Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant was born on 5 August 1850 near Dieppe in Normandy and died in Paris on 6 July 1893. He grew up largely with his mother, a well-read woman who loved classical literature and Shakespeare, after she separated from her violent husband. He volunteered for the army when the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, then moved to Paris in 1871 and spent ten years as a clerk in the Navy Department, later moving to the Ministry of Public Instruction.

Gustave Flaubert became his literary guardian and introduced him to Émile Zola and Ivan Turgenev. Maupassant wrote for newspapers such as Le Figaro and Gil Blas, and in 1880 he published Boule de Suif, an instant success. He went on to write some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books and a volume of verse, including Une Vie, Bel-Ami and The Horla. Associated with realism and naturalism, he is celebrated as a master of the short story, known for economy of style and for showing ordinary people changed by forces beyond their control, often in disillusioned terms.

Reading Guy de Maupassant to learn French

Maupassant wrote in the nineteenth century, and his style is known for its economy: he says what he needs to and moves on, without ornament. That makes him a rewarding author for a learner, since the story stays clear even when the setting is unfamiliar. Expect some period vocabulary, but little that is needlessly elaborate. Start with Boule de Suif, the only book here and the story that made his name. It is set during the Franco-Prussian War and takes about 164 minutes to read. Because Paralelo aligns the French and English phrase by phrase, you can check any difficult passage against the translation beside it and keep going.