Bel-Ami is the story of the ruthlessly ambitious young journalist George Duroy’s rise from life as a poor former cavalry officer in France’s African colonies to becoming one of the most successful men in fin-de-siècle Paris, most of which he achieves by manipulating a series of powerful, intelligent and wealthy women. A devastating satire on the sordid nature of contemporary journalism.
An Irresistible Cad
Is it possible to love a book and hate it at the same time? That is the question that nags me whenever I think of Guy de Maupassant’s novel Bel-Ami (1885). It’s undoubtedly a masterpiece: the...
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