33 beroemde verhalen

by Guy de Maupassant, Ank van Haaren (translator)

351 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

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

[Luc De Coster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guy de Maupassant has his place in any historical overview of the short story. He knew how to grab the reader's attention at the level of the narrative: what will happen, how will it end? Sometimes there's an unexpected twist (much like Roald Dahl will later develop this art to perfection), sometimes the charm is in the razorsharp psychological analysis.

Famous for his exploration of emotional and erotic impulses as drivers of human behaviour, de Maupassant is more than that: he his first and foremost a craftsman of storytelling. He is the essentialist of the short story: only what is needed for delivering a charming miniature is there: no needless embelishments, no meandering into side rivers.

Somehow he manages to lift his anecdotes -however trivial they may seem- to a higher level. A critique of the human species and the way he behaves, hidden in light entertainment.