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Pierre et Jean (Focus Student Edition)
The Focus Student Editions are designed for French language courses in literature and culture. Prepared with non-native French speakers in mind, these editions include an introduction (in French), the complete work, and linguistic and cultural notes in French, a current bibliography and study questions. A masterful example of the psychological novel in French literature, Pierre et Jean tells the tale of two brothers and the secret which nearly destroys their family. Maupassant’s shortest novel, this 1887 realist work vividly pictures the French bourgeoisie, middle-class morality and the problem of money.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1888
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About the author
Guy de Maupassant
7,375 books3,002 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 - 30 of 490 reviews
April 16, 2025
Only a 3.6 average rating? I'm surprised. The ending was perhaps a little weak but I thought this tiny book was a banger!
Pierre and Jean tells the story of two brothers and how one's sudden turn of fortune makes the other bitterly jealous. Jean comes into some money, and Pierre becomes so consumed by jealousy that he totally spirals.
Pierre's resentment of his brother-- and, soon, everyone else --makes him so bitter and messed up that he basically becomes a 19th century incel. His anger turns on women with virulent intensity. He decides that women are all deceivers and manipulators; at one point, he watches Jean and Madame Rosemilly flirting and he sneers: "I'm taking lessons, learning how a man prepares himself to be a cuckold."
I found it a very effective little book. At the start, I felt some sympathy for Pierre, because who would not feel unjustly treated if life handed your sibling unearned wealth? But the guy goes completely off the rails and Maupassant depicts it brilliantly. Pierre’s growing paranoia, shame, and anger are drawn with sharp psychological insight. The book quietly maps the descent of a man who feels erased from his own life.
Pierre and Jean tells the story of two brothers and how one's sudden turn of fortune makes the other bitterly jealous. Jean comes into some money, and Pierre becomes so consumed by jealousy that he totally spirals.
Pierre's resentment of his brother-- and, soon, everyone else --makes him so bitter and messed up that he basically becomes a 19th century incel. His anger turns on women with virulent intensity. He decides that women are all deceivers and manipulators; at one point, he watches Jean and Madame Rosemilly flirting and he sneers: "I'm taking lessons, learning how a man prepares himself to be a cuckold."
I found it a very effective little book. At the start, I felt some sympathy for Pierre, because who would not feel unjustly treated if life handed your sibling unearned wealth? But the guy goes completely off the rails and Maupassant depicts it brilliantly. Pierre’s growing paranoia, shame, and anger are drawn with sharp psychological insight. The book quietly maps the descent of a man who feels erased from his own life.
July 26, 2024
Mr. Roland, a former Parisian jeweler passionate about sailing, retired to Le Havre with his wife and two sons: Pierre, the eldest, a medical graduate, and Jean, his youngest five-year-old, who has just finished his law degree. During a family fishing trip with a young widow, Mrs. Rosemilly, the two brothers, to please the young woman, engage in a fierce rowing competition that reveals, under the appearance of union and affection, the rivalry that opposes them. The same evening, they learned that Marshal, an old family friend, had just died in Paris and bequeathed all his fortune to Jean. Pierre then feels an irrepressible jealousy, to which a terrible suspicion is soon superimposed. Would Jean be Marshal's son? Awakened by the insinuations of the pharmacist Marowsko, to whom he just learned the notice ("it will not do any good"), and a brewery maid ("it's no wonder he looks so little like you "). From that moment, doubt will enter the young doctor's mind until it becomes an "intolerable certainty." In his investigation, in which the recovery of buried memories and the interpretation of signs gradually confirm his assumptions, Pierre begins to harass his mother while leaving more unrestricted and more accessible to his jealousy towards his brother, which has become, in a way, legitimate in his eyes. Jean seems to have to get everything he wants: fortune, a woman (he will marry Mrs. Rosemilly), and an apartment. Pierre reveals to him the secret of his birth: "I say what everybody whispers, what all the world stinks, that you are the son of the man who left you his fortune. A clean boy does not accept the money that dishonors his mother." When questioned, she confesses the truth to John, who forgives him. Both decide to dismiss Pierre, the legitimate son. He commits himself as a naval doctor and embarks on Lorraine.
As is often the case with Maupassant, the narrative obeys, as we can see, the strict linearity of a tragic and implacable sequence. Implacable also for the reader, who can believe to the end or almost to the jealous delirium of Pierre, and that comes to surprise and despair, in a sense, the absence of rebounding: like the paranoid finally still a victim of the persecution, he fantasy, the young doctor (who does not fail to study as a clinician the evolution of his pathology, alternating, in his case, between clairvoyance and blindness), moved by his unhealthy jealousy, comes to imagine a betrayal. That will prove to have occurred well. Nothing thus escapes Maupassant's radical pessimism because the madness of the investigator does not exclude the reality of the crime, and vice versa. For "history's morality" is accomplished by evoking a legitimate son of the bastard, the ultimate demystification of the bourgeois family.
The treason and adultery. Illegitimate son, the transmission of good, rivalry between brothers, obsession with the double, quest for identity. Although rooted in the social reality of his time, Pierre and Jean address archetypal themes that refer to the myths and ancient or biblical tragedies (one thinks, among other things, of the investigation of the soul, the revenge of Oreste, the rivalry of Abel and Cain.) It does so in the dual mode of a narrative that is at once subjective. The point of view adopted is, almost from one end to the other of the novel, that of Pierre, whose thoughts and objectives we follow. Classical psychology leaves room for a nearly scientific self-analysis of frightening clarity.
If, as in many founding stories, the revelation of the "family secret" is the object of this morbid and masochistic quest, the truth can never be circumscribed. She remains indistinguishable from fantasy, enveloping and elusive as a "mist"—the book's last word.
Added at the request of the publisher, who considered the volume a little too thin, the text entitled "The Roman" that precedes Peter and John is part of the movement of critics of naturalism undertaken by Flaubert in reaction to the radical theories of Zola. Maupassant calls for a realistic "visionary" or "illusionist" ("Realists should call rather Illusionists"). "The realist, if he is an artist, will not try to show us the banal photograph of life, but to give us a more complete, striking, more convincing vision than reality itself." As for the advocacy for a reconciliation of the novel of analysis and the objective fiction, it finds its realization in the following narrative, where Maupassant, as we have seen, combines the two approaches.
As is often the case with Maupassant, the narrative obeys, as we can see, the strict linearity of a tragic and implacable sequence. Implacable also for the reader, who can believe to the end or almost to the jealous delirium of Pierre, and that comes to surprise and despair, in a sense, the absence of rebounding: like the paranoid finally still a victim of the persecution, he fantasy, the young doctor (who does not fail to study as a clinician the evolution of his pathology, alternating, in his case, between clairvoyance and blindness), moved by his unhealthy jealousy, comes to imagine a betrayal. That will prove to have occurred well. Nothing thus escapes Maupassant's radical pessimism because the madness of the investigator does not exclude the reality of the crime, and vice versa. For "history's morality" is accomplished by evoking a legitimate son of the bastard, the ultimate demystification of the bourgeois family.
The treason and adultery. Illegitimate son, the transmission of good, rivalry between brothers, obsession with the double, quest for identity. Although rooted in the social reality of his time, Pierre and Jean address archetypal themes that refer to the myths and ancient or biblical tragedies (one thinks, among other things, of the investigation of the soul, the revenge of Oreste, the rivalry of Abel and Cain.) It does so in the dual mode of a narrative that is at once subjective. The point of view adopted is, almost from one end to the other of the novel, that of Pierre, whose thoughts and objectives we follow. Classical psychology leaves room for a nearly scientific self-analysis of frightening clarity.
If, as in many founding stories, the revelation of the "family secret" is the object of this morbid and masochistic quest, the truth can never be circumscribed. She remains indistinguishable from fantasy, enveloping and elusive as a "mist"—the book's last word.
Added at the request of the publisher, who considered the volume a little too thin, the text entitled "The Roman" that precedes Peter and John is part of the movement of critics of naturalism undertaken by Flaubert in reaction to the radical theories of Zola. Maupassant calls for a realistic "visionary" or "illusionist" ("Realists should call rather Illusionists"). "The realist, if he is an artist, will not try to show us the banal photograph of life, but to give us a more complete, striking, more convincing vision than reality itself." As for the advocacy for a reconciliation of the novel of analysis and the objective fiction, it finds its realization in the following narrative, where Maupassant, as we have seen, combines the two approaches.
