What are you currently reading?

[aligreto]

I am a huge fan of French literature but haven't read Maupassant yet. My favorite French writers are Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas pére.

His best stuff are the stories rather than the novels.
I once flipped through several different anthologies of "best stories". There was almost no overlap, because there are so many to choose from.

I would agree with Ken B; focus on the short stories.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Sherlock Holmes once again: The Adventure Of The Golden Pince Nez.

[ritter]

Françoise Gilot's book on her years with Picasso:

[asin]2264042605[/asin]
Very entertaining.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I would agree with Ken B; focus on the short stories.

For what it's worth, I found "The Complete Short Stories" of Guy de Maupassant on Amazon.com in a Kindle edition by Centaur Classics for the princely sum of $0.99.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F873EH0/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o00_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I can't comment on the quality of the edition yet, have not really looked at it, but it does have a live table of contents. I don't know of it's availability on other amazon sites. (Amazon only lets you buy kindle content on the site that matches the locale of your account.)

[André]

Looks like a fantastic deal, Baron. You can pick and choose from the various stories (norman, parisian, others) by Maupassant. Hope you enjoy them !

[JBS]

You don't need Amazon when you can get it from Project Gutenberg
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Maupassant

[Ken B]

As always folks, translations matter. Pick a modern translation.

[JBS]

As always folks, translations matter. Pick a modern translation.

In my experience these cheapie Kindle collections are the same translations as thise listed on PG . So why pay 99 cents for what you can get for free?

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

In my experience these cheapie Kindle collections are the same translations as thise listed on PG . So why pay 99 cents for what you can get for free?

For the princely sum of $0.99 the publisher makes the ebook available in my Kindle library for transparent download on on my Kindle and in the Kindle Apps in all of my iOS, MacOS and Windows devices. It is a price I am willing to pay to be freed of the chore of managing a file downloaded from PG.

Looks like a fantastic deal, Baron. You can pick and choose from the various stories (norman, parisian, others) by Maupassant. Hope you enjoy them !

One drawback of this edition is that the stories are not grouped in the categories you mention. Wikipedia is no help. Also, no mention or credit to translators. Oh well.

I know I read Bel Ami at some point, don't remember it. What's the first story I should read?

[André]

I don't know the english titles, but it must be easy to get it through a wiki article on Maupassant. Try these:

Boule de suif
La maison de Mme Tellier (the maison is of course a brothel)
La petite Roque
Miss Harriet
Le rosier de Mme Husson (Britten used it for his comic opera Albert Herring)
Toine
Le Horla (a fantastic/horror story)
Le Père Amable

Etc, etc.

Among the novels, try Une vie.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I don't know the english titles, but it must be easy to get it through a wiki article on Maupassant. Try these:

Boule de suif
La maison de Mme Tellier (the maison is of course a brothel)
La petite Roque
Miss Harriet
Le rosier de Mme Husson (Britten used it for his comic opera Albert Herring)
Toine
Le Horla (a fantastic/horror story)
Le Père Amable

Etc, etc.

Among the novels, try Une vie.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[bwv 1080]

Apparently Ron Howard is currently at work on a movie adaptation that will be released next year. 

[Ken B]

For the princely sum of $0.99 the publisher makes the ebook available in my Kindle library for transparent download on on my Kindle and in the Kindle Apps in all of my iOS, MacOS and Windows devices. It is a price I am willing to pay to be freed of the chore of managing a file downloaded from PG.

One drawback of this edition is that the stories are not grouped in the categories you mention. Wikipedia is no help. Also, no mention or credit to translators. Oh well.

I know I read Bel Ami at some point, don't remember it. What's the first story I should read?

Boule de suif  was his first published story, and a good one. Aka Ball of Fat. I like the peasant stories the best but The Necklace is 5he most frequently anthologized and good.

But any best of anthology.

[Karl Henning]

'Halloween' crushed the box office — and here's how Jamie Lee Curtis made history

[Karl Henning]

The Volkswagen brand name, logo or shield does not feature anywhere in the film [The Love Bug (1968)], as the automaker did not permit Disney to use the name. The only logos can be briefly seen in at least two places, however. The first instance is on the brake pedals during the first scene where Herbie takes control with Jim inside (on the freeway when Herbie runs into Thorndyke's Rolls Royce), and it is shown in all the future scenes when Jim is braking. The second instance is on the ignition key, when Jim tries to shut down the braking Herbie. The later sequels produced, however, do promote the Volkswagen name (as sales of the Beetle were down when the sequels were produced).

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



and wanting something a little lighter next have moved on to Jack Reacher #7:

[NikF]

A reread, although this time I've got a chess board out.  And anyone familiar with this work knows what I mean by that. Hahaha

[ritter]

Good evening, NikF! I should read Perec sometime. Any comments?

THREAD DUTY:

Approaching Pierre Drieu la Rochelle's work for the first time, with Le feu follet (Will O' the Wisp, also translated as The Fire Within):

[asin]2070118851[/asin]

[SimonNZ]

A reread, although this time I've got a chess board out.  And anyone familiar with this work knows what I mean by that. Hahaha

^Many times I've considered collecting/reading all the volumes in that numbered Harvill series.

I read that book of Perec's using only words without the letter E in them - "A Void" in English - decades ago, but can no longer remember anything else about it. Does Life: A Users Manual have references to chess in it?

[NikF]

Good evening, NikF! I should read Perec sometime. Any comments?

Hello ritter.

Here's the thing; your frame of reference is far, far broader than my own. Still, I believe that in reply to your question what I can impart has value because it's honest and true. Maybe the whole 'Oulipo' school is familiar to you. To me, it doesnt mean shit. And I fully accept that's a fault on my part. But on my second reading of this work it makes more sense. And I think it's great. I really liked it.
Having said that, I can completely understand the viewpoint of those who might consider if contrived and perhaps even tailored to meet some kind of ideal or be noted for making a statement, meeting the criteria in order to further an ideal.
If you do get around to reading this work, do post your thoughts.