The book and one of the movies.
I'm on page 244 out of a grand total of 389... and I don't think I have time to finish this book. I've been reading this since... um, September? Too busy to read at all + had to finish a book of the mandatory reading list (I think I'll write of that, too). You wouldn't believe how much the pile of "To read" books has grown since then. I'm thinking of putting a little list on the side. But now on to the book.
It's a pretty freely formatted book. It consists of letters, informal letters. I read somewhere that not a single dirty word is in this book... but the themes - love, sex, playing with feelings, betrayal, manipulation... you understand what they're talking about but they don't spell it out for you. Makes it quite interesting to read, since nowadays "inappropriate" words are used even when there's no need for it, just to spice it up.
I got to this book after seeing the movie Cruel Intentions (which is one of my favorite movies) which is based on this book. Usually when I see a really-really good film, I want to read the book on which it's based. Nicholas Sparks' "The Notebook" was like that, I think. If there's a book and a movie, it sort of gives you a sense of completeness when talking about the 'world' in which the book/movie takes place. That way there's the text and the pictures to illustrate it.
The movie is set in 20th century USA, while the book is set in the 18th century France. The two main characters, marquis de Merteuil and viscount de Valmont are two schemers, their lives evolve around drama, revenge, conquering the innocent and/or tricky ones. The woman has to act like a lady, pretend to be virtuous while behind the curtains she makes full use of men and plans revenge on an ex. This book is actually the story of that revenge plan, how it works, who are involved and how. The man has a "bad" reputation since his conquests have been relatively public. His mission here is to seduce a married woman, the most virtuous of them all... but he doesn't expect to fall in love.
Merteuil and Valmont also placed a bet on the success of his missions. If he were to succeed, he'd get the only woman he couldn't get: Merteuil herself. Along with 'the good girl' Tourvel and her love story with Valmont, runs the story of miss Volanges (who is promised to Merteuil's ex) and chevalier Danceny.
Merteuil's plan was to make miss Volanges, the goody two shoes, used goods (used by Valmont himself and the lover Danceny) before handing her over to the ex. So they manipulate with miss Volanges, her mother (who trusts the marquis wholeheartedly), Danceny (the fool in love..), and some smaller characters (their servants).
I'm not sure of the ending in the book but the movie ends with Valmont's death and the exposure of Merteuil... the book is actually a bit harder to reach than the movie since the movie was adapted to teenage characters and therefore it was easier for me to relate. It's been worth it, though - the original. That way nothing has been lost in "translation" (note: I'm reading in Estonian, not French, so something must be missing, still).
The whole manipulation thing is quite psychological and I find it interesting to see what people are like. Some are gullible, some are selfish, some are blind about a few things... the bottom line here being that I should try to be somewhere inbetween all of that. It shows what taking advantage of people does to you (it makes you e v i l ...) but it's not terribly moralizing since you can see how it's all done.
It's also nice to read since there aren't many restrictions. It's a simple, yet complex story, if that makes any sense. It's not bound by formatting rules or anything like that. He was free to express himself the way he wanted to. And now I'm free to understand...
And learn.
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