Bel Ami, or The History of a Scoundrel

Guy de Maupassant (1850 - 1893)

“He had faith in his good fortune, in that power of attraction which he felt within him - a power so irresistible that all women yielded to it.”

Though firmly set in 1880s Paris, Maupassant's gripping story of an amoral journalist on the make could, with only slight modifications of detail, be updated to the 1960s, to the Reagan-Thatcher years, or maybe to the present day. Anti-hero Georges Duroy is a down-at-heel ex-soldier of no particular talent. Good-looking but somewhat lacking in self-confidence, he discovers an ability to control and exploit women - whereupon his career in journalism takes off, fuelled by the corruption of colleagues and government arrivistes. He may be a provincial Don Juan, but he is neither accident-prone nor heading for a fall...

A Hollywood screen adaptation is in preparation at the time of recording.
(Summary by Martin Geeson)

Genre(s): General Fiction

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 01 - Poverty Martin Geeson
00:28:00
Play 02 02 - Madame Forestier Martin Geeson
00:25:20
Play 03 03 - First Attempts Martin Geeson
00:20:03
Play 04 04 - Duroy Learns Something Martin Geeson
00:17:18
Play 05 05 - The First Intrigue, part one Martin Geeson
00:16:18
Play 06 06 - The First Intrigue, part two Martin Geeson
00:16:06
Play 07 07 - The First Intrigue, part three Martin Geeson
00:14:29
Play 08 08 - A Step Upward, part one Martin Geeson
00:16:04
Play 09 09 - A Step Upward, part two Martin Geeson
00:21:23
Play 10 10 - A Duel with an End Martin Geeson
00:25:34
Play 11 11 - Death and a Proposal Martin Geeson
00:36:34
Play 12 12 - Marriage, part one Martin Geeson
00:17:47
Play 13 13 - Marriage, part two Martin Geeson
00:19:24
Play 14 14 - Jealousy Martin Geeson
00:14:11
Play 15 15 - Mme Walter Takes a Hand, part one Martin Geeson
00:14:52
Play 16 16 - Mme Walter Takes a Hand, part two Martin Geeson
00:16:53
Play 17 17 - A Meeting and the Result Martin Geeson
00:21:36
Play 18 18 - Madame Marelle, part one Martin Geeson
00:22:15
Play 19 19 - Madame Marelle, part two Martin Geeson
00:13:32
Play 20 20 - The Will Martin Geeson
00:23:33
Play 21 21 - Suzanne, part one Martin Geeson
00:18:05
Play 22 22 - Suzanne, part two Martin Geeson
00:17:49
Play 23 23 - Divorce Martin Geeson
00:18:31
Play 24 24 - The Final Plot Martin Geeson
00:19:40
Play 25 25 - Attainment Martin Geeson
00:20:03