The Works of Guy De Maupassant, Vol. 1: Boule De Suif and Other Stories
The Works of Guy De Maupassant, Vol. 1: Boule De Suif and Other Stories
They speak of patriotism until survival is at stake. This is the brutal premise of Maupassant's masterpiece, a novella that strips away civilized pretension to reveal what lies beneath. "Boule de Suif" follows a carriage fleeing Prussian-occupied Rouen. Among the passengers: aristocrats, businessmen, a count, a democrat, and Boule de Suif, a well-known prostitute whose generous frame earned her the nickname. When Prussian officers detain the carriage and demand Boule de Suif's compliance, her fellow passengers, those who loudly proclaimed their devotion to France, quietly pressure her to sacrifice herself. Their patriotism dissolves the moment it costs them anything. Maupassant watches it all with a surgeon's eye, exposing the cowardice that polite society dresses up as virtue. This collection showcases the author's gift for compression: in a few pages, entire moral universes collapse. The other stories in this volume radiate the same cold clarity, exposing the rot beneath France's shiny surface. Each tale is a small machine for detecting hypocrisy.
