Bel-Ami (French Edition)
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Product Description
Product Description
Young, attractive and very ambitious, George Duroy, known to his friends as Bel-Ami, is offered a job as a journalist on La Vie francaise and soon makes a great success of his new career. But he also comes face to face with the realities of the corrupt society in which he lives - the sleazy colleagues, the manipulative mistresses and wily financiers - and swiftly learns to become an arch-seducer, blackmailer and social climber in a world where love is only a means to an end. Written when Maupassant was at the height of his powers, Bel-Ami is a novel of great frankness and cynicism, but it is also infused with the sheer joy of life - depicting the scenes and characters of Paris in the belle epoque with wit, sensitivity and humanity.
About the Author
Guy de Maupassant was born in Normandy in 1850. By the late 1870s, the first signs of syphilis had appeared, and Maupassant had become Flaubert's pupil in the art of prose. He led a hectic social life, and in 1891, having tried to commit suicide, he was committed to an asylum in Paris, where he died two years later.
Douglas Parmee is a well-known French translator.
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First Sentence
Taking the change for his five-franc piece from the woman behind the till, Duroy left the restaurant. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Taking the change for his five-franc piece from the woman behind the till, Duroy left the restaurant. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's no surprise that "Bel-Ami" figures in many people's Top Ten French novels of all time. First, it is a wonderfully smooth and well-paced story that never risks becoming dull. Second, it has a kind of "eternal" quality in that it asks all the great unanswerable questions about the value of love and human achievement in the light of the certainty of death. Third and most importantly, in Georges Duroy Maupassant created a hero who stays forever in the memory as a perfect example of the ambitious man who rises from obscurity to the top by putting aside bothersome scruples and manipulating those around him, especially women. Other novelists have portrayed similar characters - why is Maupassant so successful? One reason is that he avoids psychological descriptions of Duroy from the narrator's point of view. He also avoids passing judgement on Duroy: this is not a novel written with moral purposes in mind. Instead Maupassant lets Duroy's actions and thoughts speak for themselves, as do those of the other characters. This makes Duroy a much more subtle and believable character (and it appeals especially to our early 21st century sensibilities). Also, there is a rich gallery of other characters in "Bel-Ami": Madeleine and Madame de Marelle are masterly creations, drawn with deceptive simplicity, and the political figures and journalists are very true to life. All in all, like "Anna Karenina" or "Sentimental Education", "Bel-Ami" is a novel that can be read with pleasure many times throughout one's life.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Throughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. How I would love to be Bel Ami, working my way through all those gorgeous women and fooling all the men. Bel Ami is very attractive but not always likeable. Ruthlessness, sex, cynical ambition, Paris at the end of the 19th Century, timeless story of an ambitious young man wanting more out of life than being a railway clerk. Seems autobiographical too but not completely. Bursting with life and decay, within 6 years Maupassant was dead. Amazing book. Simply written but complex underneath. Brilliant stuff!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A young soldier from a working-class background returns to civilian life and tries his luck in Paris, where he struggles to live on the pay from his boring job as a clerk. Things improve when he meets an old military friend who is an editor on a newspaper and who gives him a job as a journalist. So begins Duroy's gradual rise through Parisian society, using everyone he meets, especially women, to further his ambition, not giving a damn about anyone but himself. But of course Duroy (christened Bel-Ami by his admirers) is never satisfied with what he has; his greed is insatiable, his ambition limitless.
Maupassant is careful not to make Duroy too dislikable at first: he is a typical man, he seems to be saying, though perhaps more attractive than most, and certainly luckier, but not in the least bit unusual.
Having watched his old friend die, Duroy snaps out of his melancholy musings on the precarious, fleeting nature of life and immediately begins to seduce the young widow: 'Holding a woman in your arms! That is the limit of human happiness.'
He goes on to seduce several more women, having as many as three on the go at one time and treating them all rather badly: towards the end of the book I couldn't help wondering what kind of a guy (or Guy) the author must have been (it is apparently semi-autobiographical).
The novel is an attack on the sleaze, corruption and hypocrisy in society, with a few thoughts on death and desire thrown in, and was a great success when published in 1885. The style is straight to the point and very cynical, the prose generally modern in feel and very readable, if lacking subtlety (a few points are a little laboured at times) and I thought the translation could have been better, especially the punctuation. In places it has the feel of some existential novels written fifty years later. Despite the unpleasantness of the main character and the pessimistic view of human nature, this still manages to be quite an enjoyable book to read and an interesting comment on the society of the time.
Maupassant is careful not to make Duroy too dislikable at first: he is a typical man, he seems to be saying, though perhaps more attractive than most, and certainly luckier, but not in the least bit unusual.
Having watched his old friend die, Duroy snaps out of his melancholy musings on the precarious, fleeting nature of life and immediately begins to seduce the young widow: 'Holding a woman in your arms! That is the limit of human happiness.'
He goes on to seduce several more women, having as many as three on the go at one time and treating them all rather badly: towards the end of the book I couldn't help wondering what kind of a guy (or Guy) the author must have been (it is apparently semi-autobiographical).
The novel is an attack on the sleaze, corruption and hypocrisy in society, with a few thoughts on death and desire thrown in, and was a great success when published in 1885. The style is straight to the point and very cynical, the prose generally modern in feel and very readable, if lacking subtlety (a few points are a little laboured at times) and I thought the translation could have been better, especially the punctuation. In places it has the feel of some existential novels written fifty years later. Despite the unpleasantness of the main character and the pessimistic view of human nature, this still manages to be quite an enjoyable book to read and an interesting comment on the society of the time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Superbe!
Can't imagine Hollywood's forthcoming "take" on this classic tale of Parisian sleaze, nor the ridiculous casting of the catatonic " Rpatz" as the anti hero.
Published 2 months ago by M. A. Hill
The rise and rise of George Deroy
I found this book to be both a lovely snap shot of Paris at the later half of the nineteenth century and a very good read. Read more
Published 3 months ago by C. M. Carragher
Excellent translation
Excellent translation of this French classic. A very readable but very enjoyable read as you see the story through the eyes of the heartless and spineless titular character
Published 3 months ago by P. Rowe
Excellent Book!
Only downloaded the book yesterday and read it by last night! Just couldn't put it down!
A definite must read and I can't wait to see Rob P playing him - will be very... Read more
A definite must read and I can't wait to see Rob P playing him - will be very... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Dana
Bel-Ami (Mass Market Paperback)
Bought this as a gift for my father who loves the French language and is an avid reader. This book is the umpteenth I have bought him in the folio classique series of books, which... Read more
Published 17 months ago by dlm
A wonderful read full of passion and intrigue
I absolutely loved this book. I loved the way it was written; the language and writing style throughout is just lovely. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ms. J. C. Caswell
Great product
The book was in pefect condition when I received it and I was very satisfied with the price!
Published 21 months ago by Hannah Kate Stevenson
Racy and vivid
A vicious study of a cad climbing his way through 19th century Parisian society, but who has the lower morals, the cad or those around him? Read more
Published 22 months ago by Brownbear101
A very good read indeed.
I was pleased when I received this book and got reading straight away. It is just my kind of read and I enjoyed it very much. Read more
Published 23 months ago by E. Martinez
I should have read the description first, mostly my fault.
Unfortunately, I didn't look to see that the book was in French and therefore of no use to me as I only have limited French from school. Read more
Published on 9 May 2010 by A. John Chubb
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