The Collected Stories of Guy de Maupassant (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Book

So I finished the fattest book of the year (750+ pages) and picked up even more fattier (1035+ pages) Stephen King (The Stand) as stuck inside the house for last three weeks which is going to last I guess another two weeks for sure :). I got this book as gift from a very darling friend of mine who accompanied me on my first visit to my favorite bookstore (Blossoms Bangalore). Wifey had bought her first iPhone and we got a cash back of five grand :) which she let me splurge on anything that I wanted. Since I was to visit our Bangalore office that same week, I dreamed of picking up a load of books from Blossoms. I told the bookstore guy that I was on a strict budget and would not like to spend anything upwards of 150/- on a book and I was there to pick up the maximum I could as I practically carried an empty bag on the flight to Bangalore. I end up picking precisely 29 books in five grand, mostly classics, all used old books, may be a few brand new. I don't know why but I find it charming to read used books which have seen better days and passed from so many hands, some of them have those side notes, some underlines, some highlights and so much more, I love all that. Looking at my diligence and the load that I picked up, my friend offered to buy me a brand new book of my choice and I was delighted to immediately grab the nearest fattest book with a name of an unknown author (to me at that time). During my return flight, my bag was scanned thrice and the cops at the airport were surprised to find only books in my bag and they actually questioned me why I came all the way to Bangalore to buy so many books :) guess none of them was a reader but they let me go with a smile. It took me almost two year to reach this one on my book-rack to read but I must say what an amazing 10 days I had with 153 stories from Guy De Maupassant. Another six months and I will be qualify for a second visit to my favorite bookstore.

Paris, as far as I know is the Art, Fashion and Romance capital of the world, only romantics or arts eccentrics live or go there :) and if 153 stories from Guy De Maupassant to be believed from the late 19th century, a major of them qualify to be perverts of a different kind. Unbelievable was the word which kept coming to my mind as I progressed from one story to another much to my own delight as they were actually not only hilarious, some were super romantic and so many of them were so heart touching that they choked me up big time. But I must say that French sense of humor is totally out of this world, as I guess this was my first experience from that part of the world as far as literature is concerned. It was quite a shocking experience to know that almost a majority of the couples were having extra-marital affairs. Not only almost all the husbands had a mistress or two at their disposal but also the wives had their own crushes in place and why not? But it was a beautiful experience to explore not only Paris, but also Venice, Italy, London and so many other iconic cities from a French eye. I seriously wished that I had taken French classes back in school / college to have read these amazing stories in their original language but translation takes nothing away from them for sure as they totally intrigued me. And I must say that the entire 750 pages of 153 stories were dedicated either to Love, Romance, Relationships of rich and poor alike or to the down trodden of the then society who tried their own ways to keep up with the evolving world. A few of the stories where the protagonist fought for a crumb of bread or for a small roof to rest under or to go through a harrowing experience just for a days survival was totally heart-touching and nerve wrecking experience. Also, I must mention that Guy De Maupassant is not at all easy on his audience from any standards, the brutality, the reality of the situation or the abrupt shocking endings of a quarter of his stories frustrated me to no end at times. He did leave so many of his stories to my own imagination (and that is frustrating) with such abrupt endings that I wished I was reading a complete novel more than reading a collection of short stories :).

Although it is very tough to pick up one favorite from a collection of 150+ but in this case undoubtedly the very first story will remain my personal favorite for a very long long time. A story that I will never forget in my life ever for two reasons, first is that a man's best friend has a huge crush on his wife and second, that on top of that the man puts a prize on his wife for his own friend to sell her. How they settle the deal by selling / buying a women by Cubic Meters was totally hilarious. The logic, formula and how the entire deal settles was one unbelievable experience. Another thing that I loved and hated in equal measures for Guy De Maupassant's stories is their length :). Some stories are as short as one and a half pages and the longest ones are like no more than 10 odd pages at the most. What hurt me was that the stories that I was falling in love with were really too short (and lets not even talk about their endings) and a few which were really not so good, kept on going to pages and pages with again no resolution by the time they ended. But overall it was a fantastic first hand experience of reading French literature at its best, giving us an amazing picture of the times in late 19th century.

Have you read Guy De Maupassant's stories? Do let me know how you liked them and if you have a favorite Maupassant novel, do tell me about it. I am big time looking forward to read one of his fledged novel at the earliest.