Did She Fall Or Was She Pushed? Dangerous Liaisons Readalong 2024

Yes, great contextual detail there, @DanceMove. I hadn't even thought about what dressing your hair meant in those circles.

And I loved "We are very worldly-wise now, don't you think?" coming after all the shaking, flushing and shrieking.

Letter 1: Cécile de Volanges to Sophie Carney at the Ursuline Convent of —

• Cécile is getting used to life at home away from the convent.
• Here she can be as idle as she pleases.
• She writes to her friend Sophie whom she knew in the convent, telling her about her new routine.
• Cécile's mother has sprung her from the convent in preparation for her marriage.
• In a moment of embarrassment, Cécile nearly fainted when meeting the man she thought was to be her husband
• Oops—the guest was the shoemaker. No worries.

And - we're off! I'll copy over the Schmoop summary when I can, but if I'm not here feel free to either copy it over yourself, or just get started on the discussion of the day's page.

The dates are in the OP. We'll try stick to the dates for the thread, so no spoilers please, but we know from past readalongs some of us will race ahead, some will fall behind, and some will disappear and may return when things are less hectic for them. All fine!

In general I'll try not to respond first all the time, but if the thread goes a bit tumbleweed there's a risk it's just me wittering on, so please do chip in. Some people's contributions are so perceptive and knowledgeable it's easy to feel a bit intimidated and not post, but it's great if we all post even if it's just "what she said".

Enjoy, Mes Petits Cheris...

So - before we start officially tomorrow, any thoughts on the Publisher's Note and Editor's Preface?

I enjoyed the humour and the sense of the author gently teasing his audience. The faux deprecation from both the "publisher" and the "editor" pre-empts any potential criticism, and pretends to distance them from the intentions and quality of the ensuing novel.

Having never read the novel before, I feel we are probably in good hands and are in for a witty and knowing treat.

Looking forward to our first lettre tomorrow.

You're very welcome @Hoolahoophop Glad you spotted us just in time.

We start officially on Wed 1st May, but we have a little homework to do first.

Luckily, @ViscountessMelbourne has read DL before and knew that the Publisher's Note and Editor's Preface are very much part of the text. So it's highly recommended to read them before we start.

Here are the Shmoop summaries - and lot's of intriguing hints about what is to come.

Publisher's Note

• The publisher feels he must warn the reader that he can't vouch for the fact that these are real letters; it could well be just a novel using letters as its structure.
• He feels this way because he thinks the letters are extremely unrealistic because the kind of evil people who are supposedly writing these letters couldn't possible exist in the present day.
• After all, it's the age of reason, and everyone is enlightened and virtuous.
• Plus there are some very unlikely scenarios in the letters.
• For example, a rich girl would never become a nun; pretty young married women just don't die of grief.
• So reader beware, this is probably all fiction.

Editor's Preface

• The "Editor" says that he would've liked to edit the letters to make their grammar and diction more correct and to shorten some he thought were way too long.
• But people objected that these were real letters and should be left as is. He disagrees, but the final decision wasn't up to him.
• Despite the literary faults of the letters, he thinks they do have advantages.
• First, he thinks that the different styles and concerns of the various letter-writers offer variety and will keep the reader from being bored.
• Most importantly, these letters are a public service
• By showing the most immoral people who corrupt the most innocent, it's a moral warning to people, especially women, to stay away from "unprincipled" people offering "friendship."
• The editor gives the book an NC-17 (US equivalent of an 18) rating ; young people should be kept away from it until they absolutely need it.
• He quotes one mother who thinks that her daughter would find the book very helpful, but not until her wedding day. He'd be happy if everyone felt it would be so useful.
• Regardless, he knows that everyone's going to find something to criticize.
• Promiscuous people won't like it because it criticizes promiscuity, and devout folks won't like it because it suggests that religion and virtue won't protect you in the end.
• Literary types will think it's too conversational; general readers might think some of the letters are too formal and suspect they're not real.
• The editor knows he can't please everyone, but if he didn't think the racy letters weren't worth reading as a moral lesson, he wouldn't have published them.

I'll stick them both up over the weekend and hope everyone gets chance to get up to speed for the start proper. Thanks @ViscountessMelbourne

Ew....