Les Prostituées

by Guy de Maupassant

Onzes Nouvelles

Mademoiselle Fifi
L'Odyssée d'une fille
Le Lit 29
L'Armoire
Le Port
Boule de Suif
La Maison Tellier
L'Ami Patience
Ça ira
Nuit de Noël
Les Vingt-Cinq Francs de la supérieur

Dans ces nouvelles, choisies parmi bien d'autres, mettant en scène des "filles publiques" — leurs peines, leurs joies, leurs obligations —, Maupassant décrit, avec l'ironie qu'on lui connaît, une société du libre échange dont le moteur est l'argent et où circulent les corps, les pulsions, les désirs. Au-delà du réalisme cru, ces nouvelles ont le charme particulier des histoires sombres, tendres et édifiantes.

Genres: School, Classics, Short Stories

276 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2015

About the author

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

Reviews

[Éric Verel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes sordid, sometimes epic, most of the time hilarious, always amazingly well written.

I had read before that Maupassant was an outdated misogynistic, but I found quite the opposite in these short stories. The prostitutes are seen as people with much higher moral standards than the rest of the society, especially when compared with the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie. These pieces felt very modern to me: Maupassant shows for example that a yes under constraint is not consent, or that a lot of women are forced into prostitution due to their social upbringing and should not be judged.

[Martí Pons · Rating 3 out of 5]

De les 11 novel·les que conté, només un parell m'han semblat destacables. Un possible problema és que l'he llegit en francès, que no el domino massa, però tot i així no m'ha captivat gaire. Per mi la millor història és "Le lit 29", em va sorprendre la força que té la protagonista per dir-li les veritats
a la cara a l'home. Un altre història interessant és la de "Boule de suif" on es veu el menyspreu de les classes benestants cap a la resta de persones, encara que aquestes els ajudin.

[ingeburge · Rating 2 out of 5]

some short stories were interesting, others terrible.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tout n'est pas parfait mais on a pas mal d'histoires chouettes