Ball of Suet: Selected Short Stories by Maupassant

Chapter 1 Preface
Ball of Fat - Preface to Selected Novellas and Short Stories of Maupassant Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), one of the greatest French writers, is known as "the three kings of short stories" together with Chekhov and O. Henry .During his short 10-year creative career, he left behind 6 novels and more than 300 short and medium stories.Representative works include "Life", "Beautiful Friend", "Ball of Fat", "Necklace", "My Uncle Jules" and so on.

Maupassant was born into a declining aristocratic family, and his parents separated shortly after his birth.He lived with his mother until he was 13.His mother was born in a scholarly family, loved literature, and became the first teacher of Maupassant's literary creation. Even after he became famous, his mother would still help him review manuscripts and give comments.Maupassant spent his childhood by the seaside in the Normandy countryside. He liked to deal with fishermen, farmers and hunters. The scene of life in rural towns has always remained in his mind and became an important material for his future creations.

In 1870, the 20-year-old Maupassant entered the University of Paris to study.In the same year when the Franco-Prussian War broke out, Maupassant volunteered to join the army.He fought bravely in the army, and at the same time witnessed the cruelty of war.Both the humiliation suffered by the motherland and the ugliness exposed by human nature left a deep impression on this young man.Later, he described the cruelty of war and how it distorted human nature in many works.

After the war, Maupassant returned to Paris and entered the navy department as a minor civil servant.The life of a civil servant is boring, so he started to study writing in his spare time, and he was taught by the famous writer Flaubert.Flaubert was a friend of Maupassant's mother and they had known each other very early.Flaubert carefully revised each of Maupassant's works, and advised him not to rush to publish, but to accumulate first.

In 1880, Maupassant published the short story "Ball of Suif", which became a blockbuster and immediately became a new star in the French literary world.This novel tells such a story: During the Franco-Prussian War, a French carriage was about to leave the enemy-occupied area, but was detained by a Prussian officer.The car was full of dignified people, and there was a prostitute named Ball-of-Fat.The Prussian officer asked Ball-of-Fat to stay with him overnight, otherwise the carriage would not be allowed to pass.This request was flatly rejected by Suif, but the people in the car begged her and forced her to sacrifice herself to save everyone, Suif finally had to succumb.But when the carriage was released the next morning, no one thanked the prostitute. Instead, they alienated her and despised her. Some wives even called her a "slut"...

Although the story is short, it profoundly reveals the cruelty of war and the ugliness of human nature. Flaubert called Ball of Suif "a masterpiece that can be handed down to the world".

The decade after 1880 was a high-yield period for Maupassant's creation, and almost all of his works were completed during this period.It is a pity that after gaining both fame and fortune, he continued to go in and out of the upper class of Paris, living a luxurious life, indulging in sensuality, and even contracted syphilis.He later became insane, attempted suicide several times, and finally died in a mental hospital in 1893 at the age of 43.

Maupassant's greatest contribution in the history of literature is to elevate the status of short stories to an unprecedented height.His own achievements are also based on short stories.

One of the characteristics of Maupassant's short stories is that they are derived from reality, lifelike and natural.He does not seek plot twists and turns, but handles it properly in terms of structural layout, choice of narrative angle, description of details, and lyrical techniques.Just intercepting a few fragments of ordinary life can reflect the true face of life, which is amazing.

In addition, the richness of themes in his short stories amazes other writers, such as the cruelty of war, the bad habits of the officialdom, the extravagance of the upper class, the daily necessities of ordinary families, the daily life in small towns, the hustle and bustle in pubs, and even in brothels. knowledge.The background of creation is all-encompassing from the noisy urban life of Paris to remote mountain villages.For example, the "Necklace" selected in this book tells the absurd experience of a couple of young civil servants. They used the price of ten years of youth to make up for the mistakes they made because of their love of vanity; He was framed, but he was not trusted by anyone, and finally died in depression; "Boar Moran" tells the story of a newspaper editor helping a businessman out of trouble...

Chinese readers are no strangers to Maupassant, because his works have been included in textbooks many times.This book contains not only familiar classics, such as "The Necklace", but also some new ones.I hope that everyone can have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of this master of short stories, and at the same time gain more reading pleasure.

(End of this chapter)