To the Sun

Boule de Suif (French pronunciation: ¿[bul d¿ s¿if]), translated variously as Dumpling, Butterball, Ball of Fat, or Ball of Lard, is a famous short story by the late 19th-century French writer Guy de Maupassant, first published on 15/16 April 1880. It is arguably his most famous short story and is the title story for his collection on the Franco-Prussian War, titled Boule de Suif et Autres Contes de la Guerre (Dumpling and Other Stories of the War).

In July 1881, having established himself as a writer of great pedigree and potential and at the beginning of a ten-year period that would see him become one of the most popular authors of his age, Maupassant embarked on a dangerous journey to the troubled colony of Algeria, believed to be on the verge of an Arab insurrection. In To the Sun Maupassant describes a land and populace vanquished by the twin powers of the sun and French colonialism, he bows down before the former, finding a personal absolution in the light, heat and space of the desert. But he stands up to the latter, pointing out the faults and absurdities of French colonialism, all the while demonstrating his brilliance as a political reporter who came to understand Algeria and its problems in such a short space of time. This is the first complete English translation of Maupassant's travel book Au soleil (1884), including the three Fragments 'At the Spas'; 'In Brittany'; and 'Le Creusot', as well as full critical apparatus.