Welcome to Litsy!

An 1885 French novel suggested by a friend about an opportunistic young man hustling his way through life in France eventually profiting from the war in Morocco. Very lengthy as novels at that time were.

The main character is a ruthless, despicable social climber, but his ascent from penniless ex-soldier to Parisienne society elite is fascinating. A satisfying mix of careful plotting, character development, realistic description and social commentary.
Oh, how I love a good, chunky 19th-novel!

This book turned out to be a real page-turner, something I never expected. It is a story of unlimited ambition; the ambition of George Duroy who, by the end of the book, has turned himself into Baron Du Roy de Cantel. He uses his women just to reach his next goal.
De Maupassant takes you on a wild ride through Paris at the end of the 19th century, its politics, its customs, its society and its role in Northern Africa. #1001books

"And they sat, all three, for almost an hour waiting for dinner, motionless, merely exchanging a word here and there, any word, however pointless or trite, as though it was secretly dangerous to let the stillness continue for too long, to allow the air of this death-haunted room to congeal into silence."