5 h 48 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 48 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if good looks open every door, and conscience only gets in the way?
On a summer evening in Paris, Georges Duroy has a few coins left and little to offer beyond his looks. He wants wealth, status and the admiration of women. When his old army comrade Charles Forestier offers him a chance at the newspaper La Vie Française, Duroy finds a way into a world where charm can be spent like cash.
In Guy de Maupassant’s Bel Ami; Or, The History of a Scoundrel, ambition moves between newspaper offices, political salons and private relationships. Madeleine Forestier helps Duroy write and understand power. Clotilde de Marelle becomes his lover. Around them, editors sell opinions and politicians trade on rumor. Duroy learns quickly, while Maupassant leaves you to judge what his progress costs.
What you’ll discover
- Charm without conscience Follow a handsome outsider who wants everything and owes loyalty only to himself.
- News as a weapon Enter La Vie Française, where business interests and political power shape the paper.
- Women who understand power Meet Madeleine and Clotilde, whose intelligence and independence complicate Duroy’s pursuit of status.
- Paris behind its manners Step into salons where influence, money and desire meet beneath polite conversation.
- Judgment without a sermon Stay close to Duroy’s wants while deciding for yourself what kind of man he is.
Who will love it
For readers who love sharp social comedy, stories of ambition, and Paris in the nineteenth century, and anyone curious about the mingling of journalism and politics.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A penniless sergeant walks the boulevards
- An old comrade opens the first door
- Madeleine Forestier teaches him to write
- Clotilde's daughter gives him his nickname
- The newspaper is a machine for power
- Duroy learns that charm is a currency
- Madame Walter and the conquest of the devout
- What the story is really about
- How Maupassant tells the story
Who’s who
- Georges DuroyA handsome former cavalry sergeant from Normandy who has no money and little education and wants wealth, status and the admiration of women.
- Charles ForestierDuroy's old army comrade, now a political editor at La Vie Française, who gives him his first chance but is in failing health.
- Clotilde de MarelleA free-spirited married woman who becomes Duroy's lover and treats love as a game, while keeping her own mind.
- Monsieur WalterA banker, deputy and owner of La Vie Française, who uses the paper to serve his own business and political interests.
- Madame WalterThe owner's devout, lonely wife, who lives by strict duty and becomes the target of Duroy's pursuit.
- Norbert de VarenneAn older poet at the paper, who speaks with weary clarity about age, death and the emptiness of ambition.
Formats and delivery
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- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- The key ideas in about 5 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Bel-Ami o la historia de un canalla
by Guy de Maupassant · 1885
With almost no money, Georges Duroy turns his good looks into currency in a Paris where newspapers sell influence.
Easy read5–10 hours to readEspañol
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In short
A handsome face and a few coins in his pocket: Georges Duroy walks the streets of Paris one summer evening. Guy de Maupassant published Bel Ami in 1885, and it follows a poor former cavalry soldier into the world of newspapers, salons and money.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A penniless sergeant walks the boulevards
The novel opens on a summer evening in Paris. Georges Duroy has paid for his dinner and has only a few coins left. He is tall and handsome, with a curled moustache and the walk of a soldier.
He works as a railway clerk and hates it. He dreams of money, fine clothes and admiring women. Maupassant shows his hunger in small details, such as how he debates whether to spend on a glass of beer.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1885
- Language
- Español
- Reading time
- 3 h 45 min
- Level
- Easy read
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What is Bel Ami about?
Bel Ami follows Georges Duroy, a poor former soldier in Paris who uses his looks and charm, and the help of clever women, to rise through journalism, politics and high society, whatever the cost to others.
What does Bel Ami mean?
It is the nickname a small girl, Laurine, gives to Georges Duroy, and it follows him through society as a sign of his charm.
Is Bel Ami based on a true story?
It is a work of fiction, published in 1885. Maupassant drew on his own years as a journalist and on the Paris press and politics he knew, so the world feels real.
The author
Guy de Maupassant
1850–1893 · French novelist and story writer
Guy de Maupassant was a French writer born in Normandy in 1850. He wrote short stories and novels, including A Woman’s Life (1883), Bel-Ami (1885), The Horla (1887), and Pierre and Jean (1888). He lived in France, worked as a government clerk in Paris, and died in Paris in 1893.
More by Guy de Maupassant
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