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    Les Liaisons Dangereuses: or Letters Collected in a Private Society and Published for the Instruction of Others
    Les Liaisons Dangereuses: or Letters Collected in a Private Society and Published for the Instruction of Others
    Les Liaisons Dangereuses: or Letters Collected in a Private Society and Published for the Instruction of Others
    Ebook595 pages9 hours

    Les Liaisons Dangereuses: or Letters Collected in a Private Society and Published for the Instruction of Others

    By Choderlos de Laclos

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    Daring, original, and highly erotic, this famous French epistolary novel explores the moral ambiguities of love and revenge. Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) created a succès de scandale upon its 1782 publication. More than two centuries later, this dark tale of calculating seduction and betrayal retains its grip on the popular imagination, thanks in part to its adaptations for stage and screen.
    Set in the final days of the ancien régime, Les Liaisons offers a revealing portrait of decadence among the French aristocracy on the eve of the Revolution. Its series of intimate letters chronicles the amorous adventures of the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont. Clever, wealthy, and bored, they amuse themselves by devising a game that uses sex to humiliate other members of their social circle. No winners emerge from their battles, in which the innocent suffer alongside the guilty.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateApr 25, 2012
    ISBN9780486153681
    Les Liaisons Dangereuses: or Letters Collected in a Private Society and Published for the Instruction of Others
    Author

    Choderlos de Laclos

    Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos; (18 October 1741 – 5 September 1803) was a French novelist, official, Freemason and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) (1782).

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    Reviews for Les Liaisons Dangereuses

    4/5

    1,119 ratings33 reviews

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    • 4/5
      In letter form, two rich bored French nobles (one female, one male) seduce and ruin whoever takes their fancy. It was very shocking for its time, especially as it was thought to be about real people. Mostly entertaining but I feel it gets very bogged down and dull in the middle section. A rare case when the movie was better.
    • 5/5
      Dangerous Liaisons, the classic French story of how the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont use sex to destroy the innocent, humiliate their enemies and also to amuse themselves. Fantastic twist and seriously good plot turns.

      Film adaptations include the marvelous period piece with Glen Close and John Malcovitch and also the modern adaptation Cruel Intentions with Buffy the Vampire slayer which is ok.

      Get the book for free at the internet archive where it's listed under the title, "Dangerous connections, a series of letters."
    • 5/5
      This is one of my top 3 favorite books. One of the best epistolary novels ever written, it chronicles the adventures of two courtiers, le ViComte Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil and their manipulative adventures in the world of courtly "love." Spurned by her lover, Merteuil wants to corrupt his finace by having someone take her virginity. Meanwhile, Valmont is insistant of seducing the young and beautiful Mme de Tourvel, a devoted wife. When these two devious seducers make a bet regarding Valmont's success in seducing Tourvel, amorous hell breaks loose, leading to the corruption of more than one innocent. It's a juicy read, full of beautiful people, beautiful language and an adundance of intrigue!
    • 5/5
      “Les liaisons dangereuses” tells the shocking story of two friends who amuse themselves by pursuing sexual relationships for the sole purpose of gaining power and destroying the character of their victims. Using an epistolary style that implicates the reader in making him read about events that would better have stayed private, the novel poses a great moral question: is it truly possible to be the victim of romantic manipulation, or is innocence of the dangers of trusting a stranger just as grave a fault? As the character Madame de Volanges explains, "I see the wicked punished in all this; but I find no consolation in it for their unfortunate victims." There are critics who agree with me that the novel is sometimes a bit heavy and that Laclos could have suppressed a few repetitive passages, but in general I found that the big questions of the novel were worth the slightly difficult work of reading.The Barnes and Noble edition of this book contains biographical information on the life of Laclos and his times, footnotes glossing difficult vocabulary, endnotes explaining historical and literary references cited throughout the novel, two letters excised from the original manuscript, a summary of film adaptations of the work, a set of critical comments and questions to guide further discussion, and a bibliography of additional sources pertaining to the text.
    • 5/5
      une langue magnifique, un livre sur la psychologie humaine, et une certaine "élite sociale" qui a payé sa coupure totale avec la société francaise par sa disparition. historique et intemporel.
    • 5/5
      It's a rare thing to find a Great Work of Literature which is both fun to read and (ultimately) morally edifying. Laclos has a real talent for creating characters so terrifically evil that you can't help admire them, at least a little. Then of course, when you see how tragically it all ends up, it's hard not to feel a little culpable for throwing your sympathies with the wrong folk. Which, one supposes, is exactly what this brilliant author intends.
    • 5/5
      Thrilling and neatly written, with vivid characters. The rules and morals of eighteenth century aristocracy are manipulated and broken by the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, and every move is recorded in their delicious correspondence. As always, it's the antagonists who prove the most fascinating and attractive, though Madame de Tourvel and Cecile are just as believable in their innocence. Beautiful style and creative narrative maintain this book as a classic.
    • 5/5
      Shocking! Scandalous! An outrage to public decency! This book must have caused quite a stir when it was first printed in the late 1700's. Sexual innuendo leaps from the pages of this beautifully written epistolary novel. De Laclos certainly accomplished what he set out to do, to create a work that would last long after his death.

