A few masterpieces in an otherwise middling collection
 |
| Guy de Maupassant |
Like America’s Edgar Allan Poe or Russia’s Anton Chekhov, Guy de Maupassant is considered France’s master of the short story, at least for the 19th century. The Complete Original Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant, a 13-volume English-language collection of the French author’s short fiction, was published in 1911. It is not really “Complete,” but it does contain 182 stories, eleven of which are gathered into Volume II. The selections, originally published in the 1880s, are not arranged in any discernible order.
Volume I of The Complete Original Short Stories included a dozen stories all set during the Franco-Prussian War, and initially it seems like Volume II is going to maintain that setting, as the first four stories all take place during that conflict. “Mother Sauvage,” about a French woman quartering Prussian soldiers in her home, is the prize of the volume, a stunning story both shocking and moving. On the opposite end of the spectrum, “The Mustache” is an unfunny piece of fluff penned as a faux letter from a woman to her friend, in which the narrator gushes over her love of a man with a good mustache. “Epiphany” is another humorous tale set during wartime, while “The Colonel’s Ideas” is a more conventional and predictable tale of wartime heroism.
The remaining selections do not mention the Franco-Prussian War, which makes for a nice change of scenery. “A Question of Latin,” a rom-com in which a student plays matchmaker for his meek Latin teacher, is warm and funny. The real standout stories, however, are those that depict a darker side of life. “Madame Baptiste” is a remarkable story in which de Maupassant frankly depicts the disgraceful way that so-called “respectable” 19th century society treated victims of sexual assault. “The Blind Man” is a similarly brutal tale about the abuse suffered by a blind man at the hands of his family and neighbors. This one feels less meaningful and believable than “Madame Baptiste” because de Maupassant only seems interested in sketching a worst-case-scenario portrait of cruelty.
All the stories are quite brief and can be read in ten or fifteen minutes each, with the exception of “A Family Affair,” which is roughly five times the length of the typical entries. De Maupassant was a writer of the Naturalist school, and his work clearly shows the influence of mentor Emile Zola. Nowhere in this volume is that more apparent than in “A Family Affair,” a story in which de Maupassant lampoons the suburban middle class. A meek office worker and his shrewish wife are jolted out of their routine existence when his mother dies. As a staunch Naturalist, nothing is sacred with de Maupassant, and the sanctity of funeral proceedings are turned into a ridiculous farce showcasing the selfishness, vanity, and greed of the deceased’s loved ones. Unlike Zola, who always reserves a little affection for even his most contemptible characters, de Maupassant clearly despises his cast, which somewhat lessens the fun for the reader.
Though “Mother Sauvage,” “Madame Baptiste,” and “A Question of Latin,” clearly demonstrate de Maupassant’s mastery of his medium, the remainder of the book’s contents are comprised of surprisingly mediocre fare. If one were to base one’s opinion of de Maupassant’s literary career on Volume II alone, his reputation as the French Poe or Chekhov might seem undeserved. This selection of stories is a step down from Volume I, but overall it is still an above-average collection of short fiction.
Stories in this collection
The Colonel’s Ideas
Mother Sauvage
Epiphany
The Mustache
Madame Baptiste
The Question of Latin
A Meeting
The Blind Man
Indiscretion
A Family Affair
Beside Schopenhauer’s Corpse
Tales of the Franco-Prussian War
|
| Guy de Maupassant |
Literary critics could argue long and hard about who’s the best novelist in French literature, but when it comes to short stories, few would deny that Guy de Maupassant is the master. In his short career (he started late and died young), de Maupassant wrote over 300 short stories, as well as half a dozen novels, some poetry, a few travel books, and several plays. Like his Russian counterpart Anton Chekhov, the short stories are his claim to fame. The Complete Original Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant, a 13-volume set of his short fiction translated into English, was published in 1911. Despite its title, the set is not really complete, but it does contain 182 stories in all, a dozen of which comprise Volume I.
The Complete Original Short Stories does not arrange its entries chronologically or in any discernible order. The first story in Volume I, however, is in fact the first story that de Maupassant published, entitled “Boule de Suif.” It is also the story that made him famous, and it is still regarded by many as his best. De Maupassant was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and an associate of Émile Zola. “Boule de Suif” was first published in 1880 in an anthology entitled Les Soirées de Médan. Médan is a village near Paris where Zola had a house and would host gatherings of like-minded writers. Zola was the founder of the Naturalist school of French literature, and Les Soirées de Médan is essentially a manifesto of Naturalism. In addition to Zola’s story “The Attack on the Mill,” the collection included five stories by younger writers including de Maupassant and Joris-Karl Huysmans. Despite Zola’s established fame, it was “Boule de Suif” that garnered the most acclaim and attention, thus launching de Maupassant’s literary career.
The story is an expertly written tale of class conflict and hypocrisy. Ten passengers share a stagecoach ride from Rouen to Le Havre. The party is made up of three wealthy and snobbish couples, two nuns, a Republican, and a prostitute. Boule de Suif, meaning “Ball of Tallow” or “Dumpling,” is the latter character’s nickname. When the coach stops at an inn, the party is detained by a Prussian officer, who refuses to let the coach go on until Boule de Suif agrees to sleep with him. The remaining passengers, therefore, are put in the awkward position of both despising her profession and encouraging it.
