, it follows the journey of Jeanne Le Perthuis des Vauds, a sensitive young woman from a noble family. Her hopeful dreams of love and joy gradually face the sobering challenges posed by the constraints of marriage and the societal expectations of 19th-century France. Through Jeanne's experiences, the novel invites us to reflect on the trials she endures and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of life's disappointments.
Overall, "Une Vie" is a beautifully crafted and deeply moving novel that resonates on so many levels. It invites readers to reflect on the fragility of life and the often painful journey of self-discovery. This poignant story is a compassionate exploration of the complexities of the human experience, capturing the delicate balance between hope and despair. It's a read that will stay with you long after the last page, touching your heart and inspiring empathy for the struggles we all face.
July 4, 2016
Introduction
Note on the Translation
Select Bibliography
A Chronology of Guy de Maupassant
--A Life
Explanatory Notes
Note on the Translation
Select Bibliography
A Chronology of Guy de Maupassant
--A Life
Explanatory Notes
June 28, 2019
1) L'HISTOIRE :
Une Vie, c'est l'histoire de Jeanne, jeune femme fraichement sortie du couvent, sur le point d'emménager avec ses parents dans le domaine qui lui reviendra. Elle y rencontre bientôt le vicomte Julien de Lamare, qu'elle épouse. C'est le compte-rendu scrupuleux d'une faillite.
2) MON AVIS :
Ce texte est d'une tristesse accablante.
Lors du déménagement hors des Peuples, on croirait relire un chapitre des Choses de Georges Pérec : dans les deux textes, la même résignation devant la même accumulation de biens, comme un sédiment laissé par le temps à la surface des choses.
Une vie me hante autant que le Pérec. Il est parti pour rester longtemps en tapinois, sous la surface mais bien là, à me poser la même interrogation : et toi, que fais-tu de ta vie ? Te laisses-tu porter par le courant, combien de temps est-ce que tu t'es encroûté dans telle activité, combien de temps est-ce que tu comptes encore tenir ce train de vie-là ?
Il me ramène à la séparation devant l'aéroport de Saint-Denis.
Il me pose la question de ce que je ferai, lorsque les êtres qui me sont le plus chers viendront à mourir.
Une vie me met le nez dans mon inertie, me requiert et réveille ma conscience alanguie.
Il m'agace, devant les milles manies de Jeanne qui passe tout son temps à l'impossible entreprise de restaurer les jours passés.
Il me fait douloureusement exister et me réinscrit dans l'écoulement du temps, sans ambages et sans équivoque.
Bande-son :
La niaise - Leïla Huissoud
Une Vie, c'est l'histoire de Jeanne, jeune femme fraichement sortie du couvent, sur le point d'emménager avec ses parents dans le domaine qui lui reviendra. Elle y rencontre bientôt le vicomte Julien de Lamare, qu'elle épouse. C'est le compte-rendu scrupuleux d'une faillite.
2) MON AVIS :
Ce texte est d'une tristesse accablante.
Lors du déménagement hors des Peuples, on croirait relire un chapitre des Choses de Georges Pérec : dans les deux textes, la même résignation devant la même accumulation de biens, comme un sédiment laissé par le temps à la surface des choses.
Une vie me hante autant que le Pérec. Il est parti pour rester longtemps en tapinois, sous la surface mais bien là, à me poser la même interrogation : et toi, que fais-tu de ta vie ? Te laisses-tu porter par le courant, combien de temps est-ce que tu t'es encroûté dans telle activité, combien de temps est-ce que tu comptes encore tenir ce train de vie-là ?
Il me ramène à la séparation devant l'aéroport de Saint-Denis.
Il me pose la question de ce que je ferai, lorsque les êtres qui me sont le plus chers viendront à mourir.
Une vie me met le nez dans mon inertie, me requiert et réveille ma conscience alanguie.
Il m'agace, devant les milles manies de Jeanne qui passe tout son temps à l'impossible entreprise de restaurer les jours passés.
Il me fait douloureusement exister et me réinscrit dans l'écoulement du temps, sans ambages et sans équivoque.
Bande-son :
La niaise - Leïla Huissoud
March 28, 2016
Compared to Bel-Ami, this was a slower-paced read, but the writing is nonetheless beautiful. I was captivated by Maupassant's sensitivities in his descriptive skills in general.
It is a carefully crafted story of an aristocratic lady with a sheltered bring-up who has lived through shattered dreams about love, unhappiness in marriage, betrayals by husband, best friend and friends, disillusions with the mores of her times and disappointment with life in general. Maupassant writes with compassion where the protagonist is concerned, and with clear-sighted satire on the subject of religion and dogmas.
The setting is mainly in a seaside suburb of Rouen with some diversion to the island of Corsica, all beautifully portrayed. The times are in the early 19th century.
I was totally transported by the writing, whether it was the twists and turns of the story, or the enthralling descriptions of thoughts and emotions, or the refined painting of places and scenes. My only complaint is that the ending seemed to be a bit abrupt.
January 10, 2025
In Une Vie, Maupassant makes a good portrayal of a woman's sad and unhappy life. Jeanne, who had a secluded upbringing, and a convent education is too naive to understand the realities of life. Leading an easy and carefree life with her indulgent parents, she dreams of ideal love and happiness from which she awakes with a rude shock to the reality of life when she marries a boorish aristocrat. The happy dreams of her young heart to love and be loved, and to be blessed with a perfectly happy and content marriage were completely destroyed in the face of her husband's harshness and infidelity. She is forced to submit and settle to a painful existence in which her central focus becomes her son. But even here Jeanne is to be disappointed since he grows up to be an uncaring and undutiful spendthrift.
Maupassant's portrayal of Jeanne is sympathetic. With his sensitive writing, he invites the reader's sympathy toward Jeanne's unhappy life. It is true that Jeanne lacks character, being always timid and submissive, but still, the reader cannot stop feeling sympathetic towards her suffering. It is admirable of Maupassant to expose a woman's unjust suffering at the hand of a man, being himself a man. Credit goes to him for this unbiased portrayal of a man's cruelty and the resulting woman's suffering.
However, even though the theme was sensitive and engaging, I couldn't help feeling that the story was a bit too naive overall. Some of Maupassant's excessive melodrama exasperated me. The constant deviation from the storyline to describe in minute detail the beauty of the setting was too disturbing to the flow of the story. In short, I got the impression that here is a short story extended, for the storyline and most of the other descriptions ran separately failing to make one coherent connection. But I learned that Une Vie is Maupassant's first attempt at a novel, and that probably speaks for the flaws.
Maupassant's portrayal of Jeanne is sympathetic. With his sensitive writing, he invites the reader's sympathy toward Jeanne's unhappy life. It is true that Jeanne lacks character, being always timid and submissive, but still, the reader cannot stop feeling sympathetic towards her suffering. It is admirable of Maupassant to expose a woman's unjust suffering at the hand of a man, being himself a man. Credit goes to him for this unbiased portrayal of a man's cruelty and the resulting woman's suffering.
However, even though the theme was sensitive and engaging, I couldn't help feeling that the story was a bit too naive overall. Some of Maupassant's excessive melodrama exasperated me. The constant deviation from the storyline to describe in minute detail the beauty of the setting was too disturbing to the flow of the story. In short, I got the impression that here is a short story extended, for the storyline and most of the other descriptions ran separately failing to make one coherent connection. But I learned that Une Vie is Maupassant's first attempt at a novel, and that probably speaks for the flaws.
September 16, 2022
Love does exist…but hatred too exists; and the hurt that comes with betrayal.
Une vie (A Life) is a story of an evolution and disillusionment.
-“Life is not all fun".
-“I'm afraid not, my child, and there's nothing we can do about it.”
The story begins on a beautiful spring day with the 17 year old Jeanne de Lamare out of the convent school already full of beautiful hopes, desires and dreams of the future.
And she began to dream of love.
Soon after, she meets and marries the love of her life only to experience bitter betrayal, witness death and come face to face with her shattered beliefs and expectations, the monotonousness of life, inevitable passage of time and a repetitive and meaningless existence.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
(The more things change, the more they stay the same.)
Une vie (A Life) is a story of an evolution and disillusionment.
-“Life is not all fun".
-“I'm afraid not, my child, and there's nothing we can do about it.”
The story begins on a beautiful spring day with the 17 year old Jeanne de Lamare out of the convent school already full of beautiful hopes, desires and dreams of the future.
And she began to dream of love.
Soon after, she meets and marries the love of her life only to experience bitter betrayal, witness death and come face to face with her shattered beliefs and expectations, the monotonousness of life, inevitable passage of time and a repetitive and meaningless existence.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
(The more things change, the more they stay the same.)
April 30, 2019
Life doesn't always turn out as one would hope.
Wonderful prose , beautifully translated and there was a happy ending after all!
My first foray into Maupassant and won't be my last.
Loved it.
Wonderful prose , beautifully translated and there was a happy ending after all!
My first foray into Maupassant and won't be my last.
Loved it.
June 14, 2024
زندگی چیست؟
این سوالی است که آدم با خوندن سطر به سطر این رمان تو مغزش رژه میره.
شخصیت اصلی رمان دختریه به نام ژان که تا 17 سالگی توی صومعه بوده و از عشق و عاشقی تنها توهمی که توی سرش بوده میدونسته. در شب زفاف وقتی با شوهرش به حجله میره هیچ تصوری از رابطهی زن و شوهری نداشته و از این که عشق و عاشقی باید به این کثافتکاریها ختم بشه دچار وحشت و یاس میشه. تا پیش از ازدواج او در رویاهایش زندگی میکرد و فکر میکرد که زندگی همان قدر شیرین و رویاییه که در تصوراتش مجسم کرده اما وقتی بعد از ازدواج متوجه میشه که زندگی آنطوری نیست که میپنداشت، دچار سرخوردگی میشه.
در آخر موپاسان نظر خودش رو دربارهی زندگی میگه که "زندگی نه خیلی خوب است و نه خیلی بد" و نباید خود را به دست اوهام سپرد و پنداشت سراسر زیبایی و خوشبختیه و همچنین نباید فکر کرد که تمام بدبختیها و مصیبتهای دنیا همیشه بر ما نازل میشه؛ زندگی چیزیست بین این دو یا بهتر بگم شالودهای از این دوست.
این سوالی است که آدم با خوندن سطر به سطر این رمان تو مغزش رژه میره.
شخصیت اصلی رمان دختریه به نام ژان که تا 17 سالگی توی صومعه بوده و از عشق و عاشقی تنها توهمی که توی سرش بوده میدونسته. در شب زفاف وقتی با شوهرش به حجله میره هیچ تصوری از رابطهی زن و شوهری نداشته و از این که عشق و عاشقی باید به این کثافتکاریها ختم بشه دچار وحشت و یاس میشه. تا پیش از ازدواج او در رویاهایش زندگی میکرد و فکر میکرد که زندگی همان قدر شیرین و رویاییه که در تصوراتش مجسم کرده اما وقتی بعد از ازدواج متوجه میشه که زندگی آنطوری نیست که میپنداشت، دچار سرخوردگی میشه.
در آخر موپاسان نظر خودش رو دربارهی زندگی میگه که "زندگی نه خیلی خوب است و نه خیلی بد" و نباید خود را به دست اوهام سپرد و پنداشت سراسر زیبایی و خوشبختیه و همچنین نباید فکر کرد که تمام بدبختیها و مصیبتهای دنیا همیشه بر ما نازل میشه؛ زندگی چیزیست بین این دو یا بهتر بگم شالودهای از این دوست.
Read
August 19, 2022Je n'ai pas pu lâcher ce livre. Quelle tristesse !
Je ne m'attendais pas à une telle histoire, ni aux thèmes abordés. Vraiment, Maupassant est bien trop souscoté !
Je ne m'attendais pas à une telle histoire, ni aux thèmes abordés. Vraiment, Maupassant est bien trop souscoté !
August 3, 2022
جمله انتهای کتاب: 《میدونین زندگی اونجور که مردم فکر میکنن نه خیلی خوبه نه خیلی بد.》
موپاسان توی این کتاب مثل رومنرولان در جانشیفته زندگی یک زن رو از سن پایین تا انتها روایت میکنه. اما با یک تفاوت خیلی بزرگ: موپاسان اندیشههای سیاسی و اجتماعیش رو به رخ نمیکشه.
تقریبا میشه گفت تاثیرگذارترین شخص در شیوه و سبک موپاسان کسی نیست جز فلوبر، که در جوانی باهم آشنا شدن و در شکلگیری سبک اون خیلی بهش کمک کرده و بعدها باهم نامهنگاریهای زیادی انجام دادن و رفیقهای صمیمی شدن.
یک بخش معروفی از نامههای فلوبر به موپاسان هست که من خیلی دوستش دارم: 《اوضاع بد است؟ بنویس!》
و این بهنظرم دقیقا چیزیه که سبک موپاسان و شاید خیلی از نویسندههارو شکل داد. اشخاصی که فقط خواستن بنویسن چون اوضاع بد بود و ناامید بودن.
و نتیجه این شد که موپاسان نویسنده فضا شد، نویسنده طبیعت، نویسنده احساسات کشفناشدنی، نویسنده رنگها و بوها و امیال انسانی از خوبها تا پستترینشان.
من بهخاطر چخوف به سوی آقای موپاسان اومدم، این نویسنده کیه که چخوف ازش دفاع میکنه؟
بله موپاسان موضوعات و داستانهای سادهای داره و نخیر شما اولین نفری نیستید که این رو بهش میگید. در زمان خود موپاسان هم منتقدین به شدت ازش انتقاد میکردن و حتی میگفتن که نوشتههای اون رمان نیست. چرا؟ چون شبیه رمانی که اونها میشناختن نبود. چون موپاسان چیزی رو خلق کرد که دلش میخواست. چیزی رو توصیف کرد که خودش میدید، تصمیم گرفت که به سبک ناتورالیسم رو بیاره. خواست جهان رو همونطور که هست ببینه و اون رو با همهی زشتیها و ناامیدیهاش آشکار کنه.
و در این امر هم موفق شد اما این موفقیت براش دوامی نداشت و در آخر پس از یک خودکشی ناکام در یک آسایشگاه روانی بهخاطر مریضی که داشت درگذشت.
در پایان، اگر دنبال داستان هیجانی و پیچیده و عجیبی هستید، بروید و پشت سرتون هم نگاه نکنید. اما اگه خواستید یک روایت ساده از زندگی پر از جملات و توصیفات زیبا با یک ترجمه محشر رو بخونید. کتاب مناسبیه.
