Le Horla

Par Guy de Maupassant

Une édition de référence du Horla de Guy de Maupassant, spécialement conçue pour la lecture sur les supports numériques.
« D’où viennent ces influences mystérieuses qui changent en découragement notre bonheur et notre confiance en détresse ? On dirait que l’air, l’air invisible est plein d’inconnaissables Puissances, dont nous subissons les voisinages mystérieux. Je m’éveille plein de gaieté, avec des envies de chanter dans la gorge. – Pourquoi ? – Je descends le long de l’eau ; et soudain, après une courte promenade, je rentre désolé, comme si quelque malheur m’attendait chez moi. – Pourquoi ? – Est-ce un frisson de froid qui, frôlant ma peau, a ébranlé mes nerfs et assombri mon âme ? Est-ce la forme des nuages, ou la couleur du jour, la couleur des choses, si variable, qui, passant par mes yeux, a troublé ma pensée ? Sait-on ? »

• Langue: Français
• Éditeur: Primento Digital
• Date de sortie: 1 janv. 2012
• ISBN: 9782806238108

Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant was a French writer and poet considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern short story whose best-known works include "Boule de Suif," "Mother Sauvage," and "The Necklace." De Maupassant was heavily influenced by his mother, a divorcée who raised her sons on her own, and whose own love of the written word inspired his passion for writing. While studying poetry in Rouen, de Maupassant made the acquaintance of Gustave Flaubert, who became a supporter and life-long influence for the author. De Maupassant died in 1893 after being committed to an asylum in Paris.

Avis sur Le Horla

[bobculley · Évaluation : 3 sur 5 étoiles]

An interesting short story, presented as a novella length book by including three different versions. Each version has a different approach to the narrative: first person narration, as a "Letter from a Madman", and in a frame story in which an alienist (psychiatrist) introduces a patient, who then tells the story. All versions include the basic ideas: our perceptions are limited, so how can we judge the reality of what lies beyond them? Is possession by an invisible being very different from the effects of hypnotic suggestion? The rationality of the madman, a well-informed, French country gentleman in the late 19th century, is what makes this story of unexplained events entertaining. The first, and final, version would've been enough for me, but add a star if you're interested in the alternative narrative techniques.

[mariusgm-1 · Évaluation : 3 sur 5 étoiles]

Old-school horror story. It reminds me of 'The Double' by Dostoevsky.

[elizajane_1 · Évaluation : 5 sur 5 étoiles]

The Horla - 1887 (final version) - Fantastic piece of Gothic horror! I've read Maupassant before but this is my first time reading this story. A series of journal entries as a man tells how he is not feeling well. He takes various vacations, feels better but his illness always returns when he gets back home. He starts to believe he is going mad as his physical ailments lead to hallucinations and eventually he muses upon whether he is a rational man having hallucinations or simply a madman. However, things take a different turn when he believes his hallucination may be real and perhaps his problem is a being not of this plane. A perfectly paced example of the Victorian Gothic.Letter From a Madman - 1885 (first draft published under a pen name) - This is a mere 10 pages compared to the over 40 of the final story and is only a hint of what would become "The Horla". A man writes a letter to a doctor asking him to be put away in the madhouse and then explains what he has been suffering. Starting out as an essay on the five senses and then going on to the man's hallucinations of experiencing the missing senses, this is not a particularly exciting short story though it does end on a creepy note. There are a lot of scenes and ideas that have been used in the final story "The Horla". One can see how this story must have left the author feeling there was much more that could be told from the basic idea he had presented here.The Horla - 1886 (first version) - Not the novella of the final version but a much longer short story than the "Letter..." A good story which I quite enjoyed and would have been satisfied with giving a 4*, but having read the final version see how the story lacks its haunting Gothic creepiness. For this version a doctor invites colleagues over to hear his patient's story; which the patient then proceeds to recount. First off with this set up, we know the "madman's" fate from the beginning which is unknown in the final version and part of the pacing. The story does now contain all the same elements and events that will fill the final story but since the patient is telling a story which has happened in the past it does not have the same eeriness as the final story which is told in real time journal entries.Altogether a wonderful experience reading the progress of an idea into a brilliant novella. Even though I enjoyed the first story (the final version) the most, the whole reading experience was a 5* event!