Dangerous Liaisons (Penguin Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Pierre-Ambrois-Francois Choderlos de Laclos (Author), Helen Constantine (Editor, Translator)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: October 30, 2007

A new translation of one of the most notorious novels of all time

Published just years before the French Revolution, Laclos's great novel of moral and emotional depravity is a disturbing and ultimately damning portrayal of a decadent society. Aristocrats and ex-lovers Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont embark on a sophisticated game of seduction and manipulation to bring amusement to their jaded lives. While Merteuil challenges Valmont to seduce an innocent convent girl, he is also occupied with the conquest of a virtuous married woman. Eventually their human pawns respond, and the consequences prove to be more serious-and deadly-than the players could have ever predicted.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If this book burns, it burns as only ice can burn."
-Baudelaire

About the Author

Choderlos de Laclos (1741-1803) entered the army at the age of eighteen and reached the rank of capitaine-commandant without seeing battle. He was sent to the island of Aix, where Dangerous Liaisons was written.
Helen Constantine, current chairman of the Translators' Association, has translated Théophile Gautier's Mademoiselle de Maupin for Penguin Classics.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (October 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140449574
• ISBN-13: 978-0140449570
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb - absolutely so., April 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dangerous Liasons (Audio CD) (Audio CD)

I loved the movie Dangerous Liasons with Glenn Close and John Malkovich and decided to try this audio version of the book. I can't say it was better than the movie, but the audio is superb. It is on 3 CDs and so is longer than the movie and supplies more detail. Since it is in letter form, its style more closely follows the book. The readers show incredible and intense emotion in their voices - you can almost see them in your mind. It made my commuting a joy for several days - I was almost sorry when I got to the office or arrived back home and had to quit listening. Such devious-ness! Who is the most wicked? Enjoy.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally on Kindle!, October 11, 2009

By 

DB "DB" (NYC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dangerous Liaisons (Penguin Classics) (Kindle Edition)

Finally a Kindle edition of de Laclos' masterpiece! The novel (adapted into a fine film with Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeifer in the 1980s) is one of the great works of world literature. Shocking in its sexual candor, even by modern standards, it offers great insight into the decadence of French aristocracy on the eve of the French Revolution as the two main characters set out to debase and destroy innocent lives - all for their own amusement.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Putting the FUN in Dysfunctional, May 25, 2011

By 

Gina Guillotine (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dangerous Liaisons (Les Liaisons Dangereuses) (Paperback)

Such corruption. Such ruthlessness. I love this book because I find the good guys so boring, and here we have perfectly delicious bad guys and gals doing horrible things to each other.

I've recommended this book to people, and only a couple have enjoyed it, but the others tend to read bodice rippers, and this one has sex and intrigue, but not in the typical way.

If you want fun and love among the ruins of an innocent's life, this is your book.