La Parure et autres nouvelles

by Guy de Maupassant

Voici trois nouvelles exemplaires par le souci du détail vrai, la rigueur de la construction, la maîtrise du récit, l'art de la chute. « La Parure » dépeint avec alacrité le menu peuple des bureaux. « Sur l'eau » évoque la vie nocturne d'une rivière, ses bruissements mystérieux, sa faune secrète, ses maléfices, ses drames. « La Légende du Mont Saint-Michel » nous transporte au coeur du folklore normand où la roublardise paysanne fait bon ménage avec le goût du merveilleux.
Une même ironie, tantôt enjouée tantôt cruelle, sous-tend ces trois textes. Elle illustre la profonde acuité d'une oeuvre qui, de Boule de Suif au Horla, n'a cessé de mettre au jour avec une égale curiosité les ressorts inattendus de la mécanique humaine.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, France, French Literature, School, Literature

96 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1884

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

[Adina ( on a short Hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

After I read The Necklace with The Short Sory Book Club I decided that Maupassant diserves more of my time. I find an audiobook which contained 7 of his short stories and plunged in. Extra points for being narrated by the wonderful George Guidall. Maupassant writes about life in that period, about things he experienced or could have happened during his time. Many of the stories have a moral, he seems to tax brutality and abuse of power and mistreatment of lower class, especially prostitutes. He also denounces hypocrisy, avarice and vanity. I enjoyed his use of irony and realism.

The Necklace ****
A short story with a few powerful messages. One concerns vanity of women of the era and a second important one has to do with speaking the truth when you get the chance.

Boule de Suif *****
Boule de Suif is more of a novella than a short story. After the Prusian invaded a certain village, some of the rich people decide to flee to Rouen. They board a carriage together with their wives, two nuns and a prostitute called Boule de Suif. Caught in a snowstorm, their journey takes longer than expected. The only person who brought food in the carriage was Boule de Suif who agrees to share her provision with the rest. If in the beginning, they acted badly towards her, hunger made the principles lower and change their opinion. When the party reached a shelter for the night, they meet a Prussian officer who proposes the prostitute to share the bed with him. She refuses on principle and then her companions are halted and not allowed to continue the journey until the woman relents. Supportive at first, the companions become less patient and try to convince Boule de Suif to change her mind. The novella was a very well written study of the hypocrisy of the upper class.

The Piece of String ***
A farmers’ fair. One man bends after a piece of string. Some money disappear from another farmer. The man’s rival says he saw him picking up the money. The man fights for his innocence and is not believed even after the money is found. A short story about how reputation can be destroyed with a rumour.

Beside Schopenhauer’s Corpse **
A strange happening while a person stands vigil beside Schopenhauer’s Corpse

Mademoiselle Fifi ****
Again we have Prussian soldiers and a couple of French prostitutes. What was supposed to be a party turns into something worse. From what I read, Maupassant was fascinated with prostitutes and frequented them often. Not surprisingly, he died of syphilis.

Miss Harriet ****
On a boat, a man shares his memories about a very sad affair. I felt sorry for Miss Harriet

The legend of Mont St. Michel **
Something about how the St. Michel banished the devil. The twist of the story: The devil is the good guy here.

[Mansuriah Hassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This classic book never gets out of date. I read this short story when I was in high school and I really enjoyed it. Now looking back at it in my book shelf, it brings back the memory of mixed feelings I had when I read it last time. I opt to re-read this classic once again. Since this is a short story, I don’t want to go into detail.

The Necklace is a poignant tale about Mathilde Loisel who is a beautiful young woman married to an unimportant clerk. She dreams of the finer things of life and is not content with her secure, middle class lifestyle. She is embarrassed by her lack of wealth.

One day, her husband and she were invited to a ball. She felt she had nothing proper to wear so she manages to get some money from her kind husband to buy a new dress. Then, she borrowed a beautiful diamond necklace from a rich friend. She then lost the necklace and had to work hard many years to pay for the loss. The price she pays for a single evening of elegance turns into years of labor and despair.

As a reader, the only thing I feel sorry is for the poor husband who stood by her side through the thick and thin. He is a humble and caring man who wanted to make his lovely wife happy. Meanwhile, I resent Mathilde’s character who wants more than she could afford. The irony is that she even lost the comfortable life she had previously because she was not content with it. Well, that’s what happens when you are ungrateful and prideful.

This story is an impressive piece because it gives message and moral for everyone. The moral of the story is to be happy with what you have in life. Life isn’t about social status or how rich you are. Be thankful and appreciate what you have.