November 29, 2016
One of those sad, sad stories about families and their inability to be good for and to each other!
Maupassant excels at neat studies of dysfunctional family situations. Beautiful French, just as in Une vie.
I found myself constantly wanting to tell Pierre's and Jean's parents that they cause all problems themselves by neglecting the less fortunate son in favour of the easy-going, happy-go-lucky younger son Jean.
For all his bad mood and disturbing thoughts, Pierre is the person I related to, mostly because of the injustice of the situation. His younger brother inherits a large fortune and is about to marry a beautiful woman, while Pierre's future is all but settled. His jealousy leads him to discover that Jean is the illegitimate son of the man who favoured him in his will. But again, it is Pierre who has to carry the burden and leave the family to restore his mother's peace of mind.
I sincerely despised the mother. I could understand how she was driven to infidelity and even sympathise with her, having just read the sad story of Jeanne, described in Une vie, which showed the emptiness and loneliness of a woman's life in the bourgeois 19th century society.
But as for how she treated her children, that was inexcusable!
It made me reflect on how our values have changed since then. Adultery is not as shocking today as it was back then, and divorce would be an acceptable solution to an unhappy marriage, so we are more liberal now in that respect, generally speaking. When it comes to education and to raising children, we care a lot more, and we consider many things outrageous that people carelessly did to children in the 19th century- because they could. As parents, we take our role more seriously, on the whole, focusing on fair and equal treatment to a much higher degree, and on the social and emotional development of our offspring.
I must give Maupassant credit for showing the family in such a way that you have these strong feelings towards fictitious characters! All in all, a worthwhile read and an interesting social study!
Maupassant excels at neat studies of dysfunctional family situations. Beautiful French, just as in Une vie.
I found myself constantly wanting to tell Pierre's and Jean's parents that they cause all problems themselves by neglecting the less fortunate son in favour of the easy-going, happy-go-lucky younger son Jean.
For all his bad mood and disturbing thoughts, Pierre is the person I related to, mostly because of the injustice of the situation. His younger brother inherits a large fortune and is about to marry a beautiful woman, while Pierre's future is all but settled. His jealousy leads him to discover that Jean is the illegitimate son of the man who favoured him in his will. But again, it is Pierre who has to carry the burden and leave the family to restore his mother's peace of mind.
I sincerely despised the mother. I could understand how she was driven to infidelity and even sympathise with her, having just read the sad story of Jeanne, described in Une vie, which showed the emptiness and loneliness of a woman's life in the bourgeois 19th century society.
But as for how she treated her children, that was inexcusable!
It made me reflect on how our values have changed since then. Adultery is not as shocking today as it was back then, and divorce would be an acceptable solution to an unhappy marriage, so we are more liberal now in that respect, generally speaking. When it comes to education and to raising children, we care a lot more, and we consider many things outrageous that people carelessly did to children in the 19th century- because they could. As parents, we take our role more seriously, on the whole, focusing on fair and equal treatment to a much higher degree, and on the social and emotional development of our offspring.
I must give Maupassant credit for showing the family in such a way that you have these strong feelings towards fictitious characters! All in all, a worthwhile read and an interesting social study!
February 16, 2022
[Fresh from his triumphs in Bel-Ami, ROBERT PATTINSON will shortly be appearing in Pierre et Jean, directed by A FAMOUS FRENCH DIRECTOR. The following outtake has turned up on YouTube]
FRENCH DIRECTOR: Vous vous souvenez peut-être, j'ai dit que tout le monde doive lire le roman. Monsieur Pattinson, nous comprenons bien que vous êtes la grande star américaine, mais avez-vous le lu, oui ou merde?
INTERPRETER: He asks if you have read the book.
PATTINSON: Well, I've had a lot of shit going on, you know, interviews about my breakup with Kristen, and I've had to change my publicist and my personal trainer in the same week, then there's been some tax shit, so, like, give me a break dude, I'll get to it real soon, I promise, you know?
INTERPRETER: Il n'a pas lu.
FRENCH DIRECTOR: Alors, je vais vous lire un petit bout:
[PATTINSON lies down and stares at the ceiling]
FRENCH DIRECTOR: J'en ai marre marre marre de ce comédien de merde, dites-lui encore une fois que c'est Maupassant, pas cette merde de Twilight. Est-ce vraiment impossible de comprendre?
INTERPRETER: He asks if you can try to remember you're not Edward.
[With apologies to "Lost in Translation"]
FRENCH DIRECTOR: Vous vous souvenez peut-être, j'ai dit que tout le monde doive lire le roman. Monsieur Pattinson, nous comprenons bien que vous êtes la grande star américaine, mais avez-vous le lu, oui ou merde?
INTERPRETER: He asks if you have read the book.
PATTINSON: Well, I've had a lot of shit going on, you know, interviews about my breakup with Kristen, and I've had to change my publicist and my personal trainer in the same week, then there's been some tax shit, so, like, give me a break dude, I'll get to it real soon, I promise, you know?
INTERPRETER: Il n'a pas lu.
FRENCH DIRECTOR: Alors, je vais vous lire un petit bout:
Une heure plus tard il était étendu dans son petit lit marin, étroit et long comme un cercueil. Il y resta longtemps, les yeux ouverts, songeant à tout ce qui s'était passé depuis deux mois dans sa vie, et surtout dans son âme. À force d'avoir souffert et fait souffrir les autres, sa douleur agressive et vengeresse s'était fatiguée, comme une lame émoussée. Il n'avait presque plus le courage d'en vouloir à quelqu'un et de quoi que ce fût, et il laissait aller sa révolte à vau-l'eau à la façon de son existence. Il se sentait tellement las de lutter, las de frapper, las de détester, las de tout, qu'il n'en pouvait plus et tâchait d'engourdir son coeur dans l'oubli, comme on tombe dans le sommeil. Il entendait vaguement autour de lui les bruits nouveaux du navire, bruits légers, à peine perceptibles en cette nuit calme du port; et de sa blessure jusque-là si cruelle il ne sentait plus aussi que les tiraillements douloureux des plaies qui se cicatrisent.INTERPRETER: You're lying down. You don't feel too good about what's happened. You're really tired.
[PATTINSON lies down and stares at the ceiling]
FRENCH DIRECTOR: J'en ai marre marre marre de ce comédien de merde, dites-lui encore une fois que c'est Maupassant, pas cette merde de Twilight. Est-ce vraiment impossible de comprendre?
INTERPRETER: He asks if you can try to remember you're not Edward.
[With apologies to "Lost in Translation"]
June 4, 2024
اگر بخوام به نسبت خودش بهش امتیاز بدم امتیازم چهاره. اما چون دغدغه مطرح شده تو داستان خیلی مشابه کتاب «یک زندگی» بود، و حتی چندتا از فضاسازیها هم تکرار شده بود، اونجور که باید هیجانزدهام نکرد. با این حال همچنان بنظرم موپاسان قلم خیلی خوبی داره و هنوز مشتاقم مجموعه داستانهای کوتاهشم بخونم.
July 27, 2021
Mi primer acercamiento a la obra de Maupassant y debo reconocer que ha sido un gran acierto, desde la historia misma hasta la prosa del autor.
Pierre y Jean nos presenta a dos hermanos (cuyos nombres son los del título del libro) quienes tienden a ser muy diferentes entre ellos. Médico uno, y abogado el otro, parece ser que una cuantiosa herencia de un antiguo amigo de su padre les cayó como anillo al dedo: ¿el problema? Que solo se la ha dejado al hijo menor de la familia, Jean.
A partir de aquí todo se verá alterado, dando como resultado una serie de acontecimientos entre los dos hermanos, así como las duras reflexiones que se plantea Pierre con respecto a la suerte de Jean y a la situación que se está viviendo.
He de decir que de entrada no esperaba mucho de esta novela, quizá porque no es de las obras más conocidas de Maupassant y porque había creído que sería una historia muy simple. En parte lo es, no es una novela en la que pasen muchas cosas pero si hablamos de lo que sucede en la mente de nuestro protagonista Pierre y lo que se desarrolla a raíz de esto, tenemos una historia que vale mucho la pena.
