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Description edit
Young, attractive and very ambitious, George Duroy, known to his friends as Bel-Ami, is offered a job as a journalist on La Vie francaise 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... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Characters/People edit
- Georges Du Roy: Add a description of this character.
- M. Walter
- Madeleine
- M. Georges Duroy
- M. Forestier
- M. Duroy
- Suzanne
- M. De Mare
- Madame
- Mme
- M. De Marelle
- Charles
- Norbert De Varenne
- Clotilde
- Laroche
- Jacques Rival
- Walters
- Monsieur
- Mathieu
- Laurine
- Bel-ami
- Rachel
- M. Lamaneur
Quotes edit
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“For loving words, which are always the same, take their flavor from the lips by which they are uttered.”
Georges Duroy -
“The secret is not to betray your ignorance. Just maneuver, avoid the quicksands and obstacles, and the rest can be found in a dictionary.”
Forestier -
“While one is climbing the ladder, one sees the top and feels hopeful; but when one has reached that summit, one sees the descent and the end which is death. It is slow work ascending, but one descends rapidly.”
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“He thought of the insects which live several hours, of the feasts which live several days, of the men who live several years, of the worlds which last several centuries. What was the difference between one and the other? A few more dawns, that was all.”
Bel Ami
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I know perfectly well that for you love is merely a sort of appetite whereas for me it would be more a sort of… of… of communion of souls which doesn’t exist in a male’s religion. You understand the letter and I understand the spirit.
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He remained obsessed by this image of her, as sometimes happens when you have spent many hours in the company of a charming woman. You feel as though some strange, confused, disturbing force has taken possession of your whole being, a force that seems all the more precious because of its mystery.
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And yet everyone bears within himself the feverish, hopeless wish to be eternal, each person is a sort of universe within the universe
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No doubt the truth is that we were born to live more materialistically and less spiritually; but through too much thought we’ve created a discrepancy between our overdeveloped intelligence and the unchanging conditions of our life.
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She had that raddled, artificial look often found in exactresses, a sort of bogus youthfulness that has turned sour, like a stale love affair.
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What is life? A few days and then nothing more. You’re born, you grow up, you’re happy, you wait and then you die. Goodbye!
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to come. Plants, animals, men, stars, worlds, everything takes on life and then dies and is transformed. And no creature ever comes back, whether it be a man, an insect or a planet!
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They had reached the stage of witty suggestiveness, of words, veiled yet revealing, that are like a hand lifting up a skirt, the stage of clever allusions, skilfully hidden impropriety, shamelessly brazen hypocrisy, cryptic words that cover naked images and which fill the eye and the mind with a sudden vision of what dare not be said openly and enables smart society to enjoy a subtle, mysterious sort of lovemaking, a sort of marriage of impure minds, by simultaneously conjuring up, with words as sensual and disturbing as a sexual embrace, the secret, shameful desire for body to clasp body.
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Life is a slope. As long as you’re going up you’re looking towards the top and you feel happy; but when you reach it, suddenly you can see the road going downhill and death at the end of it all. It’s slow going up but quick going down.
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Duroy had taken a fancy to the Corton and he let his glass be filled each time. He was beginning to experience a delicious sensation of physical comfort, a warmth that, starting from his stomach, rose to his head and spread through every limb until his whole body was glowing. He was seized by a feeling of complete well-being, a well-being of body and mind, life and thought.
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First Sentence edit
When the cashier had handed him the change from his five-franc piece,* Georges Duroy left the restaurant.
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Penguin Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 826 of 1271 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
Preceded by Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and followed by Marius the Epicurean.
First Edition edit
Original Language: French
Publisher: V. Harvard
Country: France
Publication Date: 1885
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 126
Publisher: V. Harvard
Country: France
Publication Date: 1885
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 126
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 843.8
Subjects edit
- Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( M ) › Maupassant, Guy de
- Books › Literature & Fiction › History & Criticism › Criticism & Theory
- Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › French
- Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics
- Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary
- Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
- Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics
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