Bel-Ami by Guy De Maupassant

Bel-Ami

by Guy De Maupassant

translated by Douglas Parmee

Penguin, 1982, ISBN 0140443150, paperback

Good Condition, some edge and shelf wear, some rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, some creasing and chipping, no inscriptions, age toned pages (see photographs)

“When Maupassant wrote Bel-Ami in 1885 he was in the prime of his life and at the height of his literary powers; he also knew that he was under sentence of death from syphilis.  The result is at once a celebration of life and a devastating attack upon it; a tableau of splendour and squalor, strength and weakness, success and failure.
In this penetrating analysis of power and the lust for it we witness the endeavours of a young provincial to make good in the capital: the frenetic, corrupt Paris of the Third Republic.  His single-mindedness, his exploitation of sex, his ruthless cunning and sheer good luck are presented with a wit and sensitivity which make Bel-Ami a dazzling tour -de-force.”