Me gustó la construcción y la distinción que tenemos entre los dos hermanos, el curso que sigue la historia de principio a fin; si bien el final no llega a impactar al lector sí que es posible quedar satisfecho al terminar la lectura.
Por último, quisiera recomendar esta obra por una razón más, y es el hecho de que contiene una sección inicial llamada La Novela donde Maupassant hace una serie de reflexiones acerca de la novela francesa realista y cómo ha impactado en los lectores y en la crítica de su época. Y cita a Gustave Flaubert en una de las partes que más disfruté leer:
“No sé si va usted a tener talento. Lo que me ha traído demuestra cierta inteligencia; pero que no se le olvide esto, joven, que el talento —como dijo Chateaubriand— no es sino una prolongada paciencia. ¡Trabaje!
[...] Quien posea una originalidad —decía— tiene ante todo que ponerla a la vista; quien no la tenga, tiene que conseguirla."
Pierre y Jean nos presenta a dos hermanos (cuyos nombres son los del título del libro) quienes tienden a ser muy diferentes entre ellos. Médico uno, y abogado el otro, parece ser que una cuantiosa herencia de un antiguo amigo de su padre les cayó como anillo al dedo: ¿el problema? Que solo se la ha dejado al hijo menor de la familia, Jean.
A partir de aquí todo se verá alterado, dando como resultado una serie de acontecimientos entre los dos hermanos, así como las duras reflexiones que se plantea Pierre con respecto a la suerte de Jean y a la situación que se está viviendo.
He de decir que de entrada no esperaba mucho de esta novela, quizá porque no es de las obras más conocidas de Maupassant y porque había creído que sería una historia muy simple. En parte lo es, no es una novela en la que pasen muchas cosas pero si hablamos de lo que sucede en la mente de nuestro protagonista Pierre y lo que se desarrolla a raíz de esto, tenemos una historia que vale mucho la pena.
Me gustó la construcción y la distinción que tenemos entre los dos hermanos, el curso que sigue la historia de principio a fin; si bien el final no llega a impactar al lector sí que es posible quedar satisfecho al terminar la lectura.
Por último, quisiera recomendar esta obra por una razón más, y es el hecho de que contiene una sección inicial llamada La Novela donde Maupassant hace una serie de reflexiones acerca de la novela francesa realista y cómo ha impactado en los lectores y en la crítica de su época. Y cita a Gustave Flaubert en una de las partes que más disfruté leer:
“No sé si va usted a tener talento. Lo que me ha traído demuestra cierta inteligencia; pero que no se le olvide esto, joven, que el talento —como dijo Chateaubriand— no es sino una prolongada paciencia. ¡Trabaje!
[...] Quien posea una originalidad —decía— tiene ante todo que ponerla a la vista; quien no la tenga, tiene que conseguirla."
October 19, 2017
Pierre and Jean is a novel about brotherhood and how they are driven apart when one of them becomes the heir of a great fortune, left him by a close friend of the family from long ago. From then off the family gets focused upon Jean, the heir. Pierre feels neglected and decides to become a doctor on one of the large steamships to New York.
It isn't a cold and unpassionate story which you get in some french novels. You feel Jean's triump and luck. Meanwhile you feel the desperation of Pierre, who is poor and has no vision to get out of this situation. The parents seem like fools, driven by the luck of only one son. The other is neglected.
It's a story about brotherhood, jealousy, rivalry, despair and betrayal. And above all, it's a good story.
It isn't a cold and unpassionate story which you get in some french novels. You feel Jean's triump and luck. Meanwhile you feel the desperation of Pierre, who is poor and has no vision to get out of this situation. The parents seem like fools, driven by the luck of only one son. The other is neglected.
It's a story about brotherhood, jealousy, rivalry, despair and betrayal. And above all, it's a good story.
August 27, 2024
3,5*
Entrei nesta obra de Guy de Maupassant cheia de inocência, a julgar que “Pierre e Jean” relataria uma rivalidade entre dois irmãos, mas o autor preferiu apimentar as coisas. Pierre sente ciúmes de Jean desde que o benjamim nasceu e quando este recebe uma avultada herança de um velho amigo da família, pensei que o antagonismo iria agudizar-se com as mais terríveis consequências, mas, afinal, o eixo desta história é uma mulher e a sua hipotética infidelidade. Muito policiavam os escritores franceses do século XIX a vida sexual e moral das mulheres...
Todas aquelas mulheres ornamentadas queriam agradar, seduzir, e tentar um qualquer. Haviam-se posto belas para os homens, para todos os homens, excepto para o esposo, a quem já não tinham necessidade de conquistar. Haviam-se posto belas para o amante de hoje e o amante de amanhã, para o desconhecido encontrado, assinalado, esperado talvez.
...sempre com dois pesos e duas medidas, obviamente.
Não se casaria, pois não queria estorvar a sua existência com uma única e incómoda mulher, mas teria amantes entre as suas mais bonitas clientes.
Sem adiantar muito sobre o enredo deste estudo psicológico, como o classificou o próprio autor, porque acho que o leitor deve viver a dúvida juntamente com Pierre, diria que esta obra não é a mais cativante de Guy de Maupassant, mas não deixa de ter momentos que me lembram que consegue ter graça sem malícia.
Calaram-se. E ele admirava-se que, pelo contrário, ela estivesse tão pouco baralhada, tão razoável. Esperava gentilezas galantes, recusas que dizem sim, toda uma comédia de amor coquete, misturada com a pesca, chapinhando na água! Vinte palavras apenas e estava tudo concluído; sentia-se ligado, casado. Nada mais tinham a dizer visto que estavam de acordo, e permaneciam agora um pouco embaraçados, por tudo o que se passara, tão depressa, entre os dois.
Entrei nesta obra de Guy de Maupassant cheia de inocência, a julgar que “Pierre e Jean” relataria uma rivalidade entre dois irmãos, mas o autor preferiu apimentar as coisas. Pierre sente ciúmes de Jean desde que o benjamim nasceu e quando este recebe uma avultada herança de um velho amigo da família, pensei que o antagonismo iria agudizar-se com as mais terríveis consequências, mas, afinal, o eixo desta história é uma mulher e a sua hipotética infidelidade. Muito policiavam os escritores franceses do século XIX a vida sexual e moral das mulheres...
Todas aquelas mulheres ornamentadas queriam agradar, seduzir, e tentar um qualquer. Haviam-se posto belas para os homens, para todos os homens, excepto para o esposo, a quem já não tinham necessidade de conquistar. Haviam-se posto belas para o amante de hoje e o amante de amanhã, para o desconhecido encontrado, assinalado, esperado talvez.
...sempre com dois pesos e duas medidas, obviamente.
Não se casaria, pois não queria estorvar a sua existência com uma única e incómoda mulher, mas teria amantes entre as suas mais bonitas clientes.
Sem adiantar muito sobre o enredo deste estudo psicológico, como o classificou o próprio autor, porque acho que o leitor deve viver a dúvida juntamente com Pierre, diria que esta obra não é a mais cativante de Guy de Maupassant, mas não deixa de ter momentos que me lembram que consegue ter graça sem malícia.
Calaram-se. E ele admirava-se que, pelo contrário, ela estivesse tão pouco baralhada, tão razoável. Esperava gentilezas galantes, recusas que dizem sim, toda uma comédia de amor coquete, misturada com a pesca, chapinhando na água! Vinte palavras apenas e estava tudo concluído; sentia-se ligado, casado. Nada mais tinham a dizer visto que estavam de acordo, e permaneciam agora um pouco embaraçados, por tudo o que se passara, tão depressa, entre os dois.
April 29, 2022
you know how something being at the tip of your tongue is like the most aggravating feeling in the world?
i know for a fact that my high school french class had a RAGING and hilarious inside joke about this book, and i cannot for the life of me remember what it is.
so every time i see it, i am cursed with the awareness that a good laugh is just out of reach for all time.
huis clos level turmoil.
part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago
i know for a fact that my high school french class had a RAGING and hilarious inside joke about this book, and i cannot for the life of me remember what it is.
so every time i see it, i am cursed with the awareness that a good laugh is just out of reach for all time.
huis clos level turmoil.
part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago
June 7, 2018
The obvious reading of this novel is that of the fragility of familial life, how the intertwined relations of multiple persons over a lifetime can be rent asunder by a chance of fate that was neither sought nor expected.
