tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post2774449275266065239..comments2023-12-20T11:32:15.997-05:00Comments on Billevesées: ZolapaloozaWilliam V. Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18120331095634473021noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-2080466512335442582009-06-03T16:26:00.405-04:002009-06-03T16:26:00.405-04:00I've read a bit of Maupassant, notably Bel Ami...I've read a bit of Maupassant, notably <i>Bel Ami</i>, <i>Mont-Oriol</i>, and several short stories, including <i>Le Horla</i>. I'm looking forward to more — and perhaps that's the right next author for me to tackle.<br /><br />As for my favorite of the Rougon-Macquart cycle, that's got to be <i>Nana</i>.William V. Madisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18120331095634473021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-44447736307117932502009-06-03T14:41:02.932-04:002009-06-03T14:41:02.932-04:00I, too, cannot recommend Maupassant enough... He ...I, too, cannot recommend Maupassant enough... He says so much in so little space! I suggest starting with the "Contes de la bécasse", which is an amazing collection of short stories... I always feel wiser after I've read something by him.Mikebenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383824651835385386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-66465381187284397382009-05-29T11:24:17.431-04:002009-05-29T11:24:17.431-04:00Out of the cycle, which one of the novels was your...Out of the cycle, which one of the novels was your favorite, and why?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-14954614569871011872009-05-25T11:41:56.024-04:002009-05-25T11:41:56.024-04:00It's refreshing to encounter a French author who d...It's refreshing to encounter a French author who does not, as you say, pass judgment on his characters, does not come down firmly on either one side or the other. If you are in search of a modern French author for your next read, I would suggest Georges Duhamel, whose attitude about his fellow French emerges in quite unexpected ways. As you may know, Duhamel was a military surgeon in the Great War. In Vie Des Martyrs, he provides as harrowing a chronicle of the ravages of war as you'll ever read -- and then reaches the opposite conclusion of someone with the sensibilities of an Oliver Stone, when he declares that all he has seen affirms his belief in the greatness of the French race, which weathered such horrors and continued to fight. A fascinating bit of cultural history -- and Duhamel also writes exceptionally well.<br /><br />I'm also a great fan of Maupassant. Sur L'Eau offers avenues of interpretation that are all the more relevant today. At the beginning of the novel, he describes the ruins of an ancient seaside fort that was built to protect Europe from the Saracens. By contrast, the final pages of the book are a description of modern-day Monaco, where corpulent Europeans go to drink, gamble, and screw. Perhaps there's a message here about the direction of Europe and its preparedness to deal with certain international tensions and problems.<br /><br />--RickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com