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• Reputation: 103 Q&A: 3 0 0 45 2 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 5 topics Books & Writing Book Recommendations General Book Discussion Other Books & Writing Book Club- A Visit from the Goon Squad Follow Following 0 mishalibrarian

  2 0 I also loved Choderlos de Laclos's novel. I thought it was so clever and surprisingly fast-paced and gripping for an epistolary novel. I also thought that it was very French--in that, even though it was old its themes and sexuality still felt very fresh and even a bit shocking still. Another writer who made me feel that way was another older French author, Honore de Balzac's Cousin Bette. It also features some devilishly conniving people and tangled plots. And for more ribald French writing, you can also try Colette. You might also enjoy Shakespeare's Troilus & Cressida. And then for another contemporary love story novel also told in letters, try David Grossman's Be My Knife. mishalibrarian answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report 2 comments by shw3nn and mishalibrarian… 0 0 These are great! I will definitely try them. But I just can't resist teasing you about the description of Be My Knife: "We could be like two people who inject themselves with truth serum, and at long last have to tell it--the truth." It sounds like the opposite book ;) shw3nn commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 I can take the teasing. And you know, "Hopeful Monsters" is a wonderful book--Marty is right about that one! mishalibrarian commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 1254 Q&A: 23 0 18 493 64 1 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Moderator Marty Unger is a moderator on Questionland Seattle Follow Following 5

  2 0 Check out "Hopeful Monsters" by Nicholas Mosley. It's a beautiful story told in letters during pre-WWII Europe with philosophy and physics as the backdrop. One of my favorite novels. Can't wait to read "Les Liasons Dangereuses" by the way. Marty Unger answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by shw3nn… 0 0 Thanks, I'll definitely try it. I must admit I am envious of you reading Liasons for the first time. Can I suggest you read the bio of de Laclos in the book you get or online or what have you? It really informed my reading of the novel. shw3nn commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  2 0 Have you read Elective Affinities, by Goethe? It doesn't have the same breathless quality as LLD; it's much more measured (almost literally so), but it is most definitely cerebral, especially if you're into chemistry or topography. I'll also suggest Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It's thrilling, and pure genius. Irena answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by shw3nn… 0 0 Nice, I'll give Goethe a try! I have read Frankenstein and liked it a lot. shw3nn commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  2 0 Flaubert. Or Stendhal, but Flaubert. Fnarf answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by shw3nn… 1 0 Both are on my kindle, now. Thanks. shw3nn commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I agree that LLD is in a class of it's own. I also like the less edgy novels of the 18th C, in particular there is Evelina, by Fanny Burney,, which is a favorite of mine. I recall trying to read Pamela when I was a teenager, it was hard work, but is still memorable. These two books also provide an interesting foil to LLD. Have you read Patrick O'Brian's series, starting with Master and Commander? One of the delights of it is that reactions and character are often implied rather than explicitly drawn. And they are ripping yarns. ozchick answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by shw3nn… 0 0 No, I've not read that. I'll definitely try. Thanks! shw3nn commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 Great question! What is that you love about it (cerebral and subtextual are a little vague)? When I read it I was going through my erotica faze. So I also got into reading the Marquis de Sade, the Decameron and Collette. Jenn Forbes answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by shw3nn… 0 0 I was vague on purpose because I didn't want to spoil it for anybody who isn't familiar. So, SPOILER ALERT!!! This is what I love about it. It's told in letters, most of which are written by two inveterate liars and master manipulators. The Marquis and Valmont use sex as currency but it's the game that really gets them off. So you have at least two dubious narratives. You find out later that Tourvel, the "celestial prude" was never completely honest, either. So, by subtextual and cerebral and a puzzle, this is what I mean and I've never read anything else like this: Tourvel gets some letters from Volanges about what a cad Valmont is. This totally fucks up his chances to fuck Tourvel. Why would Volanges start writing Tourvel about Valmont when Volanges and Tourvel barely know each other? Well, the Marquis is staying with Volanges. Valmont refused to help the Marquis...no, more than that. The Marquis would want Valmont angry with Volange who the Marquis is staying with, remember. So, let's say the Marquis put Mmme Volanges up to writing those letters. Did Valmont figure that out? That would explain why his "seduction" of Cecille was so traumatic. So, does the Marquis realize? Did the Marquis expect him to know she was behind it? Are they consciously warring? At no point is any of this acknowledged. They don't even hint at it. You don't get to see how they first respond to anything. You don't get to gauge how they really feel about it. All you get is each letter which is that person's careful, long crafted next move. Just writing about it I'm making myself sad thinking that I'll never read anything that good again. shw3nn commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 639 Q&A: 22 0 0 205 6 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 5 topics Books & Writing Book Recommendations General Book Discussion Other Books & Writing Book Club- A Visit from the Goon Squad Follow Following 2 David Wright

  1 0 Try Maria Vargas Llosa's The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto. Not as modest in detail as it's 18th century forbear - okay, that's putting it mildly - it is frankly a very dirty book - but jammed with salacious intrigue. For the fun of it - more sensationalistic perhaps, but still plenty to keep the mind occupied - you might try Arturo Perez-Reverte's The Fencing Master, or Philippa Stockley's A Factory of Cunning might show you a good time. Ian McEwan's bite-sized Amsterdam might please. Perhaps Henry James The Aspern Papers, and The Turn of the Screw. It seems you might enjoy John Fowles - perhaps The Magus, or A Maggot. Complex, cerebral, but with lots of seduction and juice and high stakes. Perhaps A.S. Byatt's Angels and Insects, for the same reason. And - getting creepier still - Patrick McGrath's Asylum. And to sidle into a genre where subtle, subtextual tales of seduction and betrayal are the very thing, you might go out on a limb and try John le Carre's The Little Drummer Girl. David Wright answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by shw3nn… 1 0 Wow! This is an embarrassment of riches! Thank you! shw3nn commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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