Yet I can't help think there is a deeper meaning to this novel than this surface level analysis. Maupassant seems to hint that the whole of civilised life runs on a complicit falsehood operating at a societal level.
Anyone who tries to upset this falsehood, through probing, deduction, logical thinking, the seeking of truth, is bound to not only be psychologically destroyed by their own discovery - that happy life and relationships come only from the mindless thrall of a delusion - but also that the truth seeker, by seeking truth, becomes an enemy of this false society; an enemy who must be mercilessly crushed, destroyed, excluded and disposed of.
Yet I can't help think there is a deeper meaning to this novel than this surface level analysis. Maupassant seems to hint that the whole of civilised life runs on a complicit falsehood operating at a societal level.
Anyone who tries to upset this falsehood, through probing, deduction, logical thinking, the seeking of truth, is bound to not only be psychologically destroyed by their own discovery - that happy life and relationships come only from the mindless thrall of a delusion - but also that the truth seeker, by seeking truth, becomes an enemy of this false society; an enemy who must be mercilessly crushed, destroyed, excluded and disposed of.
September 1, 2022
«Ci è capitata, stasera, una cosa molto strana. Un amico di mio padre, morendo, ha lasciato tutto il suo patrimonio a mio fratello.»
Il farmacista sembrò non capire subito; ma dopo aver riflettuto un momento, si augurò che il dottore ereditasse per metà. Quando Pierre gli spiegò come stavano le cose, parve sorpreso e turbato ed espresse il proprio disappunto nel vedere sacrificato il suo giovane amico.
«Non farà una buona impressione,» ripeté più volte.
Quando sono arrivato a questa considerazione, mi sono chiesto perché ciò avrebbe fatto una cattiva impressione. In Maupassant, come in Balzac, il tema dell’eredità è dibattuto spesso. L’eredità è l’evento romanzesco per eccellenza, consente di venire in possesso di denaro e rendite da un giorno all’altro, l’ideale per iniziare una vita al di sopra delle proprie possibilità. Cosa c’è di così strano se un amico di famiglia nomina erede solo uno di due fratelli? Pare che Maupassant fu colpito da questa notizia di cronaca al punto da usarla come il marmo sul quale scolpire il suo romanzo a venire. Essa andò a rinverdire una delle sue paure infantili e lo guidò alla realizzazione di un’opera stilisticamente perfetta. Maupassant, ancora più di Balzac, dà l’idea di essere nato per scrivere, lo fa con la naturalezza con la quale altri artisti del suo calibro scolpiscono o dipingono. Ma che lavoro deve esserci dietro un libro come questo? Quante riscritture, quanti aggiustamenti deve aver fatto affinché la sua prosa ottocentesca arrivasse a noi come se fosse stata scritta ieri e meglio di come sarebbe scritta oggi?
Nella prefazione ho scoperto che Maupassant fu discepolo e amico di Flaubert, tanto da scrivere undici anni dopo la morte di quest’ultimo: «Penso sempre al mio povero Flaubert, e vorrei essere morto, se fossi sicuro che qualcuno pensa a me, come io penso a lui».
Forse per l’ambientazione sulla costa normanna, forse per le ripetute analisi psicologiche, mi ripetevo che non stavo leggendo uno dei migliori romanzi di Georges Simenon (uno di quelli senza morti ammazzati). Sarebbe interessante togliere la copertina e i dati biografici al libro e darlo in lettura a qualcuno che ha già letto almeno una decina di “durs”.
Duecento pagine circa, fatevi un regalo, leggetelo.
Il farmacista sembrò non capire subito; ma dopo aver riflettuto un momento, si augurò che il dottore ereditasse per metà. Quando Pierre gli spiegò come stavano le cose, parve sorpreso e turbato ed espresse il proprio disappunto nel vedere sacrificato il suo giovane amico.
«Non farà una buona impressione,» ripeté più volte.
Quando sono arrivato a questa considerazione, mi sono chiesto perché ciò avrebbe fatto una cattiva impressione. In Maupassant, come in Balzac, il tema dell’eredità è dibattuto spesso. L’eredità è l’evento romanzesco per eccellenza, consente di venire in possesso di denaro e rendite da un giorno all’altro, l’ideale per iniziare una vita al di sopra delle proprie possibilità. Cosa c’è di così strano se un amico di famiglia nomina erede solo uno di due fratelli? Pare che Maupassant fu colpito da questa notizia di cronaca al punto da usarla come il marmo sul quale scolpire il suo romanzo a venire. Essa andò a rinverdire una delle sue paure infantili e lo guidò alla realizzazione di un’opera stilisticamente perfetta. Maupassant, ancora più di Balzac, dà l’idea di essere nato per scrivere, lo fa con la naturalezza con la quale altri artisti del suo calibro scolpiscono o dipingono. Ma che lavoro deve esserci dietro un libro come questo? Quante riscritture, quanti aggiustamenti deve aver fatto affinché la sua prosa ottocentesca arrivasse a noi come se fosse stata scritta ieri e meglio di come sarebbe scritta oggi?
Nella prefazione ho scoperto che Maupassant fu discepolo e amico di Flaubert, tanto da scrivere undici anni dopo la morte di quest’ultimo: «Penso sempre al mio povero Flaubert, e vorrei essere morto, se fossi sicuro che qualcuno pensa a me, come io penso a lui».
Forse per l’ambientazione sulla costa normanna, forse per le ripetute analisi psicologiche, mi ripetevo che non stavo leggendo uno dei migliori romanzi di Georges Simenon (uno di quelli senza morti ammazzati). Sarebbe interessante togliere la copertina e i dati biografici al libro e darlo in lettura a qualcuno che ha già letto almeno una decina di “durs”.
Duecento pagine circa, fatevi un regalo, leggetelo.
August 18, 2020
حكاية عن الغيرة، الخيانة، التشتت، المشاعر المخفية التي تتخلل علاقة الإخوة، وعن الأهل حين لا يكونون كفؤاً لحمل هذه المسؤولية المقدسة .. تراجيديا مؤلمة نجح الكاتب في رسمها، وأبدع في تناوله لصراع الإنسان مع مشاعره؛ كيف تنغرس بذرة الشك الخبيثة في نفسه وتجعل جانباه الطيب والقاسي يتنازعانه بلا هوادة، ليتركاه بعدها هيكلاً ضعيفاً يتهاوى.
وأخيراً، هناك من يحالفه الحظ، وهناك من يلاحقه الشقاء.. لكن الشيء الثابت - غالباً - أن عائلة الإنسان هي من ستحدد كونه تعيساً أو سعيداً بغض النظر عما سيلاقيه في حياته.
" كان متعباً كشفرة مثلّمة لفرط ما تألم هو وآلم الآخرين. "
وأخيراً، هناك من يحالفه الحظ، وهناك من يلاحقه الشقاء.. لكن الشيء الثابت - غالباً - أن عائلة الإنسان هي من ستحدد كونه تعيساً أو سعيداً بغض النظر عما سيلاقيه في حياته.
