Reviews

The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo

thwak's review against another edition

dark emotional informative slow-paced

3.0

I did not know that you could just put encyclopedia articles into a novel but victor hugo has shown me a whole new world of filler. 

This book is essentially a satirical look at english society in the 1700’s mixed in with melodrama. If that’s your thing go for it but hoo boy is there a bunch of random information.

bookishwendy's review against another edition

3.0

The first half was metal and awesome what with the birds on the gallows, and then the 100ish page shipwreck in Victor Hugo's signature white-knuckle action style: "Oh no, rocks ahead! Will they hit it? Here's a full history of said rock...and whoa, they missed it by a whisker, phew! OH NO, it's another rock! Here's another 700 year history of said rock!"

Good stuff. But then along comes the stultifying romance, and then what had to have been 300 pages about British peerage -- each time you think it's finally over, bam, he hits you again! Interesting situations and characters like the duchess are dangled and tossed aside to make room for the history of the entire British nobility. And the ending...clearly someone wanted to just wrap this book up and move on to [b:Ninety-Three|63037|Ninety-Three|Victor Hugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390460695l/63037._SY75_.jpg|474309] or something already.

Anyway, I love me some Victor Hugo and I will read his tangents all day long (clearly), and Gwynplaine is such an interesting character. I wish he'd been given more room to shine.

P.S. Be very careful if you choose to play the Victor Hugo Drinking Game (TM) for this book -- that is, you take a drink each time you encounter the word "abyss". There are (checks stats) 57 instances of that word in this book, but you'd swear there was more.

authorjbr's review against another edition

4.0

Better ending than Hunchback. Might be as good as Miserables. Need to think on it more, and probably revisit it in the future.

Reread 6/25
Not as good as either Miserables or Hunchback. Quite a damning political piece, but the story is barely there to carry the point. And the ending is once again contrived beyond belief. Hugo just must hate his characters.

labelledamesansmerci's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Man Who Laughs more than Les Mis shows that you have to know a bit more about Hugo and why he wrote the way he wrote (the elaborate explanations of things only very tangentially connected to the main narrative) and even then you might be annoyed by his style. I've always been a fan so it doesn't bother me, and I really loved the story here. 

willow_with_a_pen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I read this after watching (and loving) the 1920's movie. I think I would have liked this book much more if Victor Hugo wouldn't go on seemingly random tangents for pages on end. Don't get me wrong, there are beautiful moments of writing that make it all worth it, but it's a slow read. I think, like The Phantom of the Opera, it's adaptations are more digestible. The story itself is really interesting and definitely deserves to be told more. Gwynplaine, Dea, Ursus and Homo the wolf live rent free in my mind. I would love to have them over for a warm meal and talk for hours. If you are interested in reading this book and if you haven't already, I would suggest watching the 1928 silent movie. It has a much more linear story and is just excellent in general. There is a more modern French film but unfortunately, it sucks. There's also a musical adaptation called The Grinning Man, which wasn't really to my tastes but some people really love it. If you are already a big fan of one or more of the adaptations and are curious about the source material, I won't discourage you from checking it out. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Sexual harassment

adelekittey's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

4.25

*cries*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

amandiiine4's review against another edition

inspiring reflective sad

5.0

alexis_something_rose's review against another edition

i've come a long way with this one, so it sort of hurts, not gonna lie. 
but i'm beginning to wonder if i cannot tolerate dudes from the 19th century being misogynist anymore... 
the historical bits were alright, the jibes at the english were alright, but seriously, the whole soppy business between Gwynplaine and Dea was beginning to give me the ick... 

sizrobe's review against another edition

4.0

I read this because I heard that the titular character was an inspiration for The Joker, of Batman fame. I can definitely see that here in this graphic adaptation. It's a little preachy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for Victor Hugo's times. The art is uniquely styled and well done.

jbrito's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25