Bel-ami

<p>Guy de Maupassant's scandalous tale of an opportunistic young man corrupted by the allure of power <i>Bel-Ami</i> is translated with an introduction by Douglas Parm&#233;e in Penguin Classics.<br><br>Young attractive and very ambitious George Duroy known to his admirers as Bel-Ami is offered a job as a journalist on <i>La Vie francaise</i> and soon makes a great success of his new career. But he also comes face to face with the realities of the corrupt society in which he lives - the sleazy colleagues the manipulative mistresses and wily financiers - and swiftly learns to become an arch-seducer blackmailer and social climber in a world where love is only a means to an end. Written when Maupassant was at the height of his powers <i>Bel-Ami</i> is a novel of great frankness and cynicism but it is also infused with the sheer joy of life - depicting the scenes and characters of Paris in the <i>belle epoque</i> with wit sensitivity and humanity.<br><br>Douglas Parm&#233;e's translation captures all the vigour and vitality of Maupassant's novel. His introduction explores the similarities between Bel-Ami and Maupassant himself and demonstrates the skill with which the author depicts his large cast of characters and the French society of the Third Republic.<br><br>Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) was born in Normandy. By the late 1870s the first signs of syphilis had appeared and Maupassant had become Flaubert's pupil in the art of prose. He led a hectic social life and in 1891 having tried to commit suicide he was committed to an asylum in Paris where he died two years later.<br><br>If you enjoyed <i>Bel-Ami</i> you might like William Makepeace Thackeray's <i>Vanity Fair</i> also available in Penguin Classics.</p>