" كان متعباً كشفرة مثلّمة لفرط ما تألم هو وآلم الآخرين. "
January 30, 2023
داستان در مورد رابطه دو برادر به نام های پی یر و ژان هست ،دوست خانوادگی اون ها ارث هنگفتی رو برای ژان به جا میگذاره و همین باعث میشه که تخم حسادت در دل پی یر کاشته بشه و با خودخوری ها و فکر کردن دائم به ماجرا باعث میشه پرده از یک راز برداشته بشه و در ادامه داستان نحوه برخورد پی یر ،فاش شدن راز و تصمیم آدم ها رو داریم،به این فکر میکنم که شاید یک سری از رازها هیچوقت نباید برملا بشن وگرنه روابط آدم ها با همه به کلی نابود میشه،حسی که بعد از برملا شدن این راز داری ،دقیقا پایان همین کتاب هست .من داستان رو خیلی دوست داشتم شکلی که ابعاد روانی شخصیت های داستان شرح داده میشه،اون حس پارانویید و شک تردیدهای پی یر ،اینکه جاهایی از داستان پی یر دچار حس خودبزرگ بینی میشه و همزمان دچار حس تحقیر،این در آمیختگی خیلی برام جالب بود،رابطه پدر و مادر داستان با بچه هاشون و تغییر رفتارها بعد از ارث شاید اگه این تغییر رفتارها نبود پی یر متوجه مسئله ای نمی شد اما در عین حال فکر میکنم پنهان کردن عذاب وجدان برای مادر خیلی سخت بوده ،راستش من تا انتهای داستان هیچکدوم از شخصیت ها رو قضاوت نکردم و برعکس با همشون همدلی کردم و واقعا این لحظه ای که دوماپاسان شروع به نشون دادنش اعجازش میکنه،پایان کتاب رو خیلی دوست داشتم اون فرار و دور شدن رو ،چون با وجود بعضی چیزها آدم ها دیگه نمی تونن کنار هم باشن و نبودت باعث میشه فردی که عذاب وجدان داره هم کمتر رنج بکشه...نوع روایت خطی و ساده بود ،دوماپاسان خیلی ساده قصه گویی میکنه بدون هیچ لفافه و پیچیدگی ای اما می تونه تا آخر داستان شما رو همراه کنه بدون اینکه خسته بشید ،دوماپاسان تبدیل به یکی از نویسنده های امن من شده ،میدونم که قراره کتاب های بیشتری ازشون بخونم و دوستشون داشته باشم.ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ
قسمت های مورد علاقم از کتاب:
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احساس ناراحتی سنگینی و ناخشنودی میکرد، مثل وقتی که خبری ناگوار شنیده باشیم هیچ فکر مشخصی آزارش نمی داد و در وهله ی اول نمیتوانست بگوید این سنگینی روح و کرختی تن از کجا می.آید جایی از بدنش درد میکرد و نمیدانست کجا؛ نقطه ی دردناک کوچکی همراهش بود یکی از آن کوفتگیهای نامحسوسی که جایشان را نمیدانیم اما ،اذیت خسته غمگین و کلافه مان میکنند، رنجی ناشناخته و خفیف، چیزی شبیه بذر اندوه .
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اینک ناگهان این زندگی که تا آن لحظه تحمل شده بود برایش نفرت انگیز و تاب نیاوردنی میشد
.
آن خفقان دردناک را حس کرد آن ناخوشی روح را که غم پیش از خواب در
وب می شنای وجودمان باقی میگذارد به نظر میرسد مصیبتی که ضربه اش روز قبل بود مثل نه تنها به ما ساییده ،است در طول خواب درون گوشت تنمان خلیده باشد میشه آسان بنا و حالا همچون تبی دارد آن را خسته و کوفته میکند.
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احساس میکرد منطقش او را به دنبال خود میکشد همچون دستی که فرد را به سوی یقین تحمل ناپذیر بکشد و خفه کند.
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آه چقدر گریه کردم !.... زندگی چقدر حقیر و فریبنده است.... چیزی که بپاید وجود ندارد.
.
اکنون نیازی تحمل ناپذیر به ،گریختن به ترک این خانه که دیگر
خانه ی او نبود و ترک این آدمها که تنها با پیوندهایی نامحسوس به او وصل بودند وجودش را تسخیر کرده بود دلش میخواست همان لحظه ،برود به هرجا که بشود حس میکرد که همه چیز تمام شده است و دیگر نمیتواند کنارشان بماند و همیشه خواه ناخواه، صرفاً با حضور خود، شکنجه شان خواهد داد و آنها نیز بی وقفه با شکنجه ای تاب نیاوردنی او را خواهند آزرد
.
زندگی چیز پلشتی است اگر یک بار در آن اندکی حلاوت بیابیم حق نداریم از آن بهره ببریم و در آینده برایمان گران تمام می شود.
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یک ساعت بعد روی تخت کوچک ملوانی تنگ و دراز ،بود آرمیده بود با چشمان گشوده مدتها آنجا ماند، به تمام تحولاتی میاندیشید که از دو ماه پیش در زندگی و به خصوص در روحش شکل گرفته بود اندوه پرخاشجو و کین خواه او از فرط رنج کشیدن و آزردن دیگران از تک و تا افتاده ،بود مانند تیغه ای که کند شده باشد. دیگر شهامت نداشت به هر دلیل از کسی دلخور باشد و شورش و قیامش را همچون زندگی اش به حال خود رها کرده بود. از جنگیدن خسته شده ،بود خسته از ،زدن خسته از نفرت ،ورزیدن خسته از همه چیز چنان خسته که دیگر طاقت نداشت �� میکوشید دلش را با فراموشی کرخت ،کند مثل وقتی که به خواب میرویم صداهای تازه ی کشتی را به طرزی مبهم در اطراف خود میشنید صداهایی خفیف که در آن شب آرام بندرگاه به دشواری به گوش میرسید؛ و از زخمی که تا آن زمان بس مهلک ،بود چیزی حس نمیکرد جز انقباض و انبساط جراحتی که دارد التیام
می یابد
قسمت های مورد علاقم از کتاب:
.
احساس ناراحتی سنگینی و ناخشنودی میکرد، مثل وقتی که خبری ناگوار شنیده باشیم هیچ فکر مشخصی آزارش نمی داد و در وهله ی اول نمیتوانست بگوید این سنگینی روح و کرختی تن از کجا می.آید جایی از بدنش درد میکرد و نمیدانست کجا؛ نقطه ی دردناک کوچکی همراهش بود یکی از آن کوفتگیهای نامحسوسی که جایشان را نمیدانیم اما ،اذیت خسته غمگین و کلافه مان میکنند، رنجی ناشناخته و خفیف، چیزی شبیه بذر اندوه .
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اینک ناگهان این زندگی که تا آن لحظه تحمل شده بود برایش نفرت انگیز و تاب نیاوردنی میشد
.
آن خفقان دردناک را حس کرد آن ناخوشی روح را که غم پیش از خواب در
وب می شنای وجودمان باقی میگذارد به نظر میرسد مصیبتی که ضربه اش روز قبل بود مثل نه تنها به ما ساییده ،است در طول خواب درون گوشت تنمان خلیده باشد میشه آسان بنا و حالا همچون تبی دارد آن را خسته و کوفته میکند.
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احساس میکرد منطقش او را به دنبال خود میکشد همچون دستی که فرد را به سوی یقین تحمل ناپذیر بکشد و خفه کند.
.
آه چقدر گریه کردم !.... زندگی چقدر حقیر و فریبنده است.... چیزی که بپاید وجود ندارد.
.
اکنون نیازی تحمل ناپذیر به ،گریختن به ترک این خانه که دیگر
خانه ی او نبود و ترک این آدمها که تنها با پیوندهایی نامحسوس به او وصل بودند وجودش را تسخیر کرده بود دلش میخواست همان لحظه ،برود به هرجا که بشود حس میکرد که همه چیز تمام شده است و دیگر نمیتواند کنارشان بماند و همیشه خواه ناخواه، صرفاً با حضور خود، شکنجه شان خواهد داد و آنها نیز بی وقفه با شکنجه ای تاب نیاوردنی او را خواهند آزرد
.
زندگی چیز پلشتی است اگر یک بار در آن اندکی حلاوت بیابیم حق نداریم از آن بهره ببریم و در آینده برایمان گران تمام می شود.
.
یک ساعت بعد روی تخت کوچک ملوانی تنگ و دراز ،بود آرمیده بود با چشمان گشوده مدتها آنجا ماند، به تمام تحولاتی میاندیشید که از دو ماه پیش در زندگی و به خصوص در روحش شکل گرفته بود اندوه پرخاشجو و کین خواه او از فرط رنج کشیدن و آزردن دیگران از تک و تا افتاده ،بود مانند تیغه ای که کند شده باشد. دیگر شهامت نداشت به هر دلیل از کسی دلخور باشد و شورش و قیامش را همچون زندگی اش به حال خود رها کرده بود. از جنگیدن خسته شده ،بود خسته از ،زدن خسته از نفرت ،ورزیدن خسته از همه چیز چنان خسته که دیگر طاقت نداشت �� میکوشید دلش را با فراموشی کرخت ،کند مثل وقتی که به خواب میرویم صداهای تازه ی کشتی را به طرزی مبهم در اطراف خود میشنید صداهایی خفیف که در آن شب آرام بندرگاه به دشواری به گوش میرسید؛ و از زخمی که تا آن زمان بس مهلک ،بود چیزی حس نمیکرد جز انقباض و انبساط جراحتی که دارد التیام
می یابد
October 10, 2025
زندگی از متفاوتترين ، غيره منتظرهترين ، ضد و نقيضترين و نامتجانس ترين چيزها ساخته شده است ؛ زندگى بى رحم ، بى منطق و بى ربط است ، مملو از فجايع توجيه ناپذير ، غير عقلانى و متناقضی كه بايد زير عنوان حوادث متفرقه دسته بندى شوند.
