Pierre et Jean (Oxford World's Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
'Monsieur de Maupassant has never before been so clever.' Henry James Henry James's admiration for 'this masterly little novel' has been echoed throughout the twentieth century by readers of Pierre et Jean. It marked a turning-point in the development of French fiction, situated as it is between traditional social realism and the psychological novel. It is recognized as a classic study of filial jealousy, triggered by one of the two brothers of its title finding himself the sole inheritor of the fortune of his mother's former lover. Pierre et Jean is set in Le Havre in the 1880s and is notable for its evocation of the Normandy coastline captured by the Impressionists. But Maupassant's achievement is to have woven from this simple plot in a maritime context a brilliantly crafted exploration of the complexities at the heart of family life.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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.
Translated with an introduction by Leonard Tancock
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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First Sentence
It is not my intention here to defend the short novel that follows. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
It is not my intention here to defend the short novel that follows. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
a masterpiece from a master stylist -- this book has it all. beautiful prose and psychological tension combine in a rip-roaring tale that will have you thundering through the pages in a vicarious roller-coaster ride to the shattering finale. never has jealousy been explored so exactingly. although bel-ami remains my favourite de maupassant novel (pierre et jean is essentially an extended short story) this small book is immensely satisfying, to be enjoyed like a fine, french wine.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
These two small texts, an essay about the (technique of the) novel and the story "Pierre and Jean', are the works of a genius.
The novel has to be artless
The object of the novel is life which is `made of the most differing, unforeseen, contradictory, ill-assorted things; it is brutal, arbitrary, disconnected, full of inexplicable, illogical and contradictory disasters.'
The aim of the novel is not to tell a story, to amuse or touch our hearts, but to force us to think and understand the profound, hidden meaning of events. The author must put his work together in such a skillful, hidden and apparently artless way that it should be impossible to perceive his plan and intentions. He must demonstrate how people are modified through the influence of circumstances, how feelings and passions develop, how people struggle in all sorts of social environments, how interests clash. The psychology of the characters should be concealed behind the events of life.
Pierre and Jean
This formidable short story is a perfect example of de Maupassant's theory of the novel.
Its central subject is parental doubt, provoked by an unexpected event: an old friend leaves his entire fortune to a member of a family.
The writing is ingeniously elliptic: the boat which enters the port at the beginning of the story leaves it at the end under totally different circumstances.
The images are brilliant: `a short, round man, round through having rolled over the seven seas, whose ideas seemed round like pebbles on the shore.' `All those multicolored dresses, covering the sand like beds of flowers, these gaudy sunshades, the seductive art of gesture, voice and smile, the coquetry displayed on this beach, suddenly were revealed to him as an immense flowering of female perversity.'
The endless stream of revelations, of emotionally charged personal confrontations and of the dramatic psychological shocks, ultimately uncovers the es(sense) of life, the passion of love, for an individual human being.
This sublime text is a must read for all lovers of world literature.
The novel has to be artless
The object of the novel is life which is `made of the most differing, unforeseen, contradictory, ill-assorted things; it is brutal, arbitrary, disconnected, full of inexplicable, illogical and contradictory disasters.'
The aim of the novel is not to tell a story, to amuse or touch our hearts, but to force us to think and understand the profound, hidden meaning of events. The author must put his work together in such a skillful, hidden and apparently artless way that it should be impossible to perceive his plan and intentions. He must demonstrate how people are modified through the influence of circumstances, how feelings and passions develop, how people struggle in all sorts of social environments, how interests clash. The psychology of the characters should be concealed behind the events of life.
Pierre and Jean
This formidable short story is a perfect example of de Maupassant's theory of the novel.
Its central subject is parental doubt, provoked by an unexpected event: an old friend leaves his entire fortune to a member of a family.
The writing is ingeniously elliptic: the boat which enters the port at the beginning of the story leaves it at the end under totally different circumstances.
The images are brilliant: `a short, round man, round through having rolled over the seven seas, whose ideas seemed round like pebbles on the shore.' `All those multicolored dresses, covering the sand like beds of flowers, these gaudy sunshades, the seductive art of gesture, voice and smile, the coquetry displayed on this beach, suddenly were revealed to him as an immense flowering of female perversity.'
The endless stream of revelations, of emotionally charged personal confrontations and of the dramatic psychological shocks, ultimately uncovers the es(sense) of life, the passion of love, for an individual human being.
This sublime text is a must read for all lovers of world literature.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A little gem of a short novel from this author much more renowned for his short stories. It simply concerns the jealousy between two brothers that arises when a friend of their parents dies and leaves all his money to one of the brothers, but is very simply and well told.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Pierre et Jean - Maupassant
This book arrived very swiftly and in brand new condition and well-packaged. I was very pleased with the overall transaction.
Published 17 months ago by J. Synnott
An excellent read
I could not put this book down. I think Maupassant manages to really make his characters come alive in a very 'modern' way. He seems more a 20th century writer than 19th. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Veronica
Much to enjoy in this very French novella
I'd read quite a few of de Maupassant's short stories of course, but not one of his novels, so Pierre et Jean seemed a good place to start, particularly as it is set in an area of... Read more
Published on 10 May 2010 by A Common Reader
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