This is a story that has stood the test of time and is as relevant today as when Maupassant wrote it in the late nineteenth century. Guy de Maupassant is a fantastic author. In just a few short pages he manages to convey so much emotions regarding longing, envy, dissatisfaction, vanity, pride, boastfulness, suffering and pain. The story is brief, yet so full. The jaw dropping ending still gets to me till now (oh yes!).

I have recommended this short story to my 10 years old daughter. And I also strongly recommend this book to everyone to read because it gives a good lesson. A must read for everyone!

[Mark André · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first ever Maupassant. Good story. Cool storytelling. Fun to read. I’d try another by this guy!

[Kalliope · Rating 4 out of 5]

As we were reading La Parure or The Necklace in the Short Story Group, I picked up this volume which included six other stories. I had read La Parure in high school, and what most impressed me back then was that I learnt a new word for jewelry. So far, I already knew ‘bijou’ and ‘joyeau’. In this second read, the tragic aspect, that a stupid mistake could cave a great cost in one’s life, was upsetting even though it was too predictable. The value of learning a new word then remains as the most memorable aspect of this story.

The other stories had a greater impact. Une aventure Parisienne presents a bittersweet humour. A provincial woman wants to taste what exciting life in Paris is, to be deceived. In spite of her disappointment, this came across as a rather modern episode – a woman searching to enrich her life. À cheval – left a weaker impression, although the more predictable part was balanced by a surprise. Les Bijoux was perhaps my favourite, and it could act as a pendant to La Parure. There is a positive tone and most important, an enigma left unsolved how did Mme Lantin managed to get all that expensive jewelry? . Le Père carries its own karma. La Dot is again a tragic and humorous story and the last one, Le Rendez-Vous, also seemed very modern – a woman with a “liberated” attitude to her love life.

In all of these stories Paris is the great protagonist. In À cheval, the area around the Champs-Élyséés and the Concorde around 1880s appealed my imagination. So did the wonderful Parc Monceau in Le Père. La Chausée d’Antin is included a couple of times, and La Trinité and its small park in front, figures as tall in Le rendez-vou as it does in the city.

Dominant in these stories is the importance and complexity of women. Not always is a woman the protagonist, but Maupassant’s women are more varied and complex than the men. They are curious, licentious, wise, ambitious, serene, prudish… always worth for a story to be build round them.

And possibly the greatest attraction in this collection is the effectiveness that Maupassant achieves with the very economical and impactful use of language. A joy to read.

[Lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guy de Maupassant is another example of a splendid short-stories writer. If my memory can still be relied on, I learned to love short-stories reading Maupassant! The Necklace and Other Short Stories is a great example. Read it and enjoy!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first time I read this writer and I'm a bit confused now. I really liked a couple of short stories but the rest just seemed okay for me. For example, "Boule de Suif", his most famous short story, is simply brilliant (nothing new about that). I loved it and hated it at the same time. I loved the writing, the irony, but I hated the story itself. It made me feel bad and... violent. And that is what makes it good: the ability of creating those mixed emotions in us. It is set in the Franco-Prussian war (it starts a bit slow, in order to explain the whole context; however, drink coffee and keep reading because it's worth it) and a bunch of people decided to leave Rouen, because it was now occupied by the Prussians. Elisabeth (called "Boule de Suif", "Ball-of-fat" and other similar translations for such a charming nickname...), was a prostitute whose patriotism made all those wealthy men look small. For me, it is a contemporary story because I see a person of a lower class ready to sacrifice in a way that other people wouldn't. That woman helped those rich and virtuous bastards that traveled with her and they forgot about that in a couple of hours, making her feel like the most insignificant thing in the entire world. The more I remember the story, the more I hate those hypocrite jerks.

Another short story I loved is "The Necklace". Oh, Mathilde, you asked for it! I feel bad for your husband, though.
I also liked "Miss Harriet", "The Horla". And the rest of them... They are good, entertaining; yet nothing too extraordinary, honestly.
However, this Guy deserves four stars (I really liked those stories I mentioned before).


Jan 21, 14
* Also on my blog.

[Ahmed Ejaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

SHE WAS ONE OF THOSE PRETTY AND CHARMING GIRLS BORN, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans

CHARACTERS
Mr Loisel
A clerk in Ministry of Education.
Mathilde Loisel
She is beautiful but poor by background. So she marries a poor clerk. But she isn't happy with this because she thinks she deserves to have wealth, good expensive clothes and jewellery.
Madame Forestier
She is a school friend of Mathilde and she is rich.

