The Man Who Laughs - A Romance of English HistoryGwynplaine is a young homeless boy with a facial disfigurement who comes to the rescue of an infant girl orphaned as the result of a snowstorm. After the two are adopted by an itinerant carnival vendor called Ursus, they embark on a life on the road, for fifteen years performing to audiences in southern England. However, when Duchess Josiana, the illegitimate daughter of King James I, discovers their act, their lives are changed forever. "The Man Who Laughs" was written by Victor Hugo over a period of fifteen months while he was living in the Channel Islands, having been exiled from his native France. Contents include: "Book the First. Night not so Black as Man", "Portland Bill", "Left Alone", "Questions", "The Tree of Human Invention", "Struggle Between Death and Life", "The North Point of Portland", "Book The Second. The Hooker at Sea", "Superhuman Laws", "Our First Rough Sketches Filled In", "Troubles men on the Troubled Sea", et cetera. Victor Marie Hugo (1802 - 1885) was a French novelist, dramatist, and poet belonging to the Romantic movement. He is widely hailed as one of the most accomplished and well-known French writers, originally achieving renown for his poetical endeavours-the most notable of which are the volumes "Les Contemplations" and "La Légende des siècles". Outside of his native country, Hugo's best-known works are his novels: "Les Misérables" (1862) and "Notre-Dame de Paris" (1831), commonly known as "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame". Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this book now in an affordable, high-quality, modern edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author. |
Contents
BOOK THE THIRD THE CHILD IN THE SHADOW CHAPTER I CHESIL | |
THE EFFECT OF SNOW | |
A BURDEN MAKES A ROUGH ROAD ROUGHER | |
ANOTHER FORM OF DESERT | |
MISANTHROPY PLAYS ITS PRANKS | |
THE AWAKING | |
PART II | |
LORD DAVID DIRRYMOIR | |
BOOK THE SECOND THE HOOKER AT SEA CHAPTER I SUPERHUMAN LAWS | |
OUR FIRST ROUGH SKETCHES FILLED | |
TROUBLED MEN ON THE TROUBLED | |
A CLOUD DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS ENTERS ON THE SCENE | |
HARDQUANONNE | |
THEY THINK THAT HELP IS AT HAND | |
SUPERHUMAN HORRORS | |
NIX ET | |
THE CHARGE CONFIDED TO A RAGING | |
THE COLOSSAL SAVAGE THE STORM | |
THE CASKETS | |
FACE TO FACE WITH THE ROCK | |
FACE TO FACE WITH NIGHT | |
ORTACH | |
PORTENTOSUM MARE | |
THE PROBLEM SUDDENLY WORKS IN SILENCE | |
THE LAST RESOURCE | |
THE HIGHEST RESOURCE | |
THE DUCHESS JOSIANA | |
THE LEADER OF FASHION | |
QUEEN ANNE | |
BARKILPHEDRO | |
BARKILPHEDRO GNAWS HIS | |
INFERI | |
HATE IS AS STRONG AS LOVE | |
THE FLAME WHICH WOULD BE SEEN IF MAN WERE TRANSPARENT | |
BARKILPHEDRO IN AMBUSCADE | |
SCOTLAND IRELAND AND ENGLAND | |
BOOK THE SECOND GWYNPLAINE AND DEA CHAPTER I WHEREIN WE SEE THE FACE OF HIM OF WHOM WE HAVE HITHERTO SEE... | |
CHAPTER II | |
OCULOS NON HABET ET VIDET CHAPTER IV WELLMATCHED LOVERS | |
THE BLUE SKY THROUGH THE BLACK CLOUD | |
URSUS AS TUTOR AND URSUS AS GUARDIAN CHAPTER VII BLINDNESS GIVES LESSONS IN CLAIRVOYANCE | |
NOT ONLY HAPPINESS BUT PROSPERITY | |
ABSURDITIES WHICH FOLKS WITHOUT TASTE CALL POETRY | |
AN OUTSIDERS VIEW OF MEN AND THINGS | |
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Common terms and phrases
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