Selected Stories of Guy de Maupassant

from the Introduction by Catriona Seth
 
Though it does not enjoy the same status as in the English-speaking world, France s tradition of short fiction is a proud one, with much debate around the generic borders of contes and nouvelles. Charles Perrault (1628 1703), with his 1697 Contes de ma mère l Oye, gave defi ning characteristics to many renowned folk-tales and exercised considerable influence over European literature. Voltaire (1694 1778) was dismissive of stories like Zadig (1747) or Candide (1759). Now counted amongst his masterpieces, they have stood the test of time far better than the epic poetry or tragedies which he considered essential elements of his oeuvre. Diderot (1713 84) is another author whose shorter fiction mainly circulated in manuscript form during his lifetime enjoys a wide readership nowadays. The nineteenth century saw the publication of countless novellas and short stories, which often appeared in the press before being included in anthologies. Théophile Gautier (1811 72) composed numerous contes throughout his literary career, starting with La Cafetière in 1831. Baudelaire (1821 67) translated Edgar Allan Poe to critical acclaim. The work of Alphonse Daudet (1840 97) tales from Provence, Lettres de mon Moulin (1869), and stories based on events surrounding the Franco-Prussian War, Contes du lundi (1873) shows signs of literary kinship with a writer like Guy de Maupassant (1850 93). Amongst their contemporaries, Anatole France (1844 1924), whose reputation has waned since his 1921 Nobel Prize, also enjoyed considerable popular success. As a story teller, none of them arguably outshines Maupassant, who had been schooled in literature by Flaubert, the author of Trois Contes and a close friend of his mother, née Laure Le Poittevin, and her brother Alfred, himself a poet.
 
During his essential creative years, which span from 1880 ( Boule de Suif ) to 1890 ( The Olive Grove ; Idle Beauty ), Maupassant

Introduction
Select Bibliography
Chronology
 
Boule de Suif
The Necklace
Vendetta
Fear
In the Country
His Son
A Deal
Madame Husson s Rose-King
The House of Madame Tellier
The Hand
Moonlight
Mohammed-Fripouille
Miss Harriet
In the Spring
Madame Parisse
Playing with Fire
Love: Pages from a Sportsman s Diary
Mademoiselle Fifi
A Duel
St. Anthony
Julie Romain
The Umbrella
Boitelle
The Devil
The Olive Grove
Lost at Sea
The Hostelry
A Portrait
Shali
Idle Beauty
An Encounter
The Horla

GUY DE MAUPASSANT (1850-93) was known for his hugely influential short stories and the vivid realism of his novels. He was born in Normandy and served in the Franco-Prussian War, which would become the subject of some of his best-known stories. Maupassant enjoyed financial and critical success before illness led to his death in an asylum at the age of forty-two.

CATRIONA SETH is a professor of French literature at Oxford University and a Fellow of All Souls College. She was brought up in Europe and South America and spent most of her working life in France. She is known for her work on French literature and cultural history of the Enlightenment.