The Man Who Laughs
Enriched edition. A Romance of English HistoryBy Victor Hugo
Length25h 16m
About this audiobook
In "The Man Who Laughs," Victor Hugo masterfully weaves a tale of tragedy and social commentary, exploring themes of identity, societal norms, and the grotesque nature of human existence. Set against the backdrop of 17th-century England, the novel follows the life of Gwynplaine, a young boy disfigured by a permanent smile, symbolizing the paradox of laughter and sorrow. Hugo's vivid prose and emotive imagery create a rich literary tapestry that reflects the Romantic movement's fascination with the human condition, while also critiquing the class hierarchies of his time. Through intertwining narratives, Hugo challenges readers to confront the profound implications of appearance versus reality. Victor Hugo, a preeminent figure in 19th-century French literature, drew from his own experiences of social injustice and political upheaval to inform his writings. His dedication to advocating for the marginalized and his deep empathy for humanity resonate throughout this work. Hugo's profound understanding of suffering and resilience, stemming from his tumultuous life, led him to create complex characters who embody the struggles of his era. Readers seeking a philosophical yet emotionally resonant exploration of societal failings will find "The Man Who Laughs" to be an invaluable addition to their literary repertoire. Hugo's compelling narrative invites reflection on identity, humanity, and the masks we wear, making this book a timeless exploration of the depths of suffering interlaced with the search for dignity.
In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience:
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.3 (18.9K)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenreLiterary Classics, General Fiction
Length25 hrs 16 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 28, 2022
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
10The Man Who Laughs (pt. 6)
2Synopsis
11The Man Who Laughs (pt. 7)
3Historical Context
12The Man Who Laughs (pt. 8)
4Author Biography
13The Man Who Laughs (pt. 9)
5The Man Who Laughs (pt. 1)
14The Man Who Laughs (pt. 10)
Show all chaptersShow less
6The Man Who Laughs (pt. 2)
15Analysis
7The Man Who Laughs (pt. 3)
16Reflection
8The Man Who Laughs (pt. 4)
17Memorable Quotes
9The Man Who Laughs (pt. 5)
Die Elenden (Les Misérables)Victor Hugo33h 25m4.4 (915.9K)$24 · $0.00
Der Glöckner von Notre-DameVictor Hugo22h 45m4.2 (267.9K)$24 · $0.00
Seeing Europe through the Eyes of the Famous Authors (Vol. 1-8)Victor Hugo, Henry James, Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Howitt, William Makepeace Thackeray, Augustus J. C. Hare, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Bayard Taylor, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Grant Allen, John Ruskin, Hippolyte Adolphe Taine, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe45h 33m$1.99 · $0.00
Ausgewählte Gedichte von Victor HugoVictor Hugo10h 54m4.2 (28)$1 · $0.00
Ausgewählte Werke von Victor HugoVictor Hugo130h 2m4.3 (20)$1 · $0.00
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAMEVictor Hugo22h 33m4.1 (265K)$1.99 · $0.00
Lucretia BorgiaVictor Hugo4h 10m3.9 (1.9K)$1 · $0.00
Die Arbeiter des MeeresVictor Hugo15h 38m4.2 (7.9K)$1 · $0.00
1793: Historischer RomanVictor Hugo15h 21m4.2 (9.3K)$2 · $0.00
Maria Tudor & Lucretia BorgiaVictor Hugo6h 48m4.0 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
Les Misérables (Alle 5 Bände)Victor Hugo59h 40m4.5 (16)$1 · $0.00
Los miserablesVictor Hugo37h 50m4.4 (929.9K)$12 · $0.00
The Greatest Works of Victor Hugo (Annotated)Victor Hugo193h 42m4.6 (180)$1.99 · $0.00
Herzflüstern aus den dunklen Zeiten: Liebesgeschichten des MittelaltersVictor Hugo, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas, Gottfried von Straßburg, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Georg Ebers, Levin Schücking, Karl Bröger, Heinrich von Kleist, Wilhelm Raabe, Christoph Martin Wieland, Julius Wolff, Marie-Madeleine de La Fayette, Ludwig Ganghofer, August Sperl, Louise Otto, Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué394h 41m$1 · $0.00
Das Teufelsschiff (Kommentiert)Victor Hugo17h 31m$1 · $0.00
Hugo En Exil: Oeuvres Majeures (Annoté)Victor Hugo131h 9m$1.99 · $0.00
Victor Hugo: Les récits de voyage (Annoté)Victor Hugo33h 1m$1.99 · $0.00
The Count of Monte Cristo & Les MisérablesVictor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas115h 37m4.5 (424)$68 · $0.00
Der lachende MannVictor Hugo, Georg Büchmann25h 47m4.2 (2.8K)$1 · $0.00
Victor Hugo - Sämtliche RomaneVictor Hugo, Friedrich Bremer, Georg Büchmann151h 38m4.4 (127)$3.50 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Jeeves and Wooster Stories: The Complete Collection (33 Books)P. G. Wodehouse21h 57m4.7 (2.8K)$15 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m4.7 (8.9K)$46 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
TWELFTH NIGHTWilliam Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Complete Histories / History Plays of William Shakespeare (Annotated)William Shakespeare29h 42m4.6 (2.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 50m4.6 (1.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust16h 8m4.5 (10.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Mis-Education of the NegroCarter Goodwin Woodson4h 32m4.5 (28.4K)$10 · $0.00
Lessons in TruthH. Emilie3h 50m4.6 (1.4K)$4.70 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
ShivajiRanjit Desai25h 13m4.6 (3.1K)$24 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
You may also like
The Princess PlanJulia London11h 28m3.9 (3.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Wicked DukeMadeline Hunter11h 37m4.0 (3.3K)$23
UardaGeorg Ebers20h 19m4.1 (309)$2 · $0.00
The Queen's NecklaceAlexandre Dumas15h 33m4.0 (3.3K)$2.30
The AdventuressM. C. Beaton5h 36m4.1 (1.7K)$17
The Grand Babylon HotelArnold Bennett8h 46m3.7 (3.7K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Black ArrowRobert Louis Stevenson8h 50m3.9 (26.3K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Fortunes of NigelWalter Scott21h 2m3.7 (1.9K)$2.30
THE BLACK TULIP (Historical Novel)Alexandre Dumas10h 16m4.0 (31.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
KenilworthHistorical Novel20h 19m3.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Before VersaillesKarleen Koen15h 57m3.8 (3.8K)$28
The City of MasksGeorge Barr McCutcheon9h 8m$2.30 · $0.00
THE GREEN DWARFCharlotte Brontë5h 8m3.4 (336)$1.99 · $0.00
May McGoldrick Two-Volume Box SetMay McGoldrick, Jan Coffey16h 50m4.3 (24)$6 · $0.00
Famous Imposters, Pretenders & HoaxesBram Stoker8h 37m3.5 (159)$2 · $0.00
The King's MinionRafael Sabatini13h 31m3.8 (125)$2 · $0.00
LazarreMary Hartwell Catherwood10h 27m$1 · $0.00
In Mary’s ReignBaroness Emmuska Orczy10h 11m3.8 (32)$1.20 · $0.00
The Scotsman Wore SpursPatricia Potter13h 20m4.0 (218)$13 · $0.00
La Constantin: Celebrated CrimesAlexandre Dumas2h 46m3.9 (65)$2.30 · $0.00