راجعبه نمره مطمئن نیستم و شاید تغییرش دادم. فعلا: 3.75/5
موپاسان توی این کتاب مثل رومنرولان در جانشیفته زندگی یک زن رو از سن پایین تا انتها روایت میکنه. اما با یک تفاوت خیلی بزرگ: موپاسان اندیشههای سیاسی و اجتماعیش رو به رخ نمیکشه.
تقریبا میشه گفت تاثیرگذارترین شخص در شیوه و سبک موپاسان کسی نیست جز فلوبر، که در جوانی باهم آشنا شدن و در شکلگیری سبک اون خیلی بهش کمک کرده و بعدها باهم نامهنگاریهای زیادی انجام دادن و رفیقهای صمیمی شدن.
یک بخش معروفی از نامههای فلوبر به موپاسان هست که من خیلی دوستش دارم: 《اوضاع بد است؟ بنویس!》
و این بهنظرم دقیقا چیزیه که سبک موپاسان و شاید خیلی از نویسندههارو شکل داد. اشخاصی که فقط خواستن بنویسن چون اوضاع بد بود و ناامید بودن.
و نتیجه این شد که موپاسان نویسنده فضا شد، نویسنده طبیعت، نویسنده احساسات کشفناشدنی، نویسنده رنگها و بوها و امیال انسانی از خوبها تا پستترینشان.
من بهخاطر چخوف به سوی آقای موپاسان اومدم، این نویسنده کیه که چخوف ازش دفاع میکنه؟
بله موپاسان موضوعات و داستانهای سادهای داره و نخیر شما اولین نفری نیستید که این رو بهش میگید. در زمان خود موپاسان هم منتقدین به شدت ازش انتقاد میکردن و حتی میگفتن که نوشتههای اون رمان نیست. چرا؟ چون شبیه رمانی که اونها میشناختن نبود. چون موپاسان چیزی رو خلق کرد که دلش میخواست. چیزی رو توصیف کرد که خودش میدید، تصمیم گرفت که به سبک ناتورالیسم رو بیاره. خواست جهان رو همونطور که هست ببینه و اون رو با همهی زشتیها و ناامیدیهاش آشکار کنه.
و در این امر هم موفق شد اما این موفقیت براش دوامی نداشت و در آخر پس از یک خودکشی ناکام در یک آسایشگاه روانی بهخاطر مریضی که داشت درگذشت.
در پایان، اگر دنبال داستان هیجانی و پیچیده و عجیبی هستید، بروید و پشت سرتون هم نگاه نکنید. اما اگه خواستید یک روایت ساده از زندگی پر از جملات و توصیفات زیبا با یک ترجمه محشر رو بخونید. کتاب مناسبیه.
راجعبه نمره مطمئن نیستم و شاید تغییرش دادم. فعلا: 3.75/5
September 16, 2019
Upon completion of her convent education at the age of seventeen, Jeanne is taken home by her father to start her adult life. Jeanne, wearing metaphorical rose tinted spectacles, is dreaming of a future of romance, a happy marriage and two children - a boy followed not long after by a girl. Jeanne's wealthy parents are providing her with a property of her own. So it seems that she is off to a good start.
But is she? Things don't go entirely to plan, and she soon learns about love and life. It is not so very long before her fresh joyful attitude changes to cynicism: "Tout n’était donc que misère, chagrin, malheur et mort. Tout trompait, tout mentait, tout faisait souffrir et pleurer."
And every time you think that things can't get worse they do...
Clouds are said to have silver linings, and fortunately Jeanne has them in the form of supportive parents and the maid Rosalie. It is ultimately Rosalie who tells Jeanne that "La vie, voyez-vous, ça n’est jamais si bon ni si mauvais qu’on croit."
De Maupassant is known as a master of short story writing, but he certainly knew how to write longer works too. I can't vouch for any translation, but in the original French the writing is just beautiful! Maupassant deftly uses nature and the elements to provide not only a marvellous atmosphere and beautiful descriptions, but also for example to create a sense of foreboding in his description of autumn. He creates a story of the ordinary life of an ordinary girl, but oh, what a dismal life!
But is she? Things don't go entirely to plan, and she soon learns about love and life. It is not so very long before her fresh joyful attitude changes to cynicism: "Tout n’était donc que misère, chagrin, malheur et mort. Tout trompait, tout mentait, tout faisait souffrir et pleurer."
And every time you think that things can't get worse they do...
Clouds are said to have silver linings, and fortunately Jeanne has them in the form of supportive parents and the maid Rosalie. It is ultimately Rosalie who tells Jeanne that "La vie, voyez-vous, ça n’est jamais si bon ni si mauvais qu’on croit."
De Maupassant is known as a master of short story writing, but he certainly knew how to write longer works too. I can't vouch for any translation, but in the original French the writing is just beautiful! Maupassant deftly uses nature and the elements to provide not only a marvellous atmosphere and beautiful descriptions, but also for example to create a sense of foreboding in his description of autumn. He creates a story of the ordinary life of an ordinary girl, but oh, what a dismal life!
July 17, 2009
Jeanne grew up in a sheltered life, being the heiress to a fortune and having gone to school at a convent. After finishing school she meets Viscount de Lamare who woos her, weds her and takes her off to Corsica for a spectacular honeymoon. Upon returning from France Jeanne finds her new husband is not quite the man she expected. Her naivety is overwhelming at times, but clearly that is point. We follow Jeanne's life through all of her disillusionment across the years into her senior years. She never quite shakes the rose-tinted glasses off her eyes and the reader feels simultaneously sorry for and angry at her for it.
Being the first novel written by Maupassant it's a rather decent book, though as an early novel it's clear to see why he's better known for his short stories. The attempt at character development falls short since Jeanne remains relatively the same throughout the story. Maupassant's descriptions of landscapes are probably the best part of the book, and surprisingly he delves into a blatant sexual territory (complete with orgasms outdoors!).
As a parody of contemporaries of Maupassant and the novels written before 1883 this is really a fun book. The important thing is not to take it too seriously because you will want to smack the shit out of Jeanne.
Being the first novel written by Maupassant it's a rather decent book, though as an early novel it's clear to see why he's better known for his short stories. The attempt at character development falls short since Jeanne remains relatively the same throughout the story. Maupassant's descriptions of landscapes are probably the best part of the book, and surprisingly he delves into a blatant sexual territory (complete with orgasms outdoors!).
As a parody of contemporaries of Maupassant and the novels written before 1883 this is really a fun book. The important thing is not to take it too seriously because you will want to smack the shit out of Jeanne.
October 16, 2016
C'est la première fois depuis le lycée que je relis un Maupassant. Et je vois qu'il n'a rien perdu de séduisant, d'attachant. Le sous-titre du roman est »Humble vérité«. J'ajouterais qu'on pourrait aussi l'intituler »De l'art de se gâcher la vie«. Mais l'héroïne ne peut agir autrement, elle est Prisonnière du Temps, des conventions, de l'éducation qu'elle a reçue, mais aussi de sa naïveté, de sa bonté et de son manque d'action. Que pourrait faire Jeanne, face à un mari qui ne l'aime pas? Qui prétend être un gentilhomme, mais qui est le pire des hommes, un avare, un séducteur, un »pauvre con«? Avec Julien et autres familles aristocratiques du roman, Maupassant nous montre deux choses: la déchéance de l'aristocratie face à une bourgeoisie industrielle, bancaire et son rigidité qui ne permet pas de compromis. L'aristocratie et l'Eglise se lient, et qui n'est pour eux est contre eux. Cette liaison du trône et de l'autel peut paraître obsolête après les grands changements et secousses qui avaient eu lieu au XVIIIe siècle, culminant avec la Grande Révolution. Jeanne, l'enfant de l'Ancien Régime, doit quasi souffrir pendant toute sa vie. Chercher son bonheur ailleurs, comme l'avaient fait tant d'hommes et de femmes, c'est-à-dire hors de son mariage, n'est pas une alternative pour elle.
