A frozen wasteland; a departing ship of villains--the notorious Comprachicos--leaving a boy behind to die, his face revealing a horrible grin engraved into it. A frozen corpse-mother in the snow, her infant girl barely alive. A man and his pet wolf bringing the children into his caravan; a new family formed.
And that's just for openers.
The Man Who Laughs is Victor Hugo's towering novel of a wandering orphan, Gwynplaine, a horribly deformed boy who rescues a blind baby from her frozen mother's breast and is then rescued by a traveling doctor who takes them both in and turns them into carnival performers has become one of the most widely read and influential books ever written.
It reveals the astounding range, subtlety, artistry, and depth of a true original, Victor Marie Hugo, author of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, and countless other literary masterworks.
Published in hundreds of editions and translated into virtually every modern language, it has not been out of print since 1869.
VICTOR HUGO (1802-1885) is one of the finest French authors. One of the greatest French novelists, poets, playwrights and socio-political figures of his time, he is probably best known for having written The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Misérables, considered one of the ten best novels ever written. The Man Who Laughs is a romantic masterpiece that deserves an equal measure of acclaim.