August 26, 2019
Δεύτερο βιβλίο του Γκι Ντε Μοπασάν που διαβάζω, μετά το πολύ καλό "Ο Οξαποδώ" που διάβασα φέτος τον Μάρτιο, και δηλώνω ξανά ικανοποιημένος. Πρόκειται για ένα κοινωνικό δράμα με διαχρονικούς προβληματισμούς για τις οικογενειακές σχέσεις, το οποίο έχει να προσφέρει πράγματα και στον σημερινό αναγνώστη, και ας γράφτηκε πριν από εκατόν τριάντα χρόνια. Η ιστορία είναι αρκετά ενδιαφέρουσα και καλογραμμένη -αν και σε σημεία ίσως να γίνεται κάπως μελοδραματική-, ενώ η γραφή πολύ καλή και οξυδερκής, με ωραίες περιγραφές και εύστοχες παρατηρήσεις/σκέψεις για την οικογένεια και όλες τις πιθανές παθογένειες στις σχέσεις ανάμεσα στους γονείς και τα τέκνα. Το "Πιερ και Ζαν" είναι από αυτά τα κλασικά βιβλία που διαβάζονται εύκολα και με μια κάποια αναγνωστική απόλαυση, προσφέροντας παράλληλα και λίγη τροφή για σκέψη.
March 27, 2019
E' vero che sono rimasti solo i più famosi e più bravi, che molti sono finiti nell'oblio, ma quando capita di fare qualche confronto con parecchia robaccia attuale cascano un po' le braccia.
October 27, 2023
A long short story? A short novella? However, you define it a lot is crammed into a short space. In some ways it is a variation on the Cain and Abel story, brothers who are unalike in looks as they are in temperament. Pierre is dark and driven, prone to short temperedness and arrogance; Jean is fair and even tempered, accepting and with a ready humour. As with any siblings there is a rivalry but between these two there is a more spiteful, deeper current that flows largely from Pierre.
The opening sets up this antagonism where a pleasant boating trip is ruined by an unnecessary display of competitive rowing in order to impress the family friend, a young widow, who neither brother is particularly interested in beyond being favoured by her over his brother.
Life is resolutely middle-class for the Roland family. Pierre is a doctor, Jean a lawyer the sons of a shopkeeper made good who has retired from Paris to a coastal town to spend his days sailing. The boys have outgrown their father who they see as boorish, uneducated and beneath them and as a counterweight they have elevated their mother to an idealised figure upon a pedestal. Life is not perfect for the Rolands but it trundles along until what initially appears to be fortuitous news tears the family apart.
Jean is informed that he is the sole inheritor of a family friend’s will, a huge sum of 22,000 francs a year. It is an unexpected and surprising gift considering he was a family friend who had not been in contact for many years. Mme and M Roland do not question the strangeness of the gift nor seem to consider how Pierre might feel being overlooked completely, being focussed only on the wealth it will bestow. Pierre is understandably put out, both jealous and uncomprehending of the favouritism shown. He takes his grievances to his friends who all warn him that for Jean to accept it would not look on the family, the warnings accompanied by a knowing raised eyebrow.
Pierre knows the truth from the outset though it is only the memory of the portrait of the family friend that, having been on display for so many years he realises disappeared in tandem with his brother hitting puberty, makes it undeniable. I shan’t ruin it but if you cannot guess the reveal, I have a bridge to sell you.
An astute depiction of the petty rivalries and jealousies that flourish in even the best families and a lesson in the wisdom of letting sleeping dogs lie.
The opening sets up this antagonism where a pleasant boating trip is ruined by an unnecessary display of competitive rowing in order to impress the family friend, a young widow, who neither brother is particularly interested in beyond being favoured by her over his brother.
Life is resolutely middle-class for the Roland family. Pierre is a doctor, Jean a lawyer the sons of a shopkeeper made good who has retired from Paris to a coastal town to spend his days sailing. The boys have outgrown their father who they see as boorish, uneducated and beneath them and as a counterweight they have elevated their mother to an idealised figure upon a pedestal. Life is not perfect for the Rolands but it trundles along until what initially appears to be fortuitous news tears the family apart.
Jean is informed that he is the sole inheritor of a family friend’s will, a huge sum of 22,000 francs a year. It is an unexpected and surprising gift considering he was a family friend who had not been in contact for many years. Mme and M Roland do not question the strangeness of the gift nor seem to consider how Pierre might feel being overlooked completely, being focussed only on the wealth it will bestow. Pierre is understandably put out, both jealous and uncomprehending of the favouritism shown. He takes his grievances to his friends who all warn him that for Jean to accept it would not look on the family, the warnings accompanied by a knowing raised eyebrow.
Pierre knows the truth from the outset though it is only the memory of the portrait of the family friend that, having been on display for so many years he realises disappeared in tandem with his brother hitting puberty, makes it undeniable. I shan’t ruin it but if you cannot guess the reveal, I have a bridge to sell you.
An astute depiction of the petty rivalries and jealousies that flourish in even the best families and a lesson in the wisdom of letting sleeping dogs lie.
May 15, 2018
Molto difficile per me esprimere un parere su quest’opera. Non conosco la produzione di Maupassant, è stato il primo libro che ho letto. Ne ho ricavato l’impressione di uno scrittore maturo, capace, di talento, che sa usare molto bene la sua penna per rappresentare i tormenti di un giovane uomo sconvolto dall’emergere di un segreto familiare. Maupassant descrive con acume e sensibilità la rabbia che segue alla scoperta di un inganno che mette in discussione figure affettive e ruoli familiari consolidati, suscitando complesse, distruttive e velenose dinamiche interpersonali. Il libro è fortemente connotato dall’ambiente sociale e culturale della piccola borghesia di una cittadina della provincia francese nella seconda metà dell’Ottocento: il modo di concepire i legami affettivi, e soprattutto il ruolo femminile, fanno sentire molto distanti da quella società. Tuttavia non si radicano qui le mie perplessità, ma nella inverosimiglianza, nell’implausibilità della storia. Il segreto familiare al centro della vicenda emerge implicitamente, fin da subito, tanto che varie figure del paese, estranee alla famiglia, intuiscono immediatamente quale vicenda segreta si celi dietro (ed è così anche per il lettore) un lascito ereditario “anomalo”. Invece i membri della famiglia- tutti tranne uno, il protagonista- e i loro conoscenti più intimi sembrano del tutto estranei a dubbi, inverosimilmente non si fanno domande scontate e spontanee, ignorano anche con strabiliante disinvoltura la palese ingiustizia ai danni di uno dei figli della famiglia. Questo aspetto improbabile disorienta il lettore in attesa, da un momento all’altro, di una qualche plausibile spiegazione; invece no. Maupassant vuole anche criticare il perbenismo ipocrita della piccola borghesia...ma anche questo intento viene vanificato dall’inverosimiglianza della storia: perché di una vicenda che chiaramente compromette l’immagine pubblica della famiglia nessuno di questi perbenisti pare effettivamente preoccuparsi. La figura del padre, infine, decritto sì come un sempliciotto, ma di fatto una specie di troglodita al limite del decerebrato per non accorgersi di nulla, per non nutrire nemmeno un dubbio né farsi una domanda, è così improbabile e macchiettistica che compromette ulteriormente la tenuta complessiva del romanzo. Il focus del libro era certamente il racconto del tormento di Pierre, il figlio maggiore, che è magnificamente descritto, con finezza psicologica e raffinata abilità letteraria, ma purtroppo la narrazione non è sostenuto da una storia complessivamente credibile.
