Product Description

This collection reflects Maupassant's remarkable diversity, with stories that vary in theme and tone, and range from tragedy and satire to comedy and farce. Boule de Suife, his most famous tale exposes the brutality and hypocrisy of war. His stories are linked by irony and the frailty of human nature.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #530628 in Books
• Published on: 1999-12-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Language Notes
Text: English, French (translation)
Original Language: French

Customer Reviews

Proper.
As a language teacher and researcher, I've come to the conclusion that the single best way to learn a foreign language's vocabulary is through these sorts of dual-language texts. The reasons are many, but the ideal to which all second language learners strive is to simply relate new information to old - to learn a new word for a known concept.

This book succeeds in that department brilliantly. The translation is wonderful, without being too literal, and without being too prosaic. It captures the essence of the works without sacrificing artistic integrity... and is simply lovely.

If you're learning French, buy this.
If you're learning English, buy this.

a different word for everything
Anyone who's tried to learn a foreign language knows that the early stages involve a lot of frustration. It helps to practice speaking as much as possible, but conversation without a good vocabulary can be really tedious. That's why dual-language books are such a valuable resource. They allow the reader to learn lots of new words without memorizing lists or flipping through dictionaries.

Dual-language books are even better when they happen to be great literature, as is clearly the case with Guy De Maupassant's short stories. Despite being written in the 19th century, the collection will be of interest to 21st century readers. In fact the last story in this collection (The Horla) reads like a modern-day ghost story.

The only downside is that the text often makes use of a literary verb tense that may be confusing to beginning students of grammar. But this is a problem with all written French, and shouldn't dissuade the motivated student. This book, along with the dual-language version of Voltaire's Candide, is definitely recommended for the intermediate-level student of French.

charming stories
Useful both for English and French advanced students, in their search for Literature progress. Stories which are sometimes dramatic, sometimes funny, but always artfully written.