“Boule de Suif” may be the best entry in the book, but all the stories are quite good. The one common element that unites all the stories in Volume I is that they are all set during or shortly following the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to 1871. Some, like the aptly titled “The Horrible,” deal with the horrors of war, while others like “Coup d’Etat” are more lighthearted and satirical in tone. A few selections are love stories set during wartime, such as the poignant “Two Little Soldiers.” De Maupassant often capitalizes on the inherent romance and adventure of war but ends with an antiwar message of universal humanity, as in “The Lancer’s Wife.”
If there is a fault to these stories, it is that many are too brief. “Boule de Suif” is by far the longest work in the collection and clearly the best because its length allows de Maupassant to demonstrate his talent for character development. Even in his briefest stories, however, de Maupassant exercises an attention to detail that vividly brings his characters and settings to life, and his plots often feature surprising (but not gratuitous) twists. I have been a Zola fan for many years and have almost finished his complete works, and now I look forward to reading as much de Maupassant as I can find in English.
Stories in this collection
Boule de Suif
Two Friends
The Lancer’s Wife
The Prisoners
Two Little Soldiers
Father Milon
Coup d’Etat
Lieutenant Lare’s Marriage
The Horrible
Madame Parisse
Mademoiselle Fifi
A Duel
Evidence of France’s literary superiority
|
| Guy de Maupassant |
International Short Stories: French, compiled by Francis J. Reynolds and published in 1910 by P. F. Collier & Sons, is the third in a trilogy of International Short Stories anthologies, following volumes on American and English stories. This French collection includes 23 stories and novellas by French authors both classic and contemporary (for 1910). Though the American and English volumes were fine, it is remarkable how superior this French volume is to both of those preceding books. While each volume has its household-name superstars, the difference in quality is most notable in the obscure, run-of-the-mill writers long since forgotten. While the minor authors of England and America served primarily as disappointing distractions from the better works in their respective volumes, here the French team proves to have a deep bench of players capable of consistently high performance. This volume captures a moment in time when, whether in the case of romanticism or naturalism, French literature really led the world in narrative innovation and literary merit, until arguably the Americans took the lead with early 20th-century realism.
In terms of big Panthéon-worthy names, the starting five, if you will, includes exceptional selections by Honoré de Balzac (“The Elixir of Life”), Emile Zola (“Jean Gourdon’s Four Days”), and Alexandre Dumas (“Solange”). Victor Hugo’s “A Fight with a Cannon” is actually an excerpt from his novel Ninety-Three, but the lifted scene stands alone as compelling short story. Voltaire’s novella Zadig is also reproduced in its entirety. Though a worthy work, having been published in 1747 it does suffer a bit from its extreme antiquity.
For the most part the second-string players, those who deserve more fame than they presently enjoy, are also represented by admirable offerings. Guy de Maupassant, a true master of the short story, delivers likely the book’s best selection, “Abandoned,” in which a married woman and her former lover visit the love child they spawned 40 years before. “A Piece of Bread” by François Coppée, another greatly underrated storyteller, is a touching tale of a friendship between two soldiers in the Franco-Prussian War. Alphonse Daudet’s excellent entry, “The Last Lesson,” is a moving tale of the last French-language class taught at an Alsatian school before the Prussian takeover. Alfred de Musset’s “Croisilles” is an enjoyable lighthearted romance written in a style reminiscent of Balzac. Another reasonably well-known storyteller, Prosper Mérimée, is less successful with “Mateo Falcone,” perhaps his best-known story but certainly not his best.
The remaining baker’s dozen of authors bear names unlikely to ring a bell with most 21st-century readers. With the exception of one or two disappointments, however, such as A. Chenevière’s African colonial tale “Tonton” and Clémence Robert’s pulpy military adventure “Baron de Trenck,” the quality of these lesser-knowns’ selections is quite good and in some cases truly pleasant surprises. Henry Murger’s “The Passage of the Red Sea,” a delightfully wry satire of the art establishment, is right up there among the volume’s best selections. Offerings by Paul de Kock, Erckmann-Chatrian, René Bazin, Marcel Prevost, and Alain René Le Sage are also impressive works.
For lovers of classic literature, the International Short Stories series is pretty good overall, but the French volume is clearly the one book of the three that definitely deserves a download. Not every story included is a masterpiece, but the goods far outweigh the bads.
Stories in this collection
A Piece of Bread by François Coppée
The Elixir of Life by Honoré de Balzac
The Age for Love by Paul Bourget
Mateo Falcone by Prosper Mérimée
The Mirror by Catulle Mendes
My Nephew Joseph by Ludovic Halevy
A Forest Betrothal by Erckmann-Chatrian
Zadig the Babylonian by François Marie Arouet de Voltaire
Abandoned by Guy de Maupassant
The Guilty Secret by Paul de Kock
Jean Monette by Eugene François Vidocq
Solange by Alexandre Dumas
The Birds in the Letter-Box by René Bazin
Jean Gourdon’s Four Days by Émile Zola
Baron de Trenck by Clémence Robert
The Passage of the Red Sea by Henry Murger
The Woman and the Cat by Marcel Prevost
Gil Blas and Dr. Sangrado by Alain René Le Sage
A Fight with a Cannon by Victor Hugo
Tonton by A. Chenevière
The Last Lesson by Alphonse Daudet
Croisilles by Alfred de Musset
The Vase of Clay by Jean Aicard
If you liked this review, please follow the link below to Amazon.com and give me a “helpful” vote. Thank you.
https://www.amazon.com/review/R3CVCCP31HOYU6/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm
