''Une vie'' also known as ''L'Humble Vérité'' is the first novel written by

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

. It was serialised in 1883 in the ''

Gil Blas ''Gil Blas'' (french: L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane ) is a picaresque novel by Alain-René Lesage published between 1715 and 1735. It was highly popular, and was translated several times into English, most notably as The Adventures of G ...

'', then published in book form the same year as ''L'Humble Vérité''. It was the basis for the 1958 film '' One Life'', directed by

Alexandre Astruc Alexandre Astruc (; 13 July 1923 – 19 May 2016) was a French film critic and film director. Biography Before becoming a film director he was a journalist, novelist and film critic. His contribution to the auteur theory centers on his notion o ...

, an award-winning 2016 film directed by

Stéphane Brizé Stéphane Brizé (born 18 October 1966) is a French film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Life and career Stéphane Brizé was born on 18 October 1966 in Rennes, France. He attended a University Institutes of Technology and moved to ...

, as well as a 2019 play directed by Arnaud Denis and starring

Clémentine Célarié Clémentine Célarié (born 12 October 1957) is a French actress, writer, director and singer.

Legacy

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

called ''Une Vie'' "an excellent novel, not only incomparably the best novel by Maupassant, but almost the best French novel since Hugo's ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

''."

References

1883 French novels French novels adapted into films French novels adapted into plays French-language novels Novels first published in serial form Novels by Guy de Maupassant {{1880s-novel-stub