C'est un roman mélancolique, et cette mélancolie devient de plus en plus grave quand on approche de la fin. Mais ce qui sauve ce roman du défaitisme total, ce sont les descriptions de la nature, de la mer, de la vie des paysans normands que Maupassant insère remarquablement tout au long d'Une vie. Maupassant n'analyse pas, il donne seulement la description qui est de telle nature que chaque personnage apparaît devant nous avec une netteté, avec une clarté très précises. Et la fin du roman donne aussi à penser que Jeanne, éprouvée toute sa vie durant, trouvera enfin (!) son sens, sa raison d'être. Mieux vaut le trouver tard que jamais.
C'est un roman mélancolique, et cette mélancolie devient de plus en plus grave quand on approche de la fin. Mais ce qui sauve ce roman du défaitisme total, ce sont les descriptions de la nature, de la mer, de la vie des paysans normands que Maupassant insère remarquablement tout au long d'Une vie. Maupassant n'analyse pas, il donne seulement la description qui est de telle nature que chaque personnage apparaît devant nous avec une netteté, avec une clarté très précises. Et la fin du roman donne aussi à penser que Jeanne, éprouvée toute sa vie durant, trouvera enfin (!) son sens, sa raison d'être. Mieux vaut le trouver tard que jamais.
January 19, 2026
(Italiano sotto)
Une vie, premier roman de Guy de Maupassant, publié en 1883, avait l’apparence d’un petit livre joli.
Il narre, en son début, le retour au bercail de Jeanne Le Perthuis des Vauds, qui vient de terminer sa scolarité dans un couvent de Rouen et gagne, sous une pluie battante, en compagnie de ses parents, la majestueuse demeure des Peuples, en Pays de Caux (Normandie), très fortement inspirée par le château de Grainville-Imauville. Le Baron Le Perthuis, apprenons-nous, a vendu une de ses fermes afin de restaurer Les Peuples qu’il laisse à sa fille unique.
A quoi rêvent les jeunes filles ? se demandait Alfred de Musset. Jeanne, sensuelle et exaltée, veut croquer la vie et rêve de son futur Prince Charmant entre terre et mer. Se présente alors le Vicomte Julien de Lamare, un beau jeune homme qui très vite demande la main de Jeanne. La jeune fille, tenue en son couvent bien à l’écart des choses de la vie, mesure au fil des mois le grand écart entre ses rêves et la réalité, celle d’un mari avare et volage. Peu à peu, ses illusions s’effondrent les unes après les autres, et le roman – qui se déroule entre 1819 et 1848, retrace avec réalisme et subtilité, non sans une indéniable cruauté, l’inexorable déchéance de Jeanne qui perd tout : son mari, ses parents, son château, sa fortune, son fils qui mène loin d’elle une vie dissolue et dispendieuse, et même son chien et son équilibre psychique.
Guy de Maupassant, dont le succès fut fulgurant, maîtrise parfaitement l’art de conter. Il est à bonne école, car Flaubert, ami de la famille de Maupassant, est son mentor littéraire. Ne lui a-t-il pas conseillé d’écrire sans cesse ? Entre 1880 et 1893, année de sa mort à seulement 43 ans, Maupassant aura publié environ 300 contes et nouvelles, et six romans. Ami de Zola, il participe aux soirées de Médan en compagnie d’autres écrivains de l’époque. Il se lie aussi à Tourgueniev et Une Vie est qualifié par Tolstoi de meilleur roman français de son temps, après Les Misérables de Victor Hugo.
Ce texte est magnifique, plein de charme et de poésie, mais très lucide également. Dès les premiers chapitres, des signes avant-coureurs s’amoncellent : allusions, comparaisons ou métaphores, images de la nature dont Maupassant se révèle le peintre subtil et délicat, mais cruel aussi. L’écrivain manie à merveille les mises en abymes. Ce roman, d’une parfaite symétrie, joue sur des effets de miroirs et de doubles inversés. Il analyse avec une touche d’ironie les relations entre la bourgeoisie émergente et la noblesse d’Ancien Régime encore figée dans sa nostalgie, sur fond de critique sociale sans concession.
Un lecteur observait récemment qu’il est des textes propres à la lecture, et d’autres qui demandent à être étudiés. Une vie est de ces derniers, tant l’écriture en est belle, riche et dense.
----
"Une Vie", il primo romanzo di Guy de Maupassant, pubblicato nel 1883, aveva l'aspetto di un grazioso libricino.
Il romanzo inizia con il ritorno a casa di Jeanne Le Perthuis des Vauds, che ha appena terminato gli studi in un convento di Rouen, e con il suo arrivo, sotto una pioggia battente, insieme ai genitori, nella maestosa dimora dei Peuples, nel Pays de Caux, Normandia, fortemente ispirata al castello di Grainville-Imauville. Apprendiamo che il barone Le Perthuis ha venduto una delle sue fattorie per restaurare Les Peuples, che lascia in eredità alla sua unica figlia.
Cosa sognano le ragazze? si chiedeva Alfred de Musset. Jeanne, sensuale ed esaltata, vuole godersi la vita e sogna il suo principe azzurro tra terra e mare. Si presenta allora il visconte Julien de Lamare, un bel giovane che chiede rapidamente la mano di Jeanne. La ragazza, tenuta nel suo convento ben lontana dalle cose della vita, si rende conto nel corso dei mesi del grande divario tra i suoi sogni e la realtà, fatta di un marito avaro e volubile. Poco a poco, le sue illusioni crollano una dopo l'altra e il romanzo, che si svolge tra il 1819 e il 1848, ripercorre con realismo e sottigliezza, non senza una crudeltà innegabile, l'inesorabile declino di Jeanne, che perde tutto: il marito, i genitori, il castello, la fortuna, il figlio, che conduce una vita dissoluta e dispendiosa lontano da lei, e persino il cane e l'equilibrio psichico.
Maupassant, il cui successo fu fulmineo, padroneggia perfettamente l'arte di raccontare. Ha imparato da un grande maestro: Flaubert, amico della sua famiglia, è stato infatti il suo mentore letterario. Non è stato forse lui a consigliargli di scrivere senza sosta? Tra il 1880 e il 1893, anno della sua morte a solo 43 anni, Maupassant pubblicò circa 300 racconti e novelle e sei romanzi. Amico di Émile Zola, partecipò alle serate di Médan in compagnia di altri scrittori dell'epoca. Stringe anche amicizia con Turgenev e Une vie è considerato da Tolstoj il miglior romanzo francese del tempo, dopo I Miserabili di Victor Hugo.
Questo testo è magnifico, pieno di fascino e poesia ma anche molto lucido. Fin dai primi capitoli, si accumulano i presagi sotto forma di allusioni, confronti o metafore, e di immagini della natura, di cui Maupassant si rivela pittore sottile e delicato, ma anche crudele. Lo scrittore padroneggia meravigliosamente i giochi di specchi. Questo romanzo, di perfetta simmetria, gioca sugli effetti di specchi e doppioni invertiti. Con un tocco di ironia, l'autore analizza i rapporti tra la borghesia emergente della Restaurazione e la nobiltà dell'Ancien Régime, ancora immersa nella nostalgia del passato, sullo sfondo di una critica sociale senza compromessi.
