Apparition, et autres contes de l'étrange

by Guy de Maupassant, Marie-Claire Bancquart (éditrice)

Une morte vêtue de blanc supplie qu'on la coiffe, un loup monstrueux attaque les chasseurs, un enfant rêve de la mort de son père, une pierre tombale se soulève... Hallucinations, cauchemars ou phénomènes surnaturels ?

Des cimetières aux châteaux hantés, Maupassant nous attire aux confins de la folie et de la peur.

Nouvelles extraites des recueils Clair de lune, La Main gauche, Les sœurs Rondoli et Le Père Milon.

Genres: Classics, Gothic, Roman, Short Stories, Fiction, France

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published September 11, 2008

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

[Emma Valieu · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.5/5]

Un classique de la littérature fantastique française. Mystérieux, gothique, mélancolique, poétique et très agréable à lire.

[Clemens Eschenauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

« Oui, mais j'ai beau me raisonner, me roidir, je ne peux plus rester seul chez moi, parce qu'il y est. Je ne le verrai plus, je le sais, il ne se montrera plus, c'est fini cela. Mais il y est tout de même, dans ma pensée. Il demeure invisible, cela n'empêche qu'il y soit. Il est derrière les portes, dans l'armoire fermée, sous le lit, dans tous les coins obscurs, dans toutes les ombres. Si je tourne la porte, si j'ouvre l'armoire, si je baisse ma lumière sous le lit, si j'éclaire les coins, les ombres, il n'y est plus ; mais alors je le sens derrière moi. Je me retourne, certain cependant que je ne le verrai pas, que je ne le verrai plus. Il n'en est pas moins derrière moi, encore. »

— « Lui ? », page 72.

[Deana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, sweet, and spooky! De Maupassant is the master of the scary short story, and this is a good short collection.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une lecture à la fois riche et accessible, ce recueil de nouvelles de Maupassant ne deçoit pas: des hallucinations, des cauchemars, des apparitions...le style d'intrigue qui ne se démode pas.

[Noah Goats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guy de Maupassant was a master of the short story. This particular book is a collection of stories that have creepy or supernatural elements. It’s one of those cheap two euro volumes that have their own little rack in many French bookstores or stationary shops. They aren’t very long but are something cheap you can read while eating lunch in a Parisian cafe or, in my case, at a Del Taco in suburban Utah.

Like most short story collections, this book is a mix of winners and losers. I particularly enjoyed L’Endormeuse and La Nuit. These stories were both successful is creating an eerie mood that pulled me right in. Apparition also really worked for me, although it’s hard to say why. It’s such a straightforward, meat and potatoes kind of ghost story. There’s really nothing to distinguish it, and yet I enjoyed it. L’Endormeuse is also fascinating because Guy de Maupassant uses the story to argue in favor of assisted suicide, which is still controversial today but must have been shocking when it was written in the 1880s.

[EU · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je ne suis pas fan du format nouvelles, mais il faut reconnaître que c’est un genre que Maupassant maîtrise. Celles-ci sont inégales mais permettent néanmoins de passer un moment de détente rapide.

[Cristurean Ionuţ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,25⭐️

[Elodia Cheutou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drôle les contes :-)

[Abi . · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bien aimé

[rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Like every collection, a mix of exceptional stories and those that lean more mediocre. Loved the title story, L’Apparition (really enjoyed this one i adore a little ghost moment), as well as La Nuit and L’Endormeuse. The perfect amount of creepy and unsettling for all three, beautifully written. The rest were just okay, not memorable for me personally.