OVERVIEW
Mr. Loisel gets an invitation of a big party from the ministry. He tells her wife, Mathilde, thinking that she will be happy. But he is WRONG. She doesn't care about it and says: "I haven't a dress and so I can't go to this party" At this Mr Loisel becomes sad and he buys a dress for his wife by sacrificing his wish of buying a GUN.
But at this she doesn't satisfy. Then she demands that she doesn't have any JEWELLERY (necklace). But He, definitely, couldn't afford this and tells her to borrow it from her friend. She does as she is told and after then they both go to the party. On the way back to home, she loses the necklace.
(I don't want to spoil the ending, SORRY. It is just so unexpected)

MESSAGE
After reading this short story I felt, we should be satisfied with the things we have. Don't envy others!

THINGS I LIKED
Everything!

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
Nothing!

RECOMMENDATION
This short story will be perfect for everyone. I suggest you to read The Diamond Necklace not The Necklace. But I read the necklace by mistake. Both are same with different wording. But The Diamond Necklace has more details.
^_^

Click below to read it:
https://americanliterature.com/author...

13 November

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Literary fiction short stories, French.

[Anna Petruk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in a row that I read to practice my French. I think I'm done for now :) I owned this slim volume of Guy de Maupassant's short stories for many years, I'm glad I finally had the courage to pick it up. It was quite challenging, I have to admit, I think I should stick to something easier for now. As for the short stories themselves - I really enjoyed reading them! Will definitely seek out more of Maupassant's stuff, perhaps in translation.

[Gary Inbinder · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent selection of Maupassant's stories, of which "The Necklace" is the most familiar from numerous anthologies. Several of the stories including "The Necklace", are examples of Slice of Life Realism. Many are set in the author's native Normandy, some on the coastline by the Channel, others to the south by the Bay of Biscay. A few have an urban setting, usually in Paris, and one is set in the Alps. The story-lines run the gamut, from comedy (Theodole Sabot's Confession and The Wrong House) to horror (The Wolf and The Inn). Some are written as frame stories, for example a group of people gather together and tell tales on a particular theme; the narrator's story is the one we read, and it's a corker. One story, The Trip of Le Horla, about the author's experience in a balloon journey from Paris to the mouth of the Scheldt, is wonderfully descriptive with a suspenseful ending.

Almost all the stories have an ironic twist, and many play on a theme of loss and regret: lost youth, lost beauty, lost love, and lost innocence.

This is an old translation, probably no longer the best but still serviceable, and you can hardly beat the price: $0.99 for Kindle.

[Jenn(ifer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a tender place in my heart for cripples, bastards, and broken things.

No, that doesn't ring true for Maupassant. In fact, I don't feel much tenderness at all from his writing. But what he does have in spades is a firm grasp on the reality of his time. He seems to be a man who tells it like it is, and fuck your feelings. You should have seen it coming. Because we're all so damn predictable - would rather live years in torment than fess up. We'll give up all we have to be liked and respected, if only for a moment. It's human nature, after all.

[Gautam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb collection.

[Lisa of Troy]

The Greatest 25 Short Stories of All Time According to Forbes - #18: https://www.forbes.com/sites/entertai...

[Mark Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's said that De Maupassant's mentor was literary kingpin Gustave Flaubert, writer of the famous Madame Bovary (and also influential for names such as Proust, Baudelaire and Zola).

He must have listened well, as he went onto become a master of the short story himself, and this collection is evidence. A perfect mix of gallows humour and a swathe of oddball characters. He has a meticulous eye for the humdrum, both in character and setting.

In the title story The Necklace, a pretty and charming girl named Mathilde is born into a poor family and married to a little and plain thrifty clerk. She dreams of long reception halls hung with antique silks and of sitting rooms made for famous and sought-after men.

Her chance to glow comes from an invitation to a glamorous ball. She laments: 'And what do you want me to put on my back to go there?'. Nevertheless, she is given a lofty sum to go out and get a pretty frock. But this isn't enough, for fear of looking 'poverty-stricken'. She wants some jewellery to accompany it. 'There is nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich'.

Thus, she calls a favour from a rich friend named Madame Forestier, and picks out a superb diamond necklace to borrow. Mathilde is revered at the ball, deemed the prettiest and most splendid there. Arguably the best night of her life however quickly turns sour having misplaced the borrowed Necklace. Be careful what you wish for.

The other stories are equally as playful and intuitive. 'Mouche' (meaning fly in English) is a bizarre tale of a prostitute living on a boat with four men. 'Little Soldier' is a crippling tale of love and loss and bridges the gap between life and death. And 'The Piece of String' is a hysterical tale, borderline farcical, about a man who is tormented by an accusation of a stolen pocketbook.

