Dangerous Liaisons
1782 • 418 pages

Ratings40

Average rating3.9

15

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. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.


Become a Librarian

Reviews

Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

drama drama drama!

December 17, 2017
April 27, 2019

Flowery letters
fun sex pranks to play on friends
makes orgies seem dull.

May 13, 2020

Top Prompts

Featured Prompt

45 books

#20 in What books had the best villain of all time?

A good antagonist can mean a lot of things. It can be anything from realistic and relatable to pure evil. Some of the best villains are the ones that stick with us (and sometimes haunt our dreams)....

adam
AdamFounder
#1
And Then There Were None
#2
The Stand
#3
The Princess Bride
It
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Misery
Frankenstein
Blood Meridian
Othello
American Psycho
Batman: The Killing Joke
The Shining