French literature

Devouring De Maupassant: Beside Schopenhauer’s Corpse

Title: Beside Schopenhauer's Corpse Date Read: 19th September 2011 Available Online?: YES Briefly: Intrigued by another man's reading habits, the narrator sets about befriending a sick German guest who is staying at the same hotel as him. He soon … [Read more...]

Devouring De Maupassant: Miss Harriet

Title: Miss Harriet Date Read: 19th September 2011 Available Online?: YES Briefly: While on a coach trip from Etretat to the ruins of Tancarville, the old painter Leon Chenal is asked to tell a love story of which he's played a part in. He … [Read more...]

Devouring De Maupassant: The Question of Latin

Title: The Question of Latin Date Read: 12th September 2011 Available Online?: YES Briefly: Pere Piquedent is one of the finest Latin teachers in the whole of France. The problem is he doesn't know what else to do in life. He feels trapped and … [Read more...]

Devouring De Maupassant: Madame Baptiste

Title: Madame Baptiste Date Read: 12th September 2011 Available Online?: YES Briefly: The narrator, having over two hours to kill before his train arrives to take him to Paris, starts to walk around the town of Loubain. It's not long before a … [Read more...]

Devouring De Maupassant: A Queer Night in Paris

Title: A Queer Night in Paris Date Read: 5th September 2011 Available Online?: YES Briefly: On a visit to a Parisian theatre, Mattre Saval decides on a whim to visit the artist's quarter of Montmartre. It's a decision which he will soon regret. … [Read more...]

Devouring De Maupassant: Waiter, A ‘Bock’

Title: Waiter, A 'Bock' Date Read: 5th September 2011 Available Online?: YES Briefly: The narrator randomly walks into a large beer hall, and is taken aback when the scruffy man he sits next to begins speaking to him. He's even more surprised when … [Read more...]

Devouring De Maupassant: At Sea

Title: At Sea. Date Read: 30th May 2011 Available Online?: YES Briefly: On hearing the news of a fatal shipwreck, the narrator recounts the dreadful tale of a fishing accident, and how the situation became all the worse because of a brother's … [Read more...]

Devouring De Maupassant: Abandoned

Title: Abandoned. Date Read: 30th May 2011 Available Online?: YES Briefly: Miffed at his wife's recent random behaviour, Monsieur de Cadour refuses to go for a country walk with his wife on a blazing afternoon, suggesting instead that her male … [Read more...]

Devouring De Maupassant: After

Title: After. Date Read: 17th January 2011 Available Online?: YES Briefly: Showing an obvious affection for children, the aged Comtesse de Saville is puzzled as to why the equally aged Abbé Mauduit has chosen to live a life without marriage and … [Read more...]

Devouring De Maupassant: The Wrong House

Title: The Wrong House. Date Read: 17th January 2011 Available Online?: YES Briefly: Tired of the dead atmosphere that surrounds the town in which he is visiting his sister, Quartermaster Varajou goes on the hunt for entertainment of a more … [Read more...]