Guy de Maupassant is one of the most popular writers of the second half of the 19th century. He is the author of six novels, 260 short stories, essays, articles, poems and plays. In 1880 with the publication of “Boule de Suif” Maupassant appeared before the reader as a talented and mature author, whose name immediately became known in literary circles. The story eclipsed all other stories in the collection.
This allowed Maupassant himself to say that he "burst into literature like a meteor." In fact, there was no miracle. Before the first publication appeared, the writer went through a long school of literary apprenticeship. So, Flaubert not only taught Maupassant the ability to write, he had a significant impact on the formation of his aesthetic system. In the late 1870s Maupassant begins to attend the Zola’s Medan Circle (a circle of naturalist authors), sharing many of the positivism and some ideas of naturalistic aesthetics. But he did not consider himself a pupil of Zola.
Of great importance to Maupassant was the friendship with Turgenev. The influence of Turgenev affected primarily the depth of psychological analysis and lyricism of Maupassant, and most importantly - his skill as a short-story writer. Maupassant devotes his first collections to Flaubert and Turgenev. Maupassant attached great importance to the ability to use the "building material" of literature. He saw Flaubert's advantage over Stendhal or Balzac in that Flaubert was more a "painter" and constantly cared for style. For each thought it is necessary to find a unique and adequate way of expression, because the form of the work is not a “shell”, but its very essence. Following this lesson of Flaubert helped him to make the language of his works clear, transparent, highly flexible and expressive.
Maupassant believed that realism and naturalism of the late 19th century were magnificent and necessary stages of literature, but it would continue to develop, freeing itself from bias and conventionality and becoming an ever richer, deeper and more faithful reflection of life. He saw in literature a great social force that reveals the seeds of the future in the present and helps them grow.
All of Maupassant's work is devoted to several main topics that combine the writer’s small and large prose. From 1881 to 1890, Maupassant publishes one after another collections of short stories. In 1881 appeared “La Maison Tellier”, in 1883 “Mademoiselle Fifi” and Contes de la Becasse”. 1884 year was very productive in Maupassant’s work, he published four short-stories collections: “Miss Harriet”, “Ls Soeurs Rondoli”, “Clair de lune” and “Yvette”. In 1885 collection “Contes du jour et la nuit” was published, it contained story “The Necklace”, which brought the author even more popularity.
Three more stories collections appeared in 1886: “Monsieur Parent”, “La Petite Roque” and “Toine”. From 1887 to 1890 four more collections appeared each year accordingly: “Le Horla”, “Le Rosier de Madame Husson”, “La Main gauche”, and “L'Inutile Beauté”.
His short stories, a genre in which the talent of Maupassant was fully revealed, are sometimes called "little novels." The basis of many of them is a finely tuned dramatic composition that can paint one episode, but can span a lifetime. The plot is usually very simple, which corresponds to the laws of the development of this genre in the 19th century, when a complex event gives way to the image of a person with his thoughts and feelings. The psychological mastery of Maupassant allows to accurately and accurately portray the versatility and inconsistency of human nature, with its often unexpected, but essentially natural emotions and actions, to create a social background and pictures of nature painted with penetrating lyricism. The action in them is organically connected with philosophical thoughts and lyrical digressions; the heroes speak a lively, colorful language.
