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Title: "Complete" is misleading
Review: I had begun reading the Penguin translation of "Bel-Ami," but wanted to see other of De Maupassant's novels as well. I couldn't believe one book could contain the "complete" novels--and it DOESN'T. Sure all the titles are there, but at least for "Bel-Ami" all M's subtle character description, his satirical portraits of the nouveau riche and bourgeois wanna-be's have been stripped away, along with the sexual episodes, and such bizarre images as the Arch de Triomphe seeming ready to march into Paris. You'll never understand why Georges turns against Madeleine by reading this expurgated, bare bones narrative. Also, you'll never understand why De Maupassant is considered a remarkable (if not exactly great) writer.
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