August 20, 2012
What can easily ruin the relationships between mother and son, and siblings? Maupassant offers an answer in this novel and he presents it so simply, so matter-of-fact, and so straightforward that I found myself completely moved by the story of Pierre and Jean. The psychological impact of this book got me thinking about the characters long after I have finished reading. The dilemma and heartache of Pierre over his slow discovery of his mother's past and his subsequent "exile" to resolve the rift this discovery created in his family can affect every reader of this book. What would you do if you were in his shoes? What other solution is there to his predicament? Why must he be the one to be uprooted? Has the mother done all she can to help him? So many questions... One would think the story lacks details, depth. For me, though, they just show the author's genius.
March 21, 2021
Set in Le Havre, France, in the 19th century, this is a story of sibling rivalry. Younger brother Jean inherits the estate of a family friend. Elder brother Pierre becomes jealous of Jean’s inheritance. Pierre obsesses over why he did not share in this good fortune. Family secrets unfold. I am sure this book would have been scandalous in 1888, when it was first published, but in today’s world it seems rather tame. The version I read includes an introduction about literary criticism, which I found fascinating.
April 13, 2017
Nel 1887 Maupassant inizia a scrivere Pierre e Jean, che realizzerà in soli due mesi, cogliendo spunto da un reale accadimento. Un amico ha ricevuto in eredità una somma notevole da un frequentatore della di lui famiglia. Pare che il padre di quest’amico fosse vecchio e sua madre giovane e bella. Non è un fatto così raro da destare sconcerto, ma lo scrittore inizia a riflettere sull’importante lascito e, fra una congettura e l’altra, si fa spazio l’idea che svilupperà nel romanzo.
Pier e Jean esce sulla “Nouvelle revue” del dicembre 1887 e del gennaio 1888, poi in volume edito da Ollendorff, con l’aggiunta di una prefazione (che fa scalpore) per raggiungere le trecento pagine, numero indispensabile per considerarlo romanzo.
Bastano le parole di Zola per capire cosa sia Pierre e Jean: “una meraviglia, opera di verità e di grandezza che non può essere superata”.
Al termine della familiare gita in barca in compagnia di Rosémilly, vedovella giovane e graziosa alla quale entrambi i fratelli dedicano le loro attenzioni, il notaio Lecanu comunica ai Roland che il signor Leon Maréchal ha lasciato tutti i suoi averi al figlio secondogenito, Jean. Pierre, stupefatto e geloso per la fortuna capitata al fratello, inizia a sospettare che la generosità del vecchio amico di famiglia celi una verità terribile e ripugnante. Ciò che scoprirà Pierre, uomo introverso, solo e smarrito, sarà causa di gravi e grandi sofferenze. Per lui. Sconterà una colpa che non gli appartiene. S’imbarcherà come medico di bordo sulla Lorraine, col cuore gonfio di rabbia e dolore, mentre gli altri lo saluteranno con l’indifferente cortesia che si riserva a un estraneo, per tornare subito dopo a riprendere la commedia della loro vita fatta d’ipocrisia, convenienze ed egoismo.
Guy, affiorano le tue paure e ossessioni. Le voci che ti volevano figlio d’un amore nascosto ti hanno perseguitato.
E colpisce sempre il tuo bisogno di vita, quella vita che hai morso e goduto forse per disperazione.
Mi piacerebbe poterti abbracciare.
Pier e Jean esce sulla “Nouvelle revue” del dicembre 1887 e del gennaio 1888, poi in volume edito da Ollendorff, con l’aggiunta di una prefazione (che fa scalpore) per raggiungere le trecento pagine, numero indispensabile per considerarlo romanzo.
Bastano le parole di Zola per capire cosa sia Pierre e Jean: “una meraviglia, opera di verità e di grandezza che non può essere superata”.
Al termine della familiare gita in barca in compagnia di Rosémilly, vedovella giovane e graziosa alla quale entrambi i fratelli dedicano le loro attenzioni, il notaio Lecanu comunica ai Roland che il signor Leon Maréchal ha lasciato tutti i suoi averi al figlio secondogenito, Jean. Pierre, stupefatto e geloso per la fortuna capitata al fratello, inizia a sospettare che la generosità del vecchio amico di famiglia celi una verità terribile e ripugnante. Ciò che scoprirà Pierre, uomo introverso, solo e smarrito, sarà causa di gravi e grandi sofferenze. Per lui. Sconterà una colpa che non gli appartiene. S’imbarcherà come medico di bordo sulla Lorraine, col cuore gonfio di rabbia e dolore, mentre gli altri lo saluteranno con l’indifferente cortesia che si riserva a un estraneo, per tornare subito dopo a riprendere la commedia della loro vita fatta d’ipocrisia, convenienze ed egoismo.
Guy, affiorano le tue paure e ossessioni. Le voci che ti volevano figlio d’un amore nascosto ti hanno perseguitato.
E colpisce sempre il tuo bisogno di vita, quella vita che hai morso e goduto forse per disperazione.
Mi piacerebbe poterti abbracciare.
July 19, 2025
A charming book, or really a novella, like the best of Maupassant’s short stories. Guy de Maupassant had a very tragic life. Born in 1850, he contracted syphilis in 1876, and died in misery in 1893, at the age of 43. By 1892, he was so wretched and desperate that he attempted to commit suicide by cutting his own throat with a letter opener.
First under the tutelage of Flaubert (who was a family friend), and then as a protegé of the Émile Zola and of Naturalism, Maupassant became part of the debate that seized French literary circles in the mid 1880’s, under the influence Huysman’s À Rebours, that broke with naturalism (and its deterministic roots in the material world, as developed by Auguste Compte and Hippolyte Taine), and began to develop the psychological novel (already long ago created by the likes of Dostoevsky in the 1860’s, but in Russia).
According to Robert Lethbridge, who wrote the Introduction to this fine OWC translation, the shift came for Maupassant *after* Bel-Ami and just before Pierre et Jean (which is actually a sort of hybrid novel (as Anatole France saw it) of ‘manners’ (Naturalism) and ‘analysis’ (psychology).
Anyway, it is a nice little book — sad and insightful — and well-crafted.
First under the tutelage of Flaubert (who was a family friend), and then as a protegé of the Émile Zola and of Naturalism, Maupassant became part of the debate that seized French literary circles in the mid 1880’s, under the influence Huysman’s À Rebours, that broke with naturalism (and its deterministic roots in the material world, as developed by Auguste Compte and Hippolyte Taine), and began to develop the psychological novel (already long ago created by the likes of Dostoevsky in the 1860’s, but in Russia).
According to Robert Lethbridge, who wrote the Introduction to this fine OWC translation, the shift came for Maupassant *after* Bel-Ami and just before Pierre et Jean (which is actually a sort of hybrid novel (as Anatole France saw it) of ‘manners’ (Naturalism) and ‘analysis’ (psychology).
Anyway, it is a nice little book — sad and insightful — and well-crafted.
March 7, 2019
This novel displays all the things lurking in the character's mind . I like Pierre's thoughts , some writings are good and that's all .
Mediocre
Not my cup of tea
Mediocre
Not my cup of tea
August 10, 2014
I quite simply could not relate to the main characters - i.e. Jean, Pierre and their mother. Everything they said and thought, well I thought differently! We live in different eras, but I do believe it is not just a question of that. One doesn't have to do what is the norm. Then there is the father. He is drawn as a total idiot from start to finish. He understood nothing. There was no depth to his character.
Then there this question - who is a father? Is it he who raises a child or is it the biological father?
Neither does the book draw a detailed description of an era or a place (here Normandy latter half of the 1800s)......except perhaps in the beginning when there is a lovely fishing trip near Le Havre. Very little description is given of other coastal towns in Normandy.
John McDonough also narrated this audiobook as he did the other I listened to by Guy de Maupassant, namely Bel-Ami. Now that one I loved; that one I gave five stars. (My review : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) Don't judge Maupassant by Pierre and Jean. The narration is good on both, IF you can accept an elderly narrator.
Some may say that Pierre and Jean is a clever story, unfortunately I found it too short, with characters too ordinary and without humor.
Then there this question - who is a father? Is it he who raises a child or is it the biological father?
