A Further Selection of the Chroniques of Guy de Maupassant

A Further Selection of the Chroniques of Guy de Maupassant, Edited with an introduction and notes by Adrian C. Ritchie, Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2004, 252 p.

ISBN, binding : 3-03910-153-6, pb.

Résumé:

This second selection of Maupassant's chroniques, edited in their original French version, includes articles on a wide range of subjects. Many are on literary, artistic or social themes, some are inspired by political events of the day. In general, some of the lighter pieces have been chosen, but in all of them Maupassant has something important to say. Maupassant often uses his chroniques to rehearse themes and topics to be developed later in short stories or novels. It is true that he never sought to re-publish them after their initial appearance in Le Gaulois, Gil Blas, or Le Figaro, but this is not to say that he did not reveal much about his inner self in these writings. Though he sometimes referred to them disparagingly as an irksome weekly obligation, he continued to offer his chroniques to the Parisian dailies when fame and fortune ensured that he had little need of the extra income they brought in. He wrote almost as many chroniques as short stories - indeed the distinction between the two genres is not always clear - and, whether the tone is facetious, serious or ironic, one can sense that Maupassant enjoys this dialogue with a regular readership. Readers or critics who ignore the journalism deprive themselves of a significant part of his overall output. This second selection shows once again that Maupassant the short-story writer and novelist was also an entertaining and observant chronicler of events in the France of his day.

Adrian C. Ritchie is Head of French (Department of Modern Languages) at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has written extensively on Maupassant, and is the editor of Guy de Maupassant: A Selection of the Political Journalism (1999) and of Guy de Maupassant: A Selection of the Chroniques (1881-87) (2002), both published by Peter Lang.