The complex moral ambiguities of seduction and revenge make Les Liaisons dangereuses (1782) one of the most scandalous and controversial novels in European literature. The subject of major film and stage adaptations, the novel's prime movers, the Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil, form an unholy alliance and turn seduction into a game - a game which they must win. This new translation gives Laclos a modern voice, and readers will be able a judge whether the novel is as `diabolical' and `infamous' as its critics have claimed, or whether it has much to tell us about the kind of world we ourselves live in. David Coward's introduction explodes myths about Laclos's own life and puts the book in its literary and cultural context.
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The Oxford World's Classic edition offers students an excellent introduction to this classic text and also important notes and chronologies. (Dr. Paraic Finnerty, University of Portsmouth. )
About the Author
Douglas Parm e is Retired Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge. He is the translator of Nana, Attack on the Mill (Zola) and A Sentimental Journey (Flaubert) for World's Classics. David Coward is Professor of French at the University of Leeds. He is the translator and editor of Maupassant, de Sade, and Dumas in World's Classics.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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First Sentence
Well, Sophie dear, as you see, I'm keeping my word and not spending all my time on bonnets and bows, I'll always have some to spare for you! Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
Well, Sophie dear, as you see, I'm keeping my word and not spending all my time on bonnets and bows, I'll always have some to spare for you! Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I just wanted to write a review about the Oxford edition of this book and not the penguin classic one, and the same reviews are under both books !?
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I have read the penguin classic version translated by PWK Stone, and I have just read the available pages on here of the Oxford edition, and its really is awful. The way it has been translated is clumsy and ugly, it sounds too modern...wheras the penguin classic version has been modernised but still retains some flavour of 18th century france along with being readable.
I would just suggest to anyone wanting to read this book to read Stones' translation and not touch this one, or at least read the first few pages of each and compare them. If I had started reading the oxford version I think I would never have bothered reading the book.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I have read the penguin classic version translated by PWK Stone, and I have just read the available pages on here of the Oxford edition, and its really is awful. The way it has been translated is clumsy and ugly, it sounds too modern...wheras the penguin classic version has been modernised but still retains some flavour of 18th century france along with being readable.
I would just suggest to anyone wanting to read this book to read Stones' translation and not touch this one, or at least read the first few pages of each and compare them. If I had started reading the oxford version I think I would never have bothered reading the book.
By H. Carlton
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Choderlos de Laclos, on the strength of this one book, was a master writer.
That this novel, written in 1779, seems so modern and fresh in 2009 is surely a mark of genius. It has all the attributes of a modern book in that it is impossible to put down (a page-turner),is spot on in descriptions of male/female behaviour (emotional intelligence), has a very moral message and most of all, spellbinding characters. That this is all achieved through a series of letters makes the result even more astonishing, as although it might put some people off to hear that a novel is written through letters, here one is so bound up in the story that it only registers later that it is entirely in letters..
Don't miss reading this. It is one of the 100 books one must read, if only purely for enjoyment.
I place it up there with Dickens, Tolstoy, Proust, et al, as a very great work of literature which manages to be utterly enjoyable as well. de Laclos expressed a wish that "this book would create some stir in the world and would continue to do so after I've gone....." It does!
That this novel, written in 1779, seems so modern and fresh in 2009 is surely a mark of genius. It has all the attributes of a modern book in that it is impossible to put down (a page-turner),is spot on in descriptions of male/female behaviour (emotional intelligence), has a very moral message and most of all, spellbinding characters. That this is all achieved through a series of letters makes the result even more astonishing, as although it might put some people off to hear that a novel is written through letters, here one is so bound up in the story that it only registers later that it is entirely in letters..
Don't miss reading this. It is one of the 100 books one must read, if only purely for enjoyment.
I place it up there with Dickens, Tolstoy, Proust, et al, as a very great work of literature which manages to be utterly enjoyable as well. de Laclos expressed a wish that "this book would create some stir in the world and would continue to do so after I've gone....." It does!
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Jessica
Format:Paperback
I first got this book out off the library, I forget where i'd heard it mentioned but it sounded good. It took me so long to read it mainly because the only time i had was in breaktimes at school. Frequently I'd not concentrate in the lessons after breaktime becauase I wanted to know what happened next. As soon as I finished it I went out and bought a copy so I could read it whenever I wanted and it's my favourite book of all time.
It's written incredibly well, the way Laclos manages to create a different style of writing for each character is amazing, and I was absolutely devastated at the end-I won't tell you why you'll just have to read it to find out.
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