      The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont are two of the most devious minded characters I've ever had the pleasure to be disgusted by. Seriously. Still, I had to admire their dedication. They want revenge and will stop at nothing to get it. They know what they are doing and they do it well.

      I thoroughly savored every page of Dangerous Liaisons. Thank you to The Classics Club for spinning this book in my direction. The wit and wickedness will be on my mind for a long time to come.
    • 2/5
      I really enjoyed the introduction to the book and background on its history and author. I give that 4 stars. The letters themselves/characters are kind of bland and boring as far as people go. I can't say I find it very clever or titillating. The only person of interest is the young Cécile de Volanges. I usually don't feel a need to skim her letters.
    • 5/5
      Dangerous Liaisons is another book on the 1001 list, and one that rightfully deserves to be there, IMHO. It is an epistolary novel (a novel composed all of letters), which is one of my favourite forms (Austen's Lady Susan, Shelley's Frankenstein). Written in the late 1700s, Dangerous Liaisons is the correspondance of a group of French aristocrats who have an awful lot of time on their hands. What they spend their time doing is surprisingly interesting.The plot has two major storylines:1. The Vicomte de Valmont, a notorious womanizer, has set his sights on the virtuous Madame de Tourvel, a married woman known for her good character. Valmont's plan is to seduce Tourvel and then ruin her reputation. Why? Because it's fun.2. The Marquise de Merteuil, Valmont's ex-lover and main correspondant, as well as fellow evil-doer, sets her sights on young Cecile Volanges, a fifteen year old girl who arranged marriage to Gercourt is impending. Gercourt used to be the lover of Merteuil, but he left her for another woman. Thus, Merteuil plans to ruin Cecile, and thus embarrass Gercourt.Add to this Danceny, the man Cecile really loves; Cecile's overbearing mother; and Valmont's well-meaning aunt, and you have a cast of characters who just might deserve the fate Valmont and Merteuil hope to bring to fruition.Of course, complications arise, conquests are gained, and - shock - someone might actually show some real emotions!Dangerous Liaisons was quite the ride. If you enjoy Classic Literature, give this one a go. I was surprised at how scandalous it was, and enjoyed it for every juicy moment.
    • 3/5
      It had a very slow start, but the psychopath-ness of Merteuil and Valmont is still shocking and horrible (though the rest of the book hasn't aged as well). The footnotes of this edition were either unneeded or not present, plus if it's a translation why not just use the footnote version?
    • 3/5
      I read the audio production by audible, it was well done but it is abbreviated. But a very good dramatic presentation with multiple narrators.
    • 5/5
      An absolutely magnificent novel! To think that it was published in 1782, seven years before the French Revolution. Liberté, égalité, fraternité! It has thus been argued that the novel caught a doomed aristocracy amidst decadent and libertine ways that would soon be its undoing. The gift the novel's main characters display for casuistry, calumny, prevarication and cynical self-involvement takes the breath away even now. I've read it twice then bought this gorgeous Folio Society edition to commemorate past readings and carry me through future ones. A stunning novel. A book for real readers.
    • 5/5
      7/20 Just read it. It's good for you. And by good, I mean...well...not good precisely, since the entire novel is devoid of any kind of morality, but the story is brilliant, the writing is brilliant, and the portrayal of manipulation is just brilliant. A book to make you wonder what love us, and if we are capable of doing anything but use others to our own ends, it can be read either as pure entertainment, or as a more serious read - either way, you will enjoy it. And laugh. A lot. And be highly disturbed. It's hard to know who to root for, but that's part of what makes it fun. The relationship between Valmont and Meurteuille is fascinating, and the mystery of the two central characters keeps us reading. The bad are punished, but so are the good, and in the end, there are no straight answers - just the taste of corruption and laviciousness in our mouth. Again. Brilliant. If you read french, read it in french. It's much better that way.
    • 4/5
      I appreciate the literary significance of this epistolary novel, and I'm glad I finished it, but it was a struggle. The first 2 parts of the book I found to be boring, but I enjoyed parts 3 and 4. These aristocrat characters live in France right before the revolution. They are connected by various unhealthy love connections and clearly have too much time on their hands. The overarching theme of the book is good vs. evil. Smaller themes center on desire and war (i.e. the battle of various sexual exploits). I do recommend reading this book because of its literary weight, but it’s not an easy read.
    • 4/5
