Bel-Ami

by Guy de Maupassant

Genres: Classics; Literary Fiction

Synopsis

Originally published in France in 1885, Bel-Ami is Guy de Maupassant’s second novel. Though a cynical and forthright work, Bel-Ami also radiates with the joy of life, vividly illuminating the people and places of Paris with wit, sensitivity, and humanity.

The young, good-looking Georges Duroy, known to his friends as Bel-Ami, has been working as a clerk in Paris for six months. When a chance encounter presents him with a new career opportunity as a journalist, he takes it, his great ambition gradually pushing him toward the top until he lands the position of chief editor. Duroy’s success brings him face to face with the realities of the corrupt society in which he lives—sleazy colleagues, manipulative mistresses, and crafty financiers—and he soon bows to the corruption. In a world where love is merely a means to an end, Georges Duroy takes on the parts of archseducer, blackmailer, and social climber.

This chronicle of Georges Duroy’s corrupt rise to power, from a poor ex–soldier to one of the most successful men in Paris, is a fascinating tale.

Release date: May 30, 2012

Publisher: Penguin Books

Print pages: 400