Pierre and Jean

by Guy de Maupassant

Overview

Pierre and Jean by Guy de Maupassant is a poignant and psychologically complex novella that delves into the dynamics of family, jealousy, and the search for identity. The story revolves around the two titular brothers, Pierre and Jean, whose lives are turned upside down when Jean unexpectedly inherits a large fortune from a family friend. As suspicions and rivalries grow, Pierre begins to question the legitimacy of his brother's inheritance, leading to a deepening rift between them and a journey of self-discovery that forces each to confront uncomfortable truths. Maupassant's writing is marked by its clarity and precision, capturing the subtleties of human emotion and the often painful realities of life. Pierre and Jean is a brilliant exploration of the destructive power of envy and the ways in which our perceptions of ourselves and others can be shaped by hidden resentments and unspoken fears. This novella stands as one of Maupassant's finest works, offering a timeless meditation on the nature of familial bonds and the human psyche.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789367009703
Publisher:	Pharos Books Private Limited
Publication date:	12/28/2024
Pages:	146
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.34(d)

About the Author

Guy de Maupassant was born in Normandy in 1850. At his parents’ separation he stayed with his mother, who was a friend of Flaubert. As a young man he was lively and athletic, but the first symptoms of syphilis appeared in the late 1870s. By this time Maupassant had become Flaubert’s pupil in the art of prose. On the publication of the first short story to which he put his name, ‘Boule de suif’, he left his job in the civil service and his temporary alliance with the disciples of Zola at Médan, and devoted his energy to professional writing. In the next eleven years he published dozens of articles, nearly three hundred stories and six novels, the best known of which are A Woman’s Life, Bel-Ami and Pierre and Jean. He led a hectic social life, lived up to his reputation for womanizing and fought his disease. By 1889 his friends saw that his mind was in danger, and in 1891 he attempted suicide and was committed to an asylum in Paris, where he died two years later.