      Much more complicated and subtle than I expected: this isn't just 18th century titillation, but a very clever epistolary novel in which the letters become an integral part of the story themselves, as characters use them to trick, cajole and blackmail each other. None of the letters is just there to advance the narrative: there's always a hidden motive of some kind for the reader to decode. Unlike some 18th century novels, the plot is quite tightly constructed: the form keeps the reader's attention focussed on the two interlinked seduction stories and does away with the need for extensive descriptions and back-story. Nonetheless, we have to go through quite a few psychological twists and turns before we come to the resolution. On the way, there are a lot of good jokes, some (like Cécile's mistake in Letter I) pure slapstick, others more deeply buried in the double-meanings of the letters. The story gives you a very bleak view of human nature, though, that the rather unconvincingly moral ending does nothing to correct. I suppose that goes with the territory: libertinism seems to be the necessary corollary of enlightenment rationalism.
    • 4/5
      Deliciously decadent novel of intrigue and bad influence, in a sparkling new translation. Thoroughly enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      Excellent! Scrumptious characters all...ending is a bit rushed, though.
    • 5/5
      What a delightful, intriguing, naughty little book. This story tells the tale of the Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquis de Merteuil, two bored aristocrats who decide to amuse themselves through seduction and deceit. As printed on the back of the Oxford World's Classics edition: "In the ensuing vicious battle there can be no victors, an the innocent will suffer with the guilty."A bit of a warning, this book is not for those uncomfortable with sexual acts. Laclos's novel has been called, perhaps a bit rightly, a manual in seduction. There are so many affairs going on and people going around behind other people's back that sometimes, a character chart would have been helpful. To give you just a taste of what I'm talking about, here are the main storylines: The Vicomte de Valmont is a notorious womanizer. He has now set his eyes on a judge's wife, Madame de Tourvel, a very pious woman. While attempting to seduce her, he takes as his ward fifteen year old Cecile Volanges. She's young, pretty, and totally naive after having been raised in a convent. She's also in love with Chevalier Danceny, a twenty year old poet and musician, and he's in love with her. It's a very innocent sort of romance.The Marquis de Merteuil, one of Valmont's old flames, hates the Comte de Gercourt. Merteuil, who goes around with men as much as Valmont does with women, is angry at Gercourt for basically dumping her. Gercourt is engaged to Cecile. In order to get revenge on Gercourt, Merteuil tries to convince Valmont to seduce her as well. Meanwhile, she starts to seduce Danceny.Valmont initially doesn't want to, claiming it would be too easy. However, when Madame de Volanges, Cecile's mother, warns Tourvel of his reputation with the ladies (i.e. love 'em and leave 'em), Valmont decides to get revenge on the mother through the daughter.This is pretty much how the entire book goes. I, for one, loved it. Laclos provides us with a view of the French aristocracy in the 1700s. This book is his protest against the corruption he was witness to. He also addresses some serious issues, such as women's rights. There is one slightly disturbing rape scene in the book where the one who's doing the raping convinces his female victim that she is helpless. He's in her room at night. Were anyone to spot them, her reputation would be ruined and he would get a slap on the wrist. Laclos's skill as a writer is evident as he manages to show the reader these very serious issues through the letters flippant and artificial tone. All in all, I'd definitely recommend this book. If you're not sure, perhaps try watching the movie Cruel Intentions. It was based off of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
    • 3/5
      It is difficult to know where to begin with this review. A convoluted story, told in epistolary form, of sex and revenge in 18th century France. It is the story of two people's malicious games that they play and it how it affects the innocent. The Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil make a bet: if the Vicomte can seduce the married Madame de Tourvel, then the Marquise will sleep with him. Along the way each sleep with numerous others by design and for the purpose of hurt. There is even the rape of a 15 year old girl; although French society doesn’t see it as such at the time. The just (?) desserts at the end, where they turn on each other, is the best part! This book is 448 pages long, about 200 pages too long!
    • 5/5
