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pk1 's review for:
Dangerous Liaisons
by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
I didn't love the ending. Other than that, this was scandalous, scathing, and laugh-out-loud funny. Oh, how I love dramatic irony! Between the double entendres and the characterizations of Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil, I am shocked this got published in 1782. Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil are interesting foils/"two sides of the same coin": the male and female libertine. At the end of the day, V de M and M de M just have . . . nothing better to do? Because they're rich and don't have to work - oh, how will they spend their time?! Society is so boooorrring. Until they choose to f*ck with people, because, well, that's always fun, right?
Choderlos de Laclos was heavily inspired by "Clarissa," but this is exploring different themes, a different society (French vs British), and a volatile time in French history (this was published just 7 years before the French Revolution). This is one of the best epistolary novels I've ever read. Truly, I think epistolary novels must be one of the most difficult forms to use because there is so much that has to be kept straight. And yet this was very easy to follow. Each character had their own voice in the letters, and I think that's a sign of Choderlos de Laclos' skill. Happy to have read this! The French continue to not disappoint with another "scandalous, scathing" portrait of society.
Choderlos de Laclos was heavily inspired by "Clarissa," but this is exploring different themes, a different society (French vs British), and a volatile time in French history (this was published just 7 years before the French Revolution). This is one of the best epistolary novels I've ever read. Truly, I think epistolary novels must be one of the most difficult forms to use because there is so much that has to be kept straight. And yet this was very easy to follow. Each character had their own voice in the letters, and I think that's a sign of Choderlos de Laclos' skill. Happy to have read this! The French continue to not disappoint with another "scandalous, scathing" portrait of society.