Manon

One of the greatest love stories in European literature, this takes as its theme the decay of character in the face of uncontrollable passion. In Manon, Prévost (1697-1763) creates a woman new to the world: gloriously beautiful, innocent, yet free of sexual morality. Des Grieux, a young aristocrat with an inviting future, pins his whole existence on her capricious love. Yet, her ruthlessness only serves to inflame him more as he slides into a careering path of lies, self-deception and murder, towards damnation. ""A masterpiece, and one of a kind which constitutes, even more than most masterpieces do, a species to itself."" - George Saintsbury. ""It is the capricious perfume of gunpowder, of wine spilt on table-cloths, of beds left in disarray, which Manon trails behind her across centuries."" - Jean Cocteau. 1988 reprint of 1931 First English trans.