      What can I say about such a classic?The story revolves around two friends/ex-lovers who entertain themselves with the game of seduction. Set in Paris in the 1700s, the Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil write to each other about their daily activities and their schemes for ruination and destruction.Despite the fact that it's written in the florid language of the 18th century, it's a quick read, though a bit heavy. You'll have to sift through different meanings of words, especially since there are so many! Despite the fact that the two main characters are in no way "good people," you'll want to know what happens to them, good or bad. You'll want to know if Valmont succeeds, and hear another tale of Merteuil's. I recommend it for everyone, even if the subject matter isn't universally liked.
    • 4/5
      Had this book since watching Cruel Intentions (this book was source material). An enjoyable though disturbing read.
    • 4/5
      What a pleasant surprise this book was. Although written in the late 1770s as an epistolary novel, an almost extinct structural device, the content was impressively dateless. The translation by Helen Constantine probably helped this effect - although not excessively modernised, the clear, concise text was probably more readable than the original French.The plot centres on two aristocrats playing cat and mouse with the lives and loves of others. The story plays on the capriciousness of the two evil characters, and the more normal responses of those around them. I found myself absorbed in the story and finding it sadly believable.I was impressed by the skill of the author to create a plot that moved along smoothly within the confines of the epistolary structure. The book was inspired by an earlier English novel "Clarissa" but it seems that this one is the one with greater depth in the psychology. In the end, the author uses great skill to bring the threads together, despatch all the main characters, and make a good end to the long tale. I recently read that Jane Austen attempted an epistolary novel, but gave up half way through - it is clearly a difficult structure to carry off successfully.Read March 2016
    • 4/5
      First of all, the epistolary format is used masterfully by Mr. de Laclos. Each character has their own way of speaking, of language used, of expressions included. The reader gets a real feel for the characters to where one almost doesn't need the headings to know who is talking. Secondly, the overall story left me discouraged. So many lives destroyed because of the selfish and evil actions of Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil. Truly, though they were clever and intellectual and witty, they were such unattractive characters, particularly as the story went on and lives began to be greatly impacted. I'm not sure that I fully appreciated this tragedy when I read this book as a young person.
    • 4/5
      This is a novel told in letters featuring two of the greatest manipulators ever created, the Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil. They are a couple of the idle rich in pre-revolutionary France who pass their time in having affairs in a cold-blooded way, to exert power, getting at least as much pleasure out of being cruel to people and subsequently ruining them, as they do in the actual pleasures of the flesh. Their prey? One is a fifteen year old virgin fresh out of the convent, Cecile Volanges, who has been engaged to be married to an older man. Another is a prim and proper married woman, a “prude”, Madame de Tourvel. Valmont seeks to conquer both with direction and assistance from the Marquise, who also has her sights on Danceny, a young man who has fallen in love with Cecile. Valmont wants to mold Cecile to his fantasies, doing whatever he wants with her, and with such vigor that she will remember him for the rest of her life as her best lover, thus “spoiling her”. However in conquering Madame de Tourvel, he seeks something far worse - he wants to get her to fall in love with him and to submit to him, even though she has been warned about his reputation. Madame de Merteuil, for her part, seeks to control the action of both Valmont and the young innocents, as well as have affairs in ways with men that lead to them disgraced in society, and her reputation unsullied. They are reptilian allies in pure evil, but while the Marquise condones Valmont’s attempts with Cecile, knowing it’s only physical, she is jealous of Madame de Tourvel, knowing the connection is admiration bordering on love (to the extent Valmont is capable of such an emotion), and because Tourvel is truly rare in her virtue as she holds out. There is thus a tension between the two which lurks in the background for most of the book, and at some point they must clash.