You can read all of these in an hour. They're very moreish. I've just ordered another of De Maupassant's collected stories as I'm itching for more.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Едноименния разказ го помня и до днес, мощен символ за привидност и истина, куха норма и разбито от напразни усилия сърце.

[Hiraeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Дали, защото това ми беше най-любимата книга като малко дете (подходящо, знам), в мен остана една склонност да съм съпричастна на всякакви видове меланхолии, не знам. Сигурно.
Мопасан е брутален магьосник в разкриването на човешката низост. Забележителна черта на доста френски писатели, между другото. Както и да е.
Брилянтен е.

[Martha☀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many, many years ago, I read a collection of Maupassant's stories in French, back when course reading lists dictated my reading goals and when I willingly did what I was told. But to read them again, in English, of my own volition, is an entirely different experience. How I enjoyed his conversational style of writing and his deep understanding of the lower castes of society. It is impossible to choose a favourite story, although I lean towards The Necklace simply because he captures the honesty of the poorer class so remarkably. I also loved Uncle Jules for the compassion which a child shows towards a destitute oyster shucker. Despite the 130 years between his writing and my reading, the themes are constant and have stood the test of time.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the necklace a young woman unknowingly changes her life beyond measure, for a fleeting chance of pretending to be something and someone she is not.

[kamila gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked a long shift today, where my only role was to sit and see if people had wristbands for our event. That means that as soon as I’d started Guy De Maupassant’s short stories, I finished them! I’ll review them one by one.

Ball of Fat : Was a little difficult to understand, had to reread it a couple of times to get the message. Interesting portrayal of the variety of life to be found across France! I liked seeing all these archetypes in one place, albeit they probably didn’t appreciate being stuck together on the train.

The Necklace : Blew my mind when we read in French class last year! I love irony, this is definitely a short story that packs a punch.

A Piece of String : I understand what Maupassant was going for here, I did feel for the protagonist. However; in comparison to his other psychological thrillers like The Night and The Horla, this one kind of pales a little in my opinion.

Mme. Tellier’s Establishment : I appreciate Maupassant’s treatment of the topic of sex work in Normandy! It was a sweet story, the relationship between the women was very heartfelt.

Mademoiselle Fifi : Uh…I’m glad she got her revenge.

Miss Harriet : Tragic and infuriating. He cheated on her and still kissed her corpse after she killed herself? I have no words.

A Way to Wealth : One of the more boring ones, kind of glossed over it.

My Uncle Jules : Second verse same as the first.

The Horla : I am speechless once more. Maupassant was an extremely gifted writer, having a clear knack for wielding language in a way that fully immerses the reader into the experiences and the oftentimes declining psyche of his protagonists. This is definitely one of the best psychological thriller short stories I’ve read, the ending gave me chills.

[Bakhta Rahmani · Rating 5 out of 5]

• المال ليس هو السعادة، ربما فقط يجعل من الحزن والهمّ أقلّ وطأة على النفس، ربّما.
• الصدق دائما منجاة، مهما كان سوءه.
• الطموح شيء مهم في الحياة كما يجعل لها قيمة ما، لكن لابد من القناعة فيما يتعلق بعدة أمور لكي يخلق نوع من التوازن الذي يحتاجه الإنسان ليرتاح قليلا على الأقل، فغياب القناعة غيابا تاما من ذهن الإنسان يعتبر مهلكة نفسية وجشع، لا غير.
• غالبا الإنسان مجبول على معرفة قيمة الشيء بعد فقدانه.
• النّهاية الملتوية في القصة هي أجمل ما فيها.



هذه القصة مليئة بالعبر والقيم التي ينبغي غرسها في الأطفال وهم في طور نشأتهم الأول لتكوين مجموعة من الأخلاق والقناعات والسلوكات التي تجعل من تعايشه داخل المجتمع الواحد سلمي وذا نفع لجميع الأطراف.
كأن توضع ضمن مناهج الدراسة في تعليمه الابتدائي.
حيث نجد بعض المُحلّلين لهذه القصة من الجانب النفسي يقولون أنّ لكل حدث دلالته الخاصّة في نفس السيدة لوازيل، مثل إعجابها بالعقد المزيف فهو ليس سوى إنعكاس لدوافعها ورغباتها المزيفة. وأيضا إضاعتها للعقد تفسير على أنّها لم تكن ترغب في إعادته من الأساس لشدة تعلقها به أو لانتصارها اللحظي الذي حققته أثناء الحفل وإعجاب الحاضرين بأناقتها.

العِقد هي الهيئة الناضجة للقصّة القصيرة بكل عناصرها ومُتطلباتها.