Un lettore ha recentemente osservato che ci sono testi adatti alla lettura e altri che richiedono di essere studiati. Una vita è uno di questi ultimi, tanto è bella, ricca e densa la sua scrittura.
Une vie, premier roman de Guy de Maupassant, publié en 1883, avait l’apparence d’un petit livre joli.
Il narre, en son début, le retour au bercail de Jeanne Le Perthuis des Vauds, qui vient de terminer sa scolarité dans un couvent de Rouen et gagne, sous une pluie battante, en compagnie de ses parents, la majestueuse demeure des Peuples, en Pays de Caux (Normandie), très fortement inspirée par le château de Grainville-Imauville. Le Baron Le Perthuis, apprenons-nous, a vendu une de ses fermes afin de restaurer Les Peuples qu’il laisse à sa fille unique.
A quoi rêvent les jeunes filles ? se demandait Alfred de Musset. Jeanne, sensuelle et exaltée, veut croquer la vie et rêve de son futur Prince Charmant entre terre et mer. Se présente alors le Vicomte Julien de Lamare, un beau jeune homme qui très vite demande la main de Jeanne. La jeune fille, tenue en son couvent bien à l’écart des choses de la vie, mesure au fil des mois le grand écart entre ses rêves et la réalité, celle d’un mari avare et volage. Peu à peu, ses illusions s’effondrent les unes après les autres, et le roman – qui se déroule entre 1819 et 1848, retrace avec réalisme et subtilité, non sans une indéniable cruauté, l’inexorable déchéance de Jeanne qui perd tout : son mari, ses parents, son château, sa fortune, son fils qui mène loin d’elle une vie dissolue et dispendieuse, et même son chien et son équilibre psychique.
Guy de Maupassant, dont le succès fut fulgurant, maîtrise parfaitement l’art de conter. Il est à bonne école, car Flaubert, ami de la famille de Maupassant, est son mentor littéraire. Ne lui a-t-il pas conseillé d’écrire sans cesse ? Entre 1880 et 1893, année de sa mort à seulement 43 ans, Maupassant aura publié environ 300 contes et nouvelles, et six romans. Ami de Zola, il participe aux soirées de Médan en compagnie d’autres écrivains de l’époque. Il se lie aussi à Tourgueniev et Une Vie est qualifié par Tolstoi de meilleur roman français de son temps, après Les Misérables de Victor Hugo.
Ce texte est magnifique, plein de charme et de poésie, mais très lucide également. Dès les premiers chapitres, des signes avant-coureurs s’amoncellent : allusions, comparaisons ou métaphores, images de la nature dont Maupassant se révèle le peintre subtil et délicat, mais cruel aussi. L’écrivain manie à merveille les mises en abymes. Ce roman, d’une parfaite symétrie, joue sur des effets de miroirs et de doubles inversés. Il analyse avec une touche d’ironie les relations entre la bourgeoisie émergente et la noblesse d’Ancien Régime encore figée dans sa nostalgie, sur fond de critique sociale sans concession.
Un lecteur observait récemment qu’il est des textes propres à la lecture, et d’autres qui demandent à être étudiés. Une vie est de ces derniers, tant l’écriture en est belle, riche et dense.
----
"Une Vie", il primo romanzo di Guy de Maupassant, pubblicato nel 1883, aveva l'aspetto di un grazioso libricino.
Il romanzo inizia con il ritorno a casa di Jeanne Le Perthuis des Vauds, che ha appena terminato gli studi in un convento di Rouen, e con il suo arrivo, sotto una pioggia battente, insieme ai genitori, nella maestosa dimora dei Peuples, nel Pays de Caux, Normandia, fortemente ispirata al castello di Grainville-Imauville. Apprendiamo che il barone Le Perthuis ha venduto una delle sue fattorie per restaurare Les Peuples, che lascia in eredità alla sua unica figlia.
Cosa sognano le ragazze? si chiedeva Alfred de Musset. Jeanne, sensuale ed esaltata, vuole godersi la vita e sogna il suo principe azzurro tra terra e mare. Si presenta allora il visconte Julien de Lamare, un bel giovane che chiede rapidamente la mano di Jeanne. La ragazza, tenuta nel suo convento ben lontana dalle cose della vita, si rende conto nel corso dei mesi del grande divario tra i suoi sogni e la realtà, fatta di un marito avaro e volubile. Poco a poco, le sue illusioni crollano una dopo l'altra e il romanzo, che si svolge tra il 1819 e il 1848, ripercorre con realismo e sottigliezza, non senza una crudeltà innegabile, l'inesorabile declino di Jeanne, che perde tutto: il marito, i genitori, il castello, la fortuna, il figlio, che conduce una vita dissoluta e dispendiosa lontano da lei, e persino il cane e l'equilibrio psichico.
Maupassant, il cui successo fu fulmineo, padroneggia perfettamente l'arte di raccontare. Ha imparato da un grande maestro: Flaubert, amico della sua famiglia, è stato infatti il suo mentore letterario. Non è stato forse lui a consigliargli di scrivere senza sosta? Tra il 1880 e il 1893, anno della sua morte a solo 43 anni, Maupassant pubblicò circa 300 racconti e novelle e sei romanzi. Amico di Émile Zola, partecipò alle serate di Médan in compagnia di altri scrittori dell'epoca. Stringe anche amicizia con Turgenev e Une vie è considerato da Tolstoj il miglior romanzo francese del tempo, dopo I Miserabili di Victor Hugo.
Questo testo è magnifico, pieno di fascino e poesia ma anche molto lucido. Fin dai primi capitoli, si accumulano i presagi sotto forma di allusioni, confronti o metafore, e di immagini della natura, di cui Maupassant si rivela pittore sottile e delicato, ma anche crudele. Lo scrittore padroneggia meravigliosamente i giochi di specchi. Questo romanzo, di perfetta simmetria, gioca sugli effetti di specchi e doppioni invertiti. Con un tocco di ironia, l'autore analizza i rapporti tra la borghesia emergente della Restaurazione e la nobiltà dell'Ancien Régime, ancora immersa nella nostalgia del passato, sullo sfondo di una critica sociale senza compromessi.
Un lettore ha recentemente osservato che ci sono testi adatti alla lettura e altri che richiedono di essere studiati. Una vita è uno di questi ultimi, tanto è bella, ricca e densa la sua scrittura.
May 2, 2025
«یک زندگی» داستان زندگی دختری مهربان و آرمانگرا رو روایت می کنه که با رویاهای شیرین ازدواج و عشق وارد زندگی میشه ، اما به تدریج با واقعیت های تلخ و ناامید کننده زندگی مواجه میشه.
نویسنده با نگاهی تلخ و واقعگرایانه ،فراز ونشیب های زندگی ژان از جوانی تا میانسالی رو به تصویر میکشه و نشان میده چگونه زندگی میتونه امیدهای انسان را در هم بشکند و ژان که نماد انسانی با وجود پاک و بی آلایش هست ، قربانی بیرحمی روزگار و اطرافیان میشه.