“Les Liaisons Dangereuses” is one of those “morality tales” in that lessons can be derived, but at the same time, it was meant to shock and titillate. In 1782 it was considered pornography and banned, no doubt spurred along with those editions which had been lasciviously illustrated (sadly, this Barnes & Noble Classics is not :p). To the modern reader it’s pretty tame; the sex is only alluded to indirectly, though it may be more powerful as a result. The book is really about power and seduction in those who are evil, and true love and duty in those who are good, which, while seeming simplistic, held my interest throughout. I found the format of letters to be effective as it allowed emotions to unfold, different perspectives on the same events, and showed the outright two-facedness of the manipulators to be revealed in ways that you might find “delicious”, to use the cliché that seems so fitting here. The letters only get a little slow in repetitiveness in a couple of sections, and I thought the pace was good, though it is a pretty lengthy book. It makes me want to go watch the 1988 Academy Award winning movie of the same name. I was also unaware that the 1999 movie Cruel Intentions was based on the same characters, but it makes sense now.Quotes:On love, this from Danceny to Cecile:“And what have I to tell you, that my eyes, my embarrassment, my conduct and even my silence have not told you already? And why should you take offense at a sentiment to which you have given birth? Emanating from you, it is doubtless worthy to be offered to you; if it is ardent as my soul, it is pure as your own. Shall it be a crime to have known how to appreciate your charming face, your seductive talents, your enchanting graces, and that touching candor which adds inestimable value to qualities already so precious?”On love, or an affair, denied, from Tourvel to Valmont: “Loved and esteemed by a husband whom I both love and respect, my duty and my pleasure are centered in the same object. I am happy, I must be so. If pleasures more keen exist, I do not desire them; I would not know them. Can there be any that are sweeter than that of being at peace with oneself, of knowing only days that are serene, of sleeping without trouble and awaking without remorse? What you call happiness is but a tumult of the senses, a tempest of passions of which the mere view from the shore is terrible. Ah! why confront these tempests? How dare embark upon a sea covered with the debris of so many thousand shipwrecks? And with whom? No Monsieur, I stay on the shore; I cherish the bonds which unite me to it. I would not break them if I could; were I not held by them, I should hasten to procure them.”Later:“Do not think that absence will ever alter my sentiments for you: how shall I ever succeed in overcoming them, when I have no longer the courage to combat them? You see, I tell you all; I fear less to confess my weakness than to succumb to it; but that control which I have lost over my feelings I shall retain over my actions; yes, I shall retain it, I am resolved, be it at the cost of my life.”On the passionless, this in a letter from Merteuil to Valmont:“What a disgrace if you fail! and how little glory even if you succeed! I say more; expect no pleasure from it. Is there ever any with your prudes? I mean those in good faith. Reserved in the very midst of pleasure, they give you but a half enjoyment. That utter self-abandonment, that delirium of joy, where pleasure is purified by excess, those good things of love are not known to them. I warn you: in the happiest supposition, your Presidente will think she has done everything for you, if she treats you as her husband; and in the most tender of conjugal tete-a-tetes you are always two.”
    • 5/5
      Very compelling. Can you trust either of these characters in their plot? Great read even though written in 1782.
    • 5/5
      Well, a masterpiece is a masterpiece. This was the book that showed me the beauty of the epistolary literature.Before I used to think that letters were boring. Let the author prove you wrong on this one. It was instant love from the second letter. I read the opening lines "ma tres cher viconte" and shuddered with pleasure.
    • 4/5
      Incredibly good tale of two 18th century ruthless ex-lovers who enjoy nothing more than a good seduction. The book is told in a series of letters between the pair-- Valmont and Merteuil as they put a plan into action to seduce a convent girl as a way to get back at another of Merteuil's former lovers. Despite the heavy language and somewhat familiar feel (since so many movies have stolen from the plot,) the book is a compelling and easy read.
    • 4/5
      I don't know if this has occurred to anyone else, but all the machinations and pretenses ended up reminding me of the idea of courtly love -- of Andreas Capellanus' The Art of Courtly Love. Obviously the context is very different, and there is a consciousness of wickedness that isn't there with the medieval form of courtly love. But even so, the comparison was just so obvious to me.It's a very well put together piece of work, and I appreciate its ambiguities as well -- the translation and accompanying notes are very good. It is, of course, full of horrible people, but I think anyone who knows anything about the book knows that in advance.
    • 4/5
      Sublieme opbouw met spiegel-effecten en parallellen. Ultieme corrumpering van het woord: illustratie van de macht van het woord en de taal; Bij Valmont en Mme de Merteuil draait het uiteindelijk om macht, niet zozeer om verleiding.Nieuwigheid is niet de libertijnse graaf (al bekend van Lovelace in Richardsons Clarissa Harlow 1748), wel libertijnse vrouw!

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    Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Choderlos de Laclos

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