A Piece of String Audiobook By Guy de Maupassant cover art

A Piece of String

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A Piece of String

By: Guy de Maupassant
Narrated by: Cindy Hardin Killavey
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About this listen

 Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer. He is considered one of the fathers of the modern short story. As a protégé of Flaubert, his short stories are characterized by their economy of style and their efficient effortless resolution.

A Piece of String is one of his most famous stories and deals in a very touching way with perception versus reality.

Public Domain (P)1978 Jimcin Recordings Classics Short Story

Editorial reviews

In "A Piece of String", 19th-century French writer Guy de Maupassant demonstrates why he’s acclaimed as one of the first great masters of the short story.

Maître Hauchecorne sees a piece of string on the ground in the town of Goderville. Frugal like a "true Norman", he picks it up. Soon afterwards, he is accused of taking a lost pocketbook by someone who saw him picking up the string. To his great distress, no one believes his (true) story.

Cindy Hardin Killavey delivers a steady, understated performance in this richly described tale of guilt, innocence, and trial by public opinion.

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I had never read any Guy de Maupassant, and I enjoyed this story. This is a pretty good short story with an interesting idea and characterization but the narration was a bit high pitched. I had to equalize to reduce the high frequencies which were a bit grating. Not worth a credit, but worth the one buck cash price.

Great Story, troublesome narration

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