موپاسان در این کتاب نقدی به جامعه اشرافی فرانسه قرن نوزدهم میزنه که دچار فساد اخلاقی ،ریاکاری، حرص و طمع هستند که پشت نقاب نجابت و اصالت پنهان میشن.
حتی کلیسا و کشیشان و سنت های مذهبی نیز از تیغ تیز موپاسان در امان نیستند.
نویسنده با نگاهی تلخ و واقعگرایانه ،فراز ونشیب های زندگی ژان از جوانی تا میانسالی رو به تصویر میکشه و نشان میده چگونه زندگی میتونه امیدهای انسان را در هم بشکند و ژان که نماد انسانی با وجود پاک و بی آلایش هست ، قربانی بیرحمی روزگار و اطرافیان میشه.
موپاسان در این کتاب نقدی به جامعه اشرافی فرانسه قرن نوزدهم میزنه که دچار فساد اخلاقی ،ریاکاری، حرص و طمع هستند که پشت نقاب نجابت و اصالت پنهان میشن.
حتی کلیسا و کشیشان و سنت های مذهبی نیز از تیغ تیز موپاسان در امان نیستند.
February 9, 2025
Une Vie
Maupassant (1850 – 1893)
If you were expecting to read the happy story of the life of a beautiful young lady from the age of sixteen to forty-six, you would be seriously disappointed.
Maupassant has worked out in detail everything that could go wrong and will go wrong.
A life of grief, misfortune, and destruction of everything a young person innocently hopes for when leaving the convent where she had her noble and religious education.
Jeanne cherished and the only daughter of Baron Le Perthuis des Vauds, had every reason to hope for a bright and happy life. And so it seemed at first. Just four months after her return to the family castle on a clifftop in Normandy, she is presented and swiftly married to a new neighbour, the young and good-looking Viscount de Lamare.
Honeymoon on the Isle of Corsica was her first and last encounter with love and happiness.
As soon as the young couple had returned to the family property ‘The Poplars’, the life of Jeanne was behind her.
Her husband changed his personality overnight, rejected Jeanne, preferred to have his own bedroom, spent his time hunting and became physically neglected, dirty, bearded, unkempt and rude in every way.
The baron and his wife had gone to live in another property in Rouen.
One day, to Jeanne’s great surprise, on the floor of her bedroom, Rosalie her maid since childhood, gives birth to a child, a boy, she cries without end and refuses to tell the name of its father.
Jeanne’s husband getting into a rage of fury, wants the maid to be chased away with her bundle, without further delay.
Jeanne calls her parents for help, who in turn call the parish priest for advice and Rosalie is further pressed and reveals the child’s father, who is no other than Julien, Jeanne’s husband.
Jeanne is devastated and her family now turns against Julien, but the priest knows how to smooth those waves, hinting at some secret knowledge he has, from the sins of the older generation.
Rosalie is also forgiven and with the gift of a small farmstead, a young husband is found, willing to marry Rosalie with a child.
Jeanne at this time realizes that she too is expecting and soon gives birth to a legitimate child, a boy, to be named Paul. She turns all her attention and love to the child.
When Jeanne’s old mother dies, her sorrow is without limit until she discovers in her mother’s old papers, some secret love letters establishing the truth, that her mother also had a secret lover in her youth. Jeanne is heartbroken and destroys all these letters, to avoid her father getting to know them also.
Meanwhile, Julien, the Viscount has discovered another lady to pursue, the wife of some noble neighbour. Following the priest's advice, Jeanne passes the information secretly to the deceived husband, who in a rage of jealousy assassinates the adulterous couple.
Jeanne now has to live with the knowledge that, even though through another meddling of the priest, she was the key to that act of fury.
Fifteen years go by, and young Paul is growing up. After some years of college, where he spends little attention, he runs away with a young woman to London first and then to Paris.
He spends money without counting, asking his mother for help every time he is in need.
At first by thousands, then by ten thousand and in the end several hundred thousand francs. He now threatens to commit suicide if he cannot be helped.
Jeanne calls her old father for help. In the end, all their fortune is lost and spent, even the castle has to be sold. The old baron dies of grief, and Jeanne falls ill and almost loses her mind.
Rosalie, her maid, turns up at the baron’s funeral and now takes care of Jeanne.
At this point, the downward spiral of the story finally stops.
Rosalie, now over forty, the same age as Jeanne, has grown into a strong woman and her good common sense knows how to handle Paul and his money problems.
In the end, the very good news is the arrival of a little girl, Paul's daughter, and Jeanne's granddaughter.
It was about time to read something good in this story.
Maupassant (1850 – 1893)
If you were expecting to read the happy story of the life of a beautiful young lady from the age of sixteen to forty-six, you would be seriously disappointed.
Maupassant has worked out in detail everything that could go wrong and will go wrong.
A life of grief, misfortune, and destruction of everything a young person innocently hopes for when leaving the convent where she had her noble and religious education.
Jeanne cherished and the only daughter of Baron Le Perthuis des Vauds, had every reason to hope for a bright and happy life. And so it seemed at first. Just four months after her return to the family castle on a clifftop in Normandy, she is presented and swiftly married to a new neighbour, the young and good-looking Viscount de Lamare.
Honeymoon on the Isle of Corsica was her first and last encounter with love and happiness.
As soon as the young couple had returned to the family property ‘The Poplars’, the life of Jeanne was behind her.
Her husband changed his personality overnight, rejected Jeanne, preferred to have his own bedroom, spent his time hunting and became physically neglected, dirty, bearded, unkempt and rude in every way.
The baron and his wife had gone to live in another property in Rouen.
One day, to Jeanne’s great surprise, on the floor of her bedroom, Rosalie her maid since childhood, gives birth to a child, a boy, she cries without end and refuses to tell the name of its father.
Jeanne’s husband getting into a rage of fury, wants the maid to be chased away with her bundle, without further delay.
Jeanne calls her parents for help, who in turn call the parish priest for advice and Rosalie is further pressed and reveals the child’s father, who is no other than Julien, Jeanne’s husband.
Jeanne is devastated and her family now turns against Julien, but the priest knows how to smooth those waves, hinting at some secret knowledge he has, from the sins of the older generation.
Rosalie is also forgiven and with the gift of a small farmstead, a young husband is found, willing to marry Rosalie with a child.
Jeanne at this time realizes that she too is expecting and soon gives birth to a legitimate child, a boy, to be named Paul. She turns all her attention and love to the child.
When Jeanne’s old mother dies, her sorrow is without limit until she discovers in her mother’s old papers, some secret love letters establishing the truth, that her mother also had a secret lover in her youth. Jeanne is heartbroken and destroys all these letters, to avoid her father getting to know them also.
Meanwhile, Julien, the Viscount has discovered another lady to pursue, the wife of some noble neighbour. Following the priest's advice, Jeanne passes the information secretly to the deceived husband, who in a rage of jealousy assassinates the adulterous couple.
Jeanne now has to live with the knowledge that, even though through another meddling of the priest, she was the key to that act of fury.
Fifteen years go by, and young Paul is growing up. After some years of college, where he spends little attention, he runs away with a young woman to London first and then to Paris.
He spends money without counting, asking his mother for help every time he is in need.
At first by thousands, then by ten thousand and in the end several hundred thousand francs. He now threatens to commit suicide if he cannot be helped.
Jeanne calls her old father for help. In the end, all their fortune is lost and spent, even the castle has to be sold. The old baron dies of grief, and Jeanne falls ill and almost loses her mind.
