Mont Oriol Or A Romance Of Auvergne V3: A Novel (1903)

Excellente lecture, Maupassant se surpasse dans ce roman, très près de notre réalité malgré les années d'écart entre l'action du livre et nos jours. C'est fou comme les époques ne changent rien aux comportements des hommes (au sens masculin du terme). Très belles images de l'Auvergne, on s'y croirait.Excellente représentation de la médecine et des médecins, malgré nos avancées technologiques, si peu de choses ont changées...Je ne vous en dis pas plus...

If I hadn't been forced to read this book for my French course, it is likely I would have enjoyed my first reading a lot more (although if I had bought it sooner I probably would not have had to stay up all night in order to finish it on time). But at any rate, I have to admit it is a pretty good novel. There is a love story, well several loves stories actually, and all of them are rather harsh and cynical. Maupassant did not believe in love, and you can tell from "Mont-Oriol". But there is more to this novel than a mere love story. It is also a great satire of doctors and medical science. The action takes place in a spa in the nineteenth century. Throughout the story, we come across half-a-dozen doctors, all hilariously portrayed and stereotyped: there's the old-fashioned one, the hyper-modern one, the religious one, the Don Juan, etc. There are descriptions of "breakthrough" medical techniques of that time, such as auto-gymnastics, in which machines make your limbs move for you, so that you don't have to rely on your will-power. True anecdote, too! Also, I read the book in French, and I have to admit I do like Maupassant's style. It's very fluid and easy to read, surprisingly modern, very cynical and downright mean sometimes, but also containing very touching and beautiful passages. All in all, I definetely recommend it.