Neither does the book draw a detailed description of an era or a place (here Normandy latter half of the 1800s)......except perhaps in the beginning when there is a lovely fishing trip near Le Havre. Very little description is given of other coastal towns in Normandy.
John McDonough also narrated this audiobook as he did the other I listened to by Guy de Maupassant, namely Bel-Ami. Now that one I loved; that one I gave five stars. (My review : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) Don't judge Maupassant by Pierre and Jean. The narration is good on both, IF you can accept an elderly narrator.
Some may say that Pierre and Jean is a clever story, unfortunately I found it too short, with characters too ordinary and without humor.
February 14, 2014
Isn't it romantic ? Younger son Jean is left a fortune by "a friend of the family" and older brother Pierre perceives that mum may have sought other hugs years ago. Moral : Be careful what you sniff for.
August 28, 2017
کتاب خیلی خوبی بود. شاهکار نبود اما موضوع بسیار جالبی داشت.
چالشی که افراد خانواده 4 نفره فرانسوی بعد از دریافت ارثی بسیار زیاد باهاش روبه رو میشن ، واقعا جالب بود...
ثروتی که تلخی بسیار برای اونا به همراه داره.
البته تلخی مادامی برای پییر به ارمغان میاره...و بیشترین اثر رو بروی کسی میذاره که هیچ دخالتی در امور نداره...ولی خوب هرچی درک و فهم آدما بالاتر بره وقایع تلخ، اثری سنگین تر بروی اونها داره....
یه جورایی شبیه کتاب مرگ فروشنده بود...
چالشی که افراد خانواده 4 نفره فرانسوی بعد از دریافت ارثی بسیار زیاد باهاش روبه رو میشن ، واقعا جالب بود...
ثروتی که تلخی بسیار برای اونا به همراه داره.
البته تلخی مادامی برای پییر به ارمغان میاره...و بیشترین اثر رو بروی کسی میذاره که هیچ دخالتی در امور نداره...ولی خوب هرچی درک و فهم آدما بالاتر بره وقایع تلخ، اثری سنگین تر بروی اونها داره....
یه جورایی شبیه کتاب مرگ فروشنده بود...
November 6, 2018
My first Maupassant, a very pleasant surprise. The story is strong and realistic presented. the psychological drama, the inner wars are masterfully written. It opens ways for discussions, it is a book of the "what would you do..." sort. There is no naivety, no easy ways out. Maupassant does not make it easy for the reader.
February 13, 2025
Novela del escritor francés Guy de Maupassant ambientada a finales del siglo XIX, en el pueblo costero francés de La Havre, una familia hasta cierto punto anodina, clasemediera, compuesta por el padre, la madre y dos hijos recién graduados, Pierre de médico y Jean de abogado, se ven sacudidos por un acontecimiento extraordinario, aunque al principio trae solo felicidad, ciertas circunstancias hacen que la situación se vuelva complicada.
Pierre se convierte en el personaje atormentado y resentido que comienza a dudar de todo y todos, de tal manera que se recrudece su mentalidad provinciana y estrecha a extremos de desarrollar un odio hacia las mujeres, viéndolas como mercancía que se exhibe para venderse al mejor postor, al ir cambiando se va alejando de los afectos e intereses que tenía, inclusive su familia es para el solo un hatajo de extraños.
Un libro de tintes costumbristas donde cada personaje se comporta de la forma que se espera de ellos sin salirse de su papel, no existe un rompimiento o una rebelión para trasgredir, más bien se intensifica las maneras, los usos y costumbres de una época, enfatizando a la mujer como un sujeto más bien pasivo.
Aunque está narrado de una forma genial, también es cierto que falta algún elemento que logre resaltar la historia o llevarla a otros niveles, al final logra su cometido.
Pierre se convierte en el personaje atormentado y resentido que comienza a dudar de todo y todos, de tal manera que se recrudece su mentalidad provinciana y estrecha a extremos de desarrollar un odio hacia las mujeres, viéndolas como mercancía que se exhibe para venderse al mejor postor, al ir cambiando se va alejando de los afectos e intereses que tenía, inclusive su familia es para el solo un hatajo de extraños.
Un libro de tintes costumbristas donde cada personaje se comporta de la forma que se espera de ellos sin salirse de su papel, no existe un rompimiento o una rebelión para trasgredir, más bien se intensifica las maneras, los usos y costumbres de una época, enfatizando a la mujer como un sujeto más bien pasivo.
Aunque está narrado de una forma genial, también es cierto que falta algún elemento que logre resaltar la historia o llevarla a otros niveles, al final logra su cometido.
October 18, 2021
Uživala sam čitajući ovu priču.
February 4, 2022
E bravo Guy!
Dopo "Una vita" e altri racconti letti, con questo romanzo, ai miei occhi, si è superato.
Con disinvoltura e semplicità è stato capace di indagare l'animo umano, sondando in questo caso i rapporti tra due fratelli, in relazione a quelli di una famiglia borghese di fine Ottocento nel Nord della Francia; si esplorano le passioni, le gelosie, le sofferenze, i tradimenti, e lo svilupparsi di dubbi, il dipanarsi di tormenti (collere impotenti, rancori soffocati, ribellioni dominate e disperazione silenziosa). In definitiva, uno specchio degli egoismi e dell'ipocrisia della famiglia e delle convenzioni sociali, che d'altra parte possiamo ritrovare anche oggi, ben oltre quel periodo e quei luoghi di ambientazione.
Fino alla fine intenso e coinvolgente.
Come in tanti racconti, Maupassant attinge anche qui dalla propria vita e dalla propria famiglia: un padre pressoché inesistente, una madre fin troppo presente, un fratello quasi dimenticato, una figura paterna sostitutiva (Flaubert)... e probabilmente vi si declinano i suoi stessi dubbi e tormenti familiari.
Molto interessante il saggio "Il romanzo", dello stesso Maupassant, posto a introduzione di Pierre e Jean, e che può essere considerato come "la sua più compiuta dichiarazione di poetica".
Scopo del romanziere non è raccontarci una storia, farci divertire o commuovere, ma obbligarci a pensare, a capire il senso profondo e nascosto degli avvenimenti. [...] Dovrà saper eliminare, tra i piccoli, innumerevoli avvenimenti quotidiani, tutti quelli che gli sono inutili, e mettere in luce in modo speciale tutti quelli che sarebbero passati inosservati [...]; tutto quel che non è essenziale, lo respingerà.
Sforziamoci di avere uno stile eccellente piuttosto che collezionare termini rari.
Dopo "Una vita" e altri racconti letti, con questo romanzo, ai miei occhi, si è superato.
Con disinvoltura e semplicità è stato capace di indagare l'animo umano, sondando in questo caso i rapporti tra due fratelli, in relazione a quelli di una famiglia borghese di fine Ottocento nel Nord della Francia; si esplorano le passioni, le gelosie, le sofferenze, i tradimenti, e lo svilupparsi di dubbi, il dipanarsi di tormenti (collere impotenti, rancori soffocati, ribellioni dominate e disperazione silenziosa). In definitiva, uno specchio degli egoismi e dell'ipocrisia della famiglia e delle convenzioni sociali, che d'altra parte possiamo ritrovare anche oggi, ben oltre quel periodo e quei luoghi di ambientazione.
Fino alla fine intenso e coinvolgente.
Come in tanti racconti, Maupassant attinge anche qui dalla propria vita e dalla propria famiglia: un padre pressoché inesistente, una madre fin troppo presente, un fratello quasi dimenticato, una figura paterna sostitutiva (Flaubert)... e probabilmente vi si declinano i suoi stessi dubbi e tormenti familiari.
Molto interessante il saggio "Il romanzo", dello stesso Maupassant, posto a introduzione di Pierre e Jean, e che può essere considerato come "la sua più compiuta dichiarazione di poetica".
Scopo del romanziere non è raccontarci una storia, farci divertire o commuovere, ma obbligarci a pensare, a capire il senso profondo e nascosto degli avvenimenti. [...] Dovrà saper eliminare, tra i piccoli, innumerevoli avvenimenti quotidiani, tutti quelli che gli sono inutili, e mettere in luce in modo speciale tutti quelli che sarebbero passati inosservati [...]; tutto quel che non è essenziale, lo respingerà.
Sforziamoci di avere uno stile eccellente piuttosto che collezionare termini rari.
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