“How characteristic of your perverse heart that longs only for what happens to be out of reach.” “I willingly allow that money does not guarantee happiness; but it must also be allowed that it makes happiness a great deal easier to achieve.”
***Wish List ***
DESCRIPTION
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.
FACT
- movie Les Liaisons dangereuses (1959) with Jeanne Moreau
- movie Dangerous Liaisons (1988) with Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman
-movie Cruel Intentions (1999) story set in modern day NYC
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