Rosalie, her maid, turns up at the baron’s funeral and now takes care of Jeanne.
At this point, the downward spiral of the story finally stops.
Rosalie, now over forty, the same age as Jeanne, has grown into a strong woman and her good common sense knows how to handle Paul and his money problems.
In the end, the very good news is the arrival of a little girl, Paul's daughter, and Jeanne's granddaughter.
It was about time to read something good in this story.
January 2, 2021
Available free at Librivox, here:https://librivox.org/a-womans-life-by... read by the talented Lisa Reichert. She is better than the ordinary Librivox reader!
This is Guy de Maupassant's first novel, written when he was twenty-seven. It is also known as Une Vie and L'Humble Vérité. The author completed only six novels before his death in 1893, at the young age of forty-two. He is better known for his short stories, but I am drawn to his novels. He belonged to the Naturalist school of writing, clearly evident here in this book.
Set in Normandy, France, the central protagonist Jeanne, has completed her final year of “education” in a convent. She is seventeen and the year is 1819. Her father and mother have arranged for her to inherit a newly refurbished chateau overlooking the sea not far from Étretat, the remarkable and stunningly beautiful rock formations 92 km northeast of Le Havre. Maupassant, as a naturalist, has both the eyes to see and the writing skill to lyrically draw the striking beauty of the landscape! He draws with a fine touch the cliffs and the sea, the flora and the fauna of the area and the people who inhabit this part of France. He draws the peasants and the clergy and the aristocrats. I adore how he draws nature.
Now, let’s look at the plot. It concerns Jeanne's life. Maupassant does not view mankind or human nature affably. Jeanne, straight out of the convent, is naïve and innocent, with no knowledge whatsoever of the realities of life. She dreams and believes she will soon fall rapturously in love and marry a good, kind wonderful man. What rolls out is life, which is to say real life, not the happy fairytale version, but instead a dark version where there exist only occasional glimmers of hope.
I was caught up in the story and it felt very real to me. There are characters that do terrible things, but I understood why they felt compelled to do what they did; I felt compassion for them and rooted for them. Here, I am speaking of the . This is not a happy story, but as a result, when events turn just a teeny bit toward the better, you feel overjoyed, very moved and extremely happy.
Lisa Reichert is one of the better / best narrators at Librivox. She reads smoothly. She does not overdramatize. I could hear every word. Her French pronunciation is OK—you can figure out what French words she is saying. Four stars for this Librivox narration.
I was gripped by this story. I continually needed to know what would happen / go wrong next. The wisdom voiced by an elderly priest had me smiling—he knew his parishioners through and through! I recommend this book. There are beautiful and accurate descriptions of nature and, if you are like me, your heart will be moved.
***************
*Bel-Ami 5 stars
*A Woman's Life 4 stars
*The Necklace 3 stars
*Pierre and Jean 2 stars
*Mont Oriol, Or, a Romance of Auvergne TBR
This is Guy de Maupassant's first novel, written when he was twenty-seven. It is also known as Une Vie and L'Humble Vérité. The author completed only six novels before his death in 1893, at the young age of forty-two. He is better known for his short stories, but I am drawn to his novels. He belonged to the Naturalist school of writing, clearly evident here in this book.
Set in Normandy, France, the central protagonist Jeanne, has completed her final year of “education” in a convent. She is seventeen and the year is 1819. Her father and mother have arranged for her to inherit a newly refurbished chateau overlooking the sea not far from Étretat, the remarkable and stunningly beautiful rock formations 92 km northeast of Le Havre. Maupassant, as a naturalist, has both the eyes to see and the writing skill to lyrically draw the striking beauty of the landscape! He draws with a fine touch the cliffs and the sea, the flora and the fauna of the area and the people who inhabit this part of France. He draws the peasants and the clergy and the aristocrats. I adore how he draws nature.
Now, let’s look at the plot. It concerns Jeanne's life. Maupassant does not view mankind or human nature affably. Jeanne, straight out of the convent, is naïve and innocent, with no knowledge whatsoever of the realities of life. She dreams and believes she will soon fall rapturously in love and marry a good, kind wonderful man. What rolls out is life, which is to say real life, not the happy fairytale version, but instead a dark version where there exist only occasional glimmers of hope.
I was caught up in the story and it felt very real to me. There are characters that do terrible things, but I understood why they felt compelled to do what they did; I felt compassion for them and rooted for them. Here, I am speaking of the . This is not a happy story, but as a result, when events turn just a teeny bit toward the better, you feel overjoyed, very moved and extremely happy.
Lisa Reichert is one of the better / best narrators at Librivox. She reads smoothly. She does not overdramatize. I could hear every word. Her French pronunciation is OK—you can figure out what French words she is saying. Four stars for this Librivox narration.
I was gripped by this story. I continually needed to know what would happen / go wrong next. The wisdom voiced by an elderly priest had me smiling—he knew his parishioners through and through! I recommend this book. There are beautiful and accurate descriptions of nature and, if you are like me, your heart will be moved.
***************
*Bel-Ami 5 stars
*A Woman's Life 4 stars
*The Necklace 3 stars
*Pierre and Jean 2 stars
*Mont Oriol, Or, a Romance of Auvergne TBR
May 1, 2019
I love Maupassant and always find he tackles the timeless difficult issues of life, that resonate down through the ages, with masterly and devastating acuity. The ‘life’ we examine is that of Jeanne, a naive young country girl, born into a life of privilege and convent educated, but destined to misfortune and tragedy. Poor Jeanne who is slow to acquire any degree of self knowledge and never really understands the realities of the life with all its brutal contradictions, and so is a ‘victim’ in devastating fashion.
Her early life is idyllic and she lives with adoring parents in beautiful seclusion in a chateau in Normandy on an estate by the sea, “..facing her was a broad lawn as yellow as butter under the night sky. Two tall trees rose up like steeples in front of the house, a plane to the north and a linden to the south….. Jeanne gazed at the broad surface of the sea, which looked like watered silk, sleeping peacefully under the stars. In the quiet of the sunless sky all the scents of the earth rose up into the air. A jessamine climbing round the downstairs windows gave a penetrating scent, which mingled with the fainter smell of the young leaves. Gentle gusts of wind were blowing, laden with the sharp tang of the salt and the heavy sticky reek of seaweed. At first the girl was happy just breathing the night air; the peace of the countryside had the calming effect of a cool bath.”
From daydreaming and being a free spirited youth where ‘her whole childhood at the convent had been taken up with the future, and she had busied herself with fantasies’ but reality stalks her upon her wedding night, and all her illusions are shattered when her Father suddenly draws off our spirited young innocent to invoke her submission, “.. remember this and only this, you belong totally to your husband” , and from that point onward poor Jeanne is wracked by the vicissitudes of a cruel world she doesn’t understand and knows, only fleetingly, love and happiness, but experiences at great length loss, betrayal and humiliation.
From this moment onward the life of the poor ingénue disintegrates and degradation follows, and after a short lived romance, surrounded by greed and avarice, she is given over to despair, “She believed herself to be so directly the target of unrelenting misfortune that she became as fatalistic as an Oriental; and the habitual experience of seeing all her hopes and dreams crumble and vanish meant that she shrank from all further endeavour.”
The author shows the slow disintegration that follows and the complete demoralisation of the young girl now become the embittered middle aged woman, “Sometimes she would spend the whole afternoon sitting looking at the sea; sometimes she went down to Yport through the wood, repeating the walks of old days which she could not forget. What a long time it was since she had wondered through the countryside as a young girl intoxicated with dreams!”
