I was made aware of this book doing handstands in the park in Toulouse 3 years ago when I got chatted up by a good looking veterinarian who was a self-described libertine and who said that this was his favourite book (I didn't know what a libertine was).

The book is entirely comprised of a series of letters written by aristocrats in 18th century France. It follows the story of two scheming libertines who corrupt innocent souls around them, basically for sport and vengeance.

The letter format, in theory, is interesting, because there is no dialogue; instead you are firmly plunged into each character's point of view at a point in time. In practice, the letters read like tedious soliloquies. If you've ever had the misfortune of a friend sending you screenshots of DMs about drama you don't really give a shit about, it's roughly the same vibe.

However, there were moments that made me smile. I enjoyed the sheer perfidious nature of Le Vicomte de Valmont whose big project is to turn a devout religious prude into a fallen woman using love as his weapon. He very much codes for 'sinister homosexual' and the extent of his sweet talking manipulation provides some measure of comic relief.

The story eventually descends into Shakespearian tragedy where everyone's secrets are exposed and they all die.

Overall, I have to say it's been my least favourite French classic I've read so far. Mostly because of the letter format. Reading 500 pages of text in the first person proved to be very tedious, especially in very formal French.