{"product_id":"the-man-who-laughs","title":"The Man Who Laughs","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Man Who Laughs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e was first published in 1869, during Victor Hugo’s exile in Guernsey. Set in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century England, the novel follows Gwynplaine, a young nobleman whose face has been permanently disfigured into a grotesque grin by order of the king. Travelling with Ursus, a wandering philosopher, and Dea, a blind girl he has rescued, Gwynplaine earns his living as a performer, his fixed smile concealing a life marked by cruelty and loss.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBeneath its Gothic atmosphere and extraordinary characters lies a fierce indictment of aristocratic privilege and the abuse of power. Hugo contrasts the apparent deformity of Gwynplaine with the moral ugliness of the society that made him, while exploring compassion, human dignity and the violence hidden behind social refinement. Less widely read than \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLes Misérables\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e or \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, this sprawling and uncompromising novel is among Hugo’s most radical works: a dark, imaginative romance that turns the spectacle of a single face into an indictment of an entire social order.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“There is consent in a smile, while a laugh is often a refusal.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Victor Hugo, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Man Who Laughs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Man Who Laughs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“The true title of this book should be ‘Aristocracy’.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Victor Hugo, Preface to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Man Who Laughs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64183388602698,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/fr\/products\/the-man-who-laughs","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}