Selected Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant (Full Translation with Illustrations)

Author: (French) Guy de Maupassant
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Features: This book selects and annotates 22 of Maupassant's short stories. The chosen works represent the author's representative pieces from different periods and genres, allowing readers to explore various literary figures in Maupassant's gallery of characters. Among them, "Boule de Suif" is Maupassant's breakthrough work. Through the portrayal of passengers on a stagecoach during the Franco-Prussian War—a nobleman, a merchant, a politician, a nun, and a prostitute nicknamed "Boule de Suif"—the author condenses the attitudes and stances of different social strata in France at the time toward war and adversity. War-themed stories constitute a significant portion of Maupassant's works, and "Boule de Suif" is one of his most celebrated. The petty bourgeoisie is a class that Maupassant frequently depicts. The inclusion of "The Necklace," "The Umbrella," and "My Uncle Jean" in this book reflects the author's merciless exposure and satire of the petty bourgeoisie's vanity, greed, selfishness, and hypocrisy.