Manon Lescaut
Ratings2
Average rating3.3
15
Ratings2
Average rating3.3
'The sweetness of her glance - or rather, my evil star already in its ascendant and drawing me to my ruin - did not allow me to hesitate for a moment' So begins the story of Manon Lescaut, a tale of passion and betrayal, of delinquency and misalliance, which moves from early eighteenth-century Paris - with its theatres, assemblies, and gaming-houses - via prison and deportation to a tragic denouement in the treeless waste of Louisiana. It is one of the great love stories, and also one of the most enigmatic: how reliable a witness is Des Grieux, Manon's lover, whose tale he narrates? Is Manon a thief and a whore, the image of love itself, or a thoroughly modern woman? Prévost is careful to leave the ambiguities unresolved, and to lay bare the disorders of passion. This new translation includes the vignette and eight illustrations that were approved by Prévost and first published in the edition of 1753. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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Manon Lescaut is a hard book to evaluate. On the one hand, I didn’t really had a good experience with it, it was boring some times and the story just isn’t that great. Also there aren’t many memorable episodes in my opinion, the main ones sure but the rest just isn’t kind of meh. However, when it is good it really hooks you. I was the most invested when Des Grieux tried to rescue Manon while she was going to the boat, tensions were high, the anticipation was really good, but in the end nothing much happened and it was a bit disappointing honestly. I don’t really like Des Grieux as a character nor do I do as a narrator, he’s super manipulative and he’s also very annoying and stupid a lot of times. Manon is not great either, she just doesn’t get much to do honestly, and constantly seeing her through Des Grieux’s eyes gets a bit tiresome as he always keeps repeating how perfect she is and all that. The rest of the characters are pretty forgettable to be honest, Des Grieux’s father is alright, Manon’s brother is fine but his death is a little bit anticlimactic in my opinion it should’ve gotten more attention, and then the other guy that helps them is also fine as well as the characters in America. The prison stuff is solid, the escape was good too. The stuff in America was also interesting, the ending was very good until Manon’s death as I think from there it kind of derailed a bit. Prévost’s writing is good but nothing outstanding, it’s a cool idea however to have Renoncour serve as like this figure of authority. The book surely feels a bit revolutionary, due to everything about love prevailing over duty but it still doesn’t do it very interestingly. Yeah I guess in the end Manon Lescaut is just fine, not bad but kind of hard to get through some times, even if when good comes it is rewarding.
