MAUPASSANT ne déroge pas ici à son style, si caractéristique : il décrit sans indulgence des personnages très divers et très représentatifs de son époque. Son héroïne s'inscrit dans son temps et s'en éloigne à la fois par la modernité dont elle fait preuve : libre et maîtresse de sa vie, elle est l'objet du désir et des souffrances des hommes qui l'entourent. Abordant le thème de l'amour malheureux, MAUPASSANT est sans complaisance avec ses personnages ce qui laisse à penser qu'il livre beaucoup de lui même dans son écriture. ( )

Never has such a short novel seemed so long, unless I've blocked others out of my memory. I've spent days trying to figure out what to say about it, because de Maupassant is an excellent writer, but I just could not bring myself to care about the romantic torments of his protagonist, a rich young man with time on his hands named Mariolle, or the woman he becomes obsessed with, Madame de Burne, who seems to play with the emotions of men for fun. Furthermore, many of the characters in the novel say insulting and degrading things about women, although I suppose this only reflects the time and the place. This was a bleak novel in which the members of the upper classes, even when artists of various kinds, seem removed from the reality of life and spend their time playing at parties and affairs and gossip; the only people who seem to have a grasp on something substantive are a sculptor who enters the story only briefly and a young girl Mariolle meets when he flees to the country to try to forget Madame de Burne. I felt that I was experiencing some of the torment Mariolle felt by reading endlessly about his thoughts and feelings; all I can say is that Proust did this a lot better even though he did it at much greater length. I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did.

Guy de Maupassantin myöhäisin romaani pursuilee korkealentoista kirjallista kielellä koreilua ja vanhanaikaisia eufemismeja. Romaani on - yksinkertaistettuna - kertomus rakkaussuhteesta viulunsoittaja Mariollen ja vaarallisen, itserakkaan, aikansa femme fatalen, rouva de Burnen välillä. Koko romaani koostuu oikeastaan näiden kahden henkilön välisten tunteiden kuvauksesta.

Maupassantin romaanien juonen tai aiheen kuvaus saa ne aina kuulostamaan tylsemmiltä ja pinnallisemmilta kuin ne ovat. Tätäkään romaania en olisi varmasti lukenut esimerkiksi pelkästään takakannen kuvauksen perusteella (joka sisältää mm. seuraavan oudon väitteen: Mestari tarkastelee [romaanissaan] niitä kiihottavia ja ongelmallisia mielentiloja, joihin rakkaus saattaa viedä tyypillisesti ranskalaisen mentaliteetin.). Romaani kuulostaakin takakannen perusteella lähinnä halvalta kioskikirjallisuudelta tai yliromanttiselta 1800-luvun harlekiinilta, mutta lukiessa jotenkin tottuu lauseisiin, jotka alkavat "Ah!", "Voi!" tai "Kernaasti!" Lopputuloksena on totaalisen koukuttava, päivässä tai parissa ahmittava romaani.

Alkuperäinen arvostelu

Maupassant's final novel is another gem. Perhaps readers will not find the central characters likeable but, as the introduction mentions, perhaps the book is more about who is to be pitied. Personally, I found it possible to empathize with the leads to certain degrees (as I imagine anyone who has endured a number of relationships would) and that rendered them quite believable. As always with his novels I am astonished with Maupassant's perceptive grasp of the psychology of men and women and the characters he creates from this.

If I have one problem with the novella it's with Madame de Burne. Although I find her a very interesting character the hole she has within herself also creates a hole within the story. We see and feel so much from Mariolle but so little from de Burne. It leaves the book feeling slightly imbalanced and as if there's just a little something lacking.

Otherwise it's a fine novella that packs a lot into its small size, even if it's not quite as engaging as Maupassant's best work. ( )

The back cover description threw me off for I expected a story about the games and deception we practice when we're in love but in fact the story was more of a foray into what it means to love and how love has many faces. I absolutely adored this book, the vivid descriptions of salons frequented by glittering artistes, the manner in which love manifests and most of all, the power of a woman to capture and retain a man's love. A beautiful story. ( )