Bel Ami

The story chronicles the rise to power of journalist Georges Duroy from a poor ex-NCO to one of the most successful men in Paris -- most of which he achieves by means of a series of powerful, intelligent, and wealthy mistresses. It was one of those sultry, Parisian evenings when not a breath of air is stirring; the sewers exhaled poisonous gases and the restaurants the disagreeable odors of cooking and of kindred smells. Porters in their shirt-sleeves, astride their chairs, smoked their pipes at the carriage gates, and pedestrians strolled leisurely along, hats in hand. When Georges Duroy reached the boulevard he halted again, undecided as to which road to choose. Finally he turned toward the Madeleine and followed the tide of people. The large, well-patronized cafes tempted Duroy, but were he to drink only two glasses of beer in an evening, farewell to the meager supper the following night! Yet he said to himself: "I will take a glass at the Americain. By Jove, I am thirsty." He glanced at men seated at the tables, men who could afford to slake their thirst, and he scowled at them. "Rascals!"