Those closest to her will disappoint and betray her and she is shocked and repelled, "at the cravenness of human beings, slaves to the foul procedures of carnal love that makes cowards of the heart as well as the body. Mankind seemed to her unclean when she thought of all the dirty secrets of the senses, the degrading caresses, and the dimly discerned mysteries of inseparable couplings.”
Not just a coming of age novel but a slow crumbling of the edifices of love and marriage, organised religion and human greed; Maupassant lays bare the ugly side of life with all its degradation and disappointment, in chilling and controversial (too explicit for its time) fashion.
Her early life is idyllic and she lives with adoring parents in beautiful seclusion in a chateau in Normandy on an estate by the sea, “..facing her was a broad lawn as yellow as butter under the night sky. Two tall trees rose up like steeples in front of the house, a plane to the north and a linden to the south….. Jeanne gazed at the broad surface of the sea, which looked like watered silk, sleeping peacefully under the stars. In the quiet of the sunless sky all the scents of the earth rose up into the air. A jessamine climbing round the downstairs windows gave a penetrating scent, which mingled with the fainter smell of the young leaves. Gentle gusts of wind were blowing, laden with the sharp tang of the salt and the heavy sticky reek of seaweed. At first the girl was happy just breathing the night air; the peace of the countryside had the calming effect of a cool bath.”
From daydreaming and being a free spirited youth where ‘her whole childhood at the convent had been taken up with the future, and she had busied herself with fantasies’ but reality stalks her upon her wedding night, and all her illusions are shattered when her Father suddenly draws off our spirited young innocent to invoke her submission, “.. remember this and only this, you belong totally to your husband” , and from that point onward poor Jeanne is wracked by the vicissitudes of a cruel world she doesn’t understand and knows, only fleetingly, love and happiness, but experiences at great length loss, betrayal and humiliation.
From this moment onward the life of the poor ingénue disintegrates and degradation follows, and after a short lived romance, surrounded by greed and avarice, she is given over to despair, “She believed herself to be so directly the target of unrelenting misfortune that she became as fatalistic as an Oriental; and the habitual experience of seeing all her hopes and dreams crumble and vanish meant that she shrank from all further endeavour.”
The author shows the slow disintegration that follows and the complete demoralisation of the young girl now become the embittered middle aged woman, “Sometimes she would spend the whole afternoon sitting looking at the sea; sometimes she went down to Yport through the wood, repeating the walks of old days which she could not forget. What a long time it was since she had wondered through the countryside as a young girl intoxicated with dreams!”
Those closest to her will disappoint and betray her and she is shocked and repelled, "at the cravenness of human beings, slaves to the foul procedures of carnal love that makes cowards of the heart as well as the body. Mankind seemed to her unclean when she thought of all the dirty secrets of the senses, the degrading caresses, and the dimly discerned mysteries of inseparable couplings.”
Not just a coming of age novel but a slow crumbling of the edifices of love and marriage, organised religion and human greed; Maupassant lays bare the ugly side of life with all its degradation and disappointment, in chilling and controversial (too explicit for its time) fashion.
May 9, 2022
This is realism. Reality can be harsh, especially to the unprepared. Our "heroine" Jeanne has spent much of her young life in a convent school, which has shielded her from the coming realities of life as wife, mother, family survivor. Sometimes translators/editors would similarly shield us from the complete contents of a work.
I originally had the misfortune of buying a "complete works" set of Maupassant to discover entire significant passages had been cut out, bowdlerized, to protect us from the information the author was trying to finally bring to light. I was alerted to this by a reviewer, and I began to compare different editions of works I'd obtained. Which is not to say that this edition is the only edition that is complete, but caveat emptor. Many readers have been bored, "put off," disillusioned by a poorly translated or heavily edited edition.
A good case in point is made by one omission in a particular translation of A Woman's Life. A "good marriage" has been agreed upon by Jeanne, her parents, and a local scion. The marriage is "good" because it joins two land-owning families together--with the added benefit of the couple seemingly enchanted by one another. The night of the wedding, Jeanne's father takes her for a stroll:
"Darling, I have a difficult part to play, which is really your mother's; but, as she refuses, it devolves on me. I do not know to what extent you are aware of the facts of life. There are mysteries which are kept carefully hidden from children, and especially from girls. For girls should preserve their purity of mind, their spotless purity, until the moment when we surrender them to the arms of the man to whom their happiness is committed. It is for him to raise the veil. But if no whisper of these things has reached them, they recoil sometimes from the somewhat crude reality behind their dreams. Hurt and wounded, they refuse their husbands the absolute rights that are his by human and natural law. I cannot tell you more, my love. But do not forget this: you belong to your husband, entirely."
This moment was preceded by 48 pages of chaste romance, walks in the country, meetings with the local priest, chit chat, rustic rural evocations. The beginning of the end of Jeanne's innocence is foreshadowed by this paragraph--which has been removed from some early editions!
This is not a salacious novel, but it does address relations between many titled couples of independent means in nineteenth century Europe. It is not melodramatic, it moves briskly, it is full of historical detail and well-rounded characters.
Tolstoy thought Maupassant an excellent writer and storyteller, but he was upset with him because he didn't moralize. Realism probably shouldn't moralize, or exaggerate. This is a must read.
I originally had the misfortune of buying a "complete works" set of Maupassant to discover entire significant passages had been cut out, bowdlerized, to protect us from the information the author was trying to finally bring to light. I was alerted to this by a reviewer, and I began to compare different editions of works I'd obtained. Which is not to say that this edition is the only edition that is complete, but caveat emptor. Many readers have been bored, "put off," disillusioned by a poorly translated or heavily edited edition.
A good case in point is made by one omission in a particular translation of A Woman's Life. A "good marriage" has been agreed upon by Jeanne, her parents, and a local scion. The marriage is "good" because it joins two land-owning families together--with the added benefit of the couple seemingly enchanted by one another. The night of the wedding, Jeanne's father takes her for a stroll:
"Darling, I have a difficult part to play, which is really your mother's; but, as she refuses, it devolves on me. I do not know to what extent you are aware of the facts of life. There are mysteries which are kept carefully hidden from children, and especially from girls. For girls should preserve their purity of mind, their spotless purity, until the moment when we surrender them to the arms of the man to whom their happiness is committed. It is for him to raise the veil. But if no whisper of these things has reached them, they recoil sometimes from the somewhat crude reality behind their dreams. Hurt and wounded, they refuse their husbands the absolute rights that are his by human and natural law. I cannot tell you more, my love. But do not forget this: you belong to your husband, entirely."
This moment was preceded by 48 pages of chaste romance, walks in the country, meetings with the local priest, chit chat, rustic rural evocations. The beginning of the end of Jeanne's innocence is foreshadowed by this paragraph--which has been removed from some early editions!
This is not a salacious novel, but it does address relations between many titled couples of independent means in nineteenth century Europe. It is not melodramatic, it moves briskly, it is full of historical detail and well-rounded characters.
Tolstoy thought Maupassant an excellent writer and storyteller, but he was upset with him because he didn't moralize. Realism probably shouldn't moralize, or exaggerate. This is a must read.
April 21, 2021
le livre porte bien son nom
(je vais garder jeanne dans mon cœur toute ma vie)
(je vais garder jeanne dans mon cœur toute ma vie)
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