[MissInfo · Rating 4 out of 5]

i remember when my parents and relatives would give me big heavy leather-bound books as presents. Now we get emails with redemption codes on them for ones and zeros. I'm not trying to be profound, or whiny, I love both. But I'm just in awe of some of the books I read years ago. And how my standards have degraded, lol.
Anyways....my aunt Kunmimi gave me a copy of this in junior high. Maybe it was for a birthday or to congratulate on a piano recital. Either way, I need to find that book. It was beautiful, red leather, gold leaf page edges, and Maupassant's stories were fantastic. Little bits of French society scandal and karmic retribution. Rich people falling into destitution, poor people lucking up, irony and lots of fashion detail.
I wish I could watch all of this on the boob tube via Masterpiece Classics marathon.

[Tsung · Rating 4 out of 5]

GDMP's writing is unabashedly lewd, raunchy and rowdy. Party on Guy!

Having read The Necklace many years ago, it has lost some of its lustre. Still it is a valuable lesson about vanity and false appearances.

Butterball is a sordid tale of self-preservation, connivance, hypocrisy and ingratitude. A group of French bourgeoisie, two nuns and a prostitute are fleeing as the Germans advance in the Franco Prussian War. They are detained at an inn by a German officer who makes an indecent proposal. The storytelling is ribald and hilarious, which conceals the real bullying and injustice.

The Tellier House is an uplifting story. Despite the grotesque caricatures, unflattering body descriptions and salacious activities, it turns out to be a joyous celebration. A madame and her five prostitutes, find themselves the centre of attention. Whether its at their house of sin or at a child's christening in church, the bedizened ladies are good-natured and sincere.

On the Water is a crepuscular, riverine horror.

Mademoiselle Fifi is a brilliant story. The characters, descriptions and narration are perfect. A small French town was occupied and oppressed by a garrison of Prussian soldiers. The only permitted resistance from the locals was that the church belfry would remain silent while the invaders were present. The only opposition to this dissent was from the cruel and sadistic second lieutenant with the nickname of Mademoiselle Fifi. The slacker Prussian officers brought in prostitutes for their amusement but young disaffected Jewess Rachel could not tolerate it. The final tolling of the church bell was a neat, ironic touch.

The Mask is Dorian Grayish, except with more insecurity and a long-suffering partner.

The Inn is a psychological thriller, like Stephen King's The Shining but different.

A Day in the Country is hilarious. Two young lads flirt with a delightfully corpulent mother and a beautiful daughter. But the spoils go to the smart one.

The Hand a disjointed horror story.

The Jewels has a plot hole.

The Model Not to give any spoilers away, that's Hofmiller and Edith, but only if you know them.

The Entity Supernatural or psychological. Probably nuts.

Overall, an enjoyable read

[Tasnim Dewan Orin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a treat!

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

You've probably read "The Necklace" at some point: in grade school, perhaps in a college literature class, or in a collection containing short stories from various authors. It's very good, and its mirror image, "The Jewels" (which I hadn't read previously) is also very good. I appreciate that "Ball of Fat" (Boule de Suif) is translated here as "Butterball", a slightly nicer word for the prostitute who appears within the story. Two "horror" stories here entitled "The Hand" and "The Entity" feel like Poe and were written at about the same time Poe was writing. This collection seems to try to give us 12 varied stories/themes to represent this author, but for me they were uneven in quality: "On the Water", for example, has an inexplicable, out of nowhere, final line that feels tacked on by the author as if he didn't know how to end the story, so he just wrote a final line at random. (Of course, this feeling could have been the way the translator saw the story.) I enjoyed this collection, and will read more of Maupassant's extensive amount of short stories.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't help it, but I loved this short story because the protagonist got what was coming to her. That's what happens when you are ungrateful, prideful, and went more than you can afford. Just desserts as the say...

I never used to enjoy short stories, because well, they are short. Once you get into them they're over, but I'm finding great pleasure in reading them. I think it takes great skill to write short stories, because you have to work harder to catch the attention of the reader, because you don't have countless pages to intrigue.

[Shahad takleef · Rating 4 out of 5]

c'était une belle, tres féminin et tres touchante petite histoire courte. je l'ai lu en deux séances séparées par une longue période. Je vais essayer d'écrire un plus long , plus détaillé commentaire en français dans les prochains jours.

[Jackson Cyril · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the stories here are breathtakingly beautiful, and others unbearably sad. All told in Maupassant's spare, barebones prose.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Merci pour 15 sur 15 au bac✨

[Khadeeja]

Was good