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| Boule de Suif |
Do-Something-Everyday, April 6, 2016
In an odd coincidence, the last two weeks I read three novels all set in foreign countries (relative to the U.S.). They also had few
other things in common: one is an English translation of stories by a French
novelist, another one is about an American translator of Portuguese novels by a
Brazilian author and the third one is an English language novel set in a former
French colony in the Caribbean. The three books are: The Necklace and Other
Stories: Maupassant for Modern Times, translated by Sandra Smith; Ways
to Disappear by Idra Novey and, Peacekeeping by Misha Berlinski. The
last two are 21st century American novelists while Guy De Maupassant was a
late nineteenth century French author. I will be posting a review of each starting
with the best first.
I was first introduced to Maupassant via a South Indian
movie adaptation of his famous novella Boule de Suif. Later after I had
moved to the U.S., I read the English language version of it in a fat volume
that included all of his 300+ short stories. That was a while ago. Recent
events in Paris and in Western Europe have rekindled my youthful interest in
European literature and when I saw the above-mentioned book on the recent
arrivals section at my library, I was curious if these stories would hold my
interest still. Most did. Even though the stories are set in 19th
century France, many of them feel real and true almost 150 years later.
Maupassant’s stories are well known for their surprising
plot twists and often leave you wondering “what if”. Take the Necklace (La
Parure), for example, which ends with a surprise revelation that the diamond
necklace that Madame Forestier loaned to Madame Loisel was really a fake. Now
that both women know it was a genuine diamond necklace that Madame Loisel returned
to Madame Forestier, would she ask for it back? Would Madame Forestier’s
initial honesty extend to giving it back to the rightful owner? I wonder what
that conversation would have been like.
In the Question of Latin (Le
Question du Latin), when a former Latin teacher, now a prosperous grocer,
exclaims “Oh! Good Lord, Latin, Latin, Latin. A man can’t live on Latin alone!”,
could Maupassant have imagined that 150 years later that question would be
extended to English literature, Art History, Music, Anthropology and all other
disciplines unconnected to commerce?
Finally, his most famous Boule de Suif (Boule de Suif).
It is a good story but surprisingly also a trite one. In making Boule de Suif, a
generous, patriotic, sensitive prostitute misused by her hypocritical fellow
passengers, the real hero of the story, Maupassant had succumbed to the male fantasy
of a hooker with a heart of gold. In the one hundred fifty years since he wrote
that story we have seen many versions of that trope (a trope that found its
cinematic apotheosis in Julia Roberts’ Pretty Woman). In the post-feminist era,
this is one story that does not hold up well.
To sum up. In the skilled translation of Sandra Smith,
Maupassant’s stories get a fresh modern update. Give them a try.
Next week: A review of Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey.
I have posted several photos of Santa Fe Folk Art Museum on this blog post.
Click here to view them.
Thanks for visiting.
