Other editions of book The Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant

For days and days, nights and nights, I had dreamed of that first kiss which was to consecrate our engagement, and I knew not on what spot I should put my lips. Not on her forehead, that was accustomed to family caresses, nor on her light hair, which mercenary hands had dressed, nor on her eyes, whose curling lashes looked like little wings, because that would have made me think of the farewell caress which closes the eyelids of some dead woman whom one has adored, nor her lovely mouth, which I will not, which I must not, possess until that divine moment when Elaine will at last belong to me altogether and for always, but on that delicious little dimple which comes in one of her cheeks when she is happy, when she smiles, and which excited me as much as her voice did with languorous softness, on that evening when our flirtation began, at the Souverettes...

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A protégé of Flaubert, Maupassant's stories are characterized by their economy of style and efficient, effortless dénouement. Many of the stories are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s and several describe the futility of war and the innocent civilians who, caught in the conflict, emerge changed. He authored some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. The story "Boule de Suif" ("Ball of Fat", 1880) is often accounted his masterpiece. His most unsettling horror story, "Le Horla" (1887), was about madness and suicide. Some of the story titles are: Ball of Fat The Diamond Necklace A Piece of String The Story of a Farm Girl In the Moonlight Love Monsieur Parent Useless Beauty An Affair of State Babette A Cock Crowed

"Guy de Maupassant was a master of the short story. This collection displays his diversity, with tales that vary in theme and tone, ranging from tragedy and satire to comedy and farce.In a lucidly direct style, he provides unflinching realism and skeptical irony. He depicts the deceptions, hypocrisies and vanities at different levels of society" 1002 pages