Bel Ami; Or, the History of a Scoundrel: A Novel
1885
Georges Duroy has nothing but his looks, his name, and an unshakeable belief that the world owes him everything. Arriving in Paris with empty pockets and unlimited ambition, he discovers that charm is currency enough. A chance meeting with an old army comrade leads to a job at a powerful newspaper, and from there, Duroy begins his methodical ascent through Parisian society, seducing women who can advance him, discarding them when they've served their purpose, and manipulating his way into rooms where he once belonged only as a servant. Maupassant writes with surgical precision about a man who knows exactly what he is and has no intention of changing. The novel crackles with the energy of belle époque Paris, its newspaper offices, its dinner parties, its financial intrigues, but beneath the glittering surface lies something dark and honest about how power actually works. This is a book that knows what it wants and takes it without apology.
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“Life is a slope. As long as you're going up you're always looking towards the top and you feel happy, but when you reach it, suddenly you can see the road going downhill and death at the end of it all. It's slow going up and quick going down.””
— Guy de Maupassant
“The only certainty is death.””
— Guy de Maupassant
“We breathe, sleep, drink, eat, work and then die! The end of life is death. What do you long for? Love? A few kisses and you will be powerless. Money? What for? To gratify your desires. Glory? What coems after it all? Death! Death alone is certain.””
— Guy de Maupassant
“In fact living is dying.””
— Guy de Maupassant
“Les paroles d'amour, qui sont toujours les mêmes, prennent le goût des lèvres dont elles sortent.””
— Guy de Maupassant
“In the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed man is king.””
— Guy de Maupassant
“Yes, this is the only good thing in life: love! To hold a woman you love in your arms! That is the ultimate in human happiness.””
— Guy de Maupassant
“It's not difficult to appear bright, don't worry. The main thing is never to show obvious ignorance of anything. You prevaricate, avoid the difficulty, steer clear of the problem and then catch other people out by using a dictionary. All men are stupid oafs and ignorant nincompoops.””
— Guy de Maupassant
“It was one of those bitter mornings when the whole of nature is shiny, brittle, and hard, like crystal. The trees, decked out in frost, seem to have sweated ice; the earth resounds beneath one's feet; the tiniest sounds carry a long way in the dry air; the blue sky is bright as a mirror, and the sun moves through space in icy brilliance, casting on the frozen world rays which bestow no warmth upon anything.””
— Guy de Maupassant
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Maupassant, Guy de. Bel Ami; Or, the History of a Scoundrel: A Novel. Lex, lex-books.com/book/bel-ami-or-the-history-of-a-scoundrel-a-novel-64797f0a-505d-45c1-a35c-9ac5656668db.Maupassant, G. D. (1885). Bel Ami; Or, the History of a Scoundrel: A Novel. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/bel-ami-or-the-history-of-a-scoundrel-a-novel-64797f0a-505d-45c1-a35c-9ac5656668dbMaupassant, Guy de. Bel Ami; Or, the History of a Scoundrel: A Novel. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/bel-ami-or-the-history-of-a-scoundrel-a-novel-64797f0a-505d-45c1-a35c-9ac5656668db.
