The Man Who Laughs is a novel by Victor Hugo, originally published in April 1869 under the French title L'Homme qui rit.The Man Who Laughs is a romantic masterpiece of a man whose face has been disfigured into a laughing mask in childhood, the loyal blind girl who gives him her heart, and the cruelty of the privileged aristocracy whose laughing-stock and saviour he becomes.

Victor Hugo is undoubtedly one of history's greatest authors. The Man Who Laughs might not have the same place in the literary canon as his more well known books, such as Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but it is still an incredibly powerful tale that will make a difference in your life and stick with you long after the last page.

"London, 1705. As a surrogate family of strolling players enact their nightly performance of 'Chaos vanquished', a message in a bottle, washed up after years at sea, threatens to bring chaos once again to each of their lives. To the ageing quack in charge of the troupe; to its blind and beautiful leading lady; and to Gwynplaines, the virtuous young actor whose inner nobility is masked by the mutilated face by which a grotesque, perverse, and corrupt society defines him: "The man who laughs"."--Cover.

Excerpt from The Man Who Laughs, Vol. 2 It is difficult to see why, having boulevard (boule vert), which is the same word as bowling-green, the French should have adopted boulingrin. It is surpris ing that anything as sensible as the Dictionary should indulge in useless luxuries. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895 edition. Excerpt: ... THE MAN WHO LAUGHS. PART I. THE SEA AND THE NIGHT. INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I. URSUS. I. Ursits and Homo were fast friends. Ursus was a man, Homo a wolf. Their dispositions tallied. It was the man who had christened the wolf; probably he had also chosen his own name. Having found "Ursus " fit for himself, he had found "Homo " fit for the beast. Man and wolf turned their partnership to account at fairs, at village fetes, at the corners of streets where passers-by throng, and out of the need which people seem to feel everywhere to listen to idle gossip and to buy quack medicine. The wolf, gentle and courteously subordinate, diverted the crowd. It is a pleasant thing to behold the tameness of animals. Our greatest delight is to see all the varieties of domestication parade before us. This it is which collects so many folks on the road of royal processions. VOL. i. -- l THE MAN WHO LAUGHS. PART I. THE SEA AND THE NIGHT. INTRODUCTION DEGREES CHAPTER I. URSUS. I. Ursus and Homo were fast friends. Ursus was a man, Homo a wolf. Their dispositions tallied. It was the man who had christened the wolf; probably he had also chosen his own name. Having found "Ursus " fit for himself, he had found "Homo " fit for the beast. Man and wolf turned their partnership to account at fairs, at village fetes, at the corners of streets where passers-by throng, and out of the need which people seem to feel everywhere to listen to idle gossip and to buy quack medicine. The wolf, gentle and courteously subordinate, diverted the crowd. It is a pleasant thing to behold the tameness of animals. Our greatest delight is to see all the varieties of domestication parade before us. This it is which collects so many folks on the road of royal processions. VOl. I. -- 1 Ursus and Homo...

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