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Les Misérables Kindle Edition
A brilliant modern translation by Christine Donougher of Victor Hugo's thrilling masterpiece, with an introduction by Robert Tombs.
This is the best translation of the novel available in English, as recommended by David Bellos in The Novel of the Century.
Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him. But his attempts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: by his own conscience, and by the relentless investigations of the dogged policeman Javert. It is not simply for himself that Valjean must stay free, however, for he has sworn to protect the baby daughter of Fantine, driven to prostitution by poverty.
'A magnificent achievement. It reads easily, sometimes racily, and Hugo's narrative power is never let down ... An almost flawless translation, which brings the full flavour of one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century to new readers in the twenty-first' - William Doyle, Times Literary Supplement
'The year's most interesting publication from Penguin Classics was [...] a new translation by Christine Donougher of the novel we all know as Les Misérables. You may think that 1,300 pages is a huge investment of time when the story is so familiar, but no adaptation can convey the addictive pleasure afforded by Victor Hugo's narrative voice: by turns chatty, crotchety, buoyant and savagely ironical, it's made to seem so contemporary and fresh in Donougher's rendering that the book has all the resonance of the most topical state-of-the-nation novel' - Telegraph
'Christine Donougher's seamless and very modern translation of Les Misérables has an astonishing effect in that it reminds readers that Hugo was going further than any Dickensian lament about social conditions [...]The Wretched touches the soul' - Herald Scotland
- ISBN-13978-0241248744
- PublisherPenguin
- Publication dateNovember 7, 2013
- LanguageEnglish
- File size5330 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Hugo's genius was for the creation of simple and recognizable myth. The huge success of Les Misérables as a didactic work on behalf of the poor and oppressed is due to his poetic and myth-enlarged view of human nature." —V. S. Pritchett
"It was Tolstoy who vindicated [Hugo's] early ambition by judging Les Misérables one of the world's great novels, if not the greatest… [His] ability to present the extremes of experience 'as they are' is, in the end, Hugo's great gift." —From the Introduction by Peter Washington
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Product details
- ASIN : B00AM7E2DW
- Publisher : Penguin (November 7, 2013)
- Publication date : November 7, 2013
- Language : English
- File size : 5330 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 1439 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 014144228X
- Best Sellers Rank: #83,106 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #19 in French Literature (Books)
- #33 in Historical French Fiction
- #62 in Classic Historical Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Victor Marie Hugo (/ˈhjuːɡoʊ/; French: [viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo]; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry and then from his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). He also produced more than 4,000 drawings, which have since been admired for their beauty, and earned widespread respect as a campaigner for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.
Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism; his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon. His legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French franc banknotes.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Étienne Carjat [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
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Regarding the edition, the cover artwork is amazing. There is the lustrous quality paper of Penguin Deluxe with the uneven edges [I believe meant to imitate when pages came folded and you cut them the first time you read a book.] The translation seems very good as far as I can tell, and I prefer the author making it clear when characters are switching between "Vous and Tu" instead of leaving it lightly implied.
I have only read this edition of Les Miserables, but I cannot recommend the novel highly enough and can't see any reason why someone should choose an edition besides this one.
ourselves is whether we are worthy and knowledgeable enough to turn the gilded pages of Victor Hugo's masterpiece that drips with words of gold in every page. Much to my astonishment after concluding my second read with buckets of tears (I am sentimental but am moved only by giant geniuses like Hugo) it dawned on me that I really have not read it at all 30 years ago. But I remember clearly that I turned to Hugo chiefly to escape my wretchedness (pun intended) in the 2.5 years compulsory military service. Given my youth then, I had not chalked up enough life's hard experiences yet to have full empathy for much of the suffering and the depth of french history especially the french revolution to grasp all the nuances Hugo would have wanted his readers to appreciate. Today, with >30 years of life's heavy baggage accumulated, I am less unworthy and more adequate a reader because I have imbibed so much more of Hugo's spectacular offering of humanity at its worst and best. There are diamonds in every page of his over 1500 pages novel (English version, the French is >1900 pages). I wish I could read Hugo's work in French, but like all illiterates in French, we appreciate the great work of translations. To say the least, Les Misérables translated by Christine Donougher is a brilliant new, faithful and unabridged version I believe ( leap of faith since I haven't read it in French) of Victor Hugo's thrilling masterpiece, with an introduction by Robert Tombs. The annotations and footnotes are exceptionally brilliant. Cross checking them all as one reads along is essential to know the historical characters and the circumstantial events revolving the story with the French revolution being the chief most tumultuous and had the most far reaching impact on social divide and inequality. It led to the overthrow of Monarchy and establishment of the Republic. The citizen was born with a new hope in a society based on Liberté, égalité, fraternité. Hugo left no stone upturned, no plant not described, no object of the barricade unmentioned when he described the French landscape of past. Such was Hugo's meticulous style but welcomed minutia on details, none more so than his detailed description of the Paris sewer system. So convincing was Hugo in portraying the subterranean maze as a treacherous stinking route of escape that it was an impossible escape and rescue mission for any human. Thus heightening the immense task undertaken by our hero in carrying an unconscious full grown man to emerge alive at the end after navigating 4 miles of slimy putrid ditches in pitch darkness most of the journey. In comparison, Shawshank would have been a walk in the park. And our hero didn't even like the man he was rescuing because he knew his sole happiness in life would be taken away by this unconscious young man. But he did it because he was superhuman and an angel. My first read nearly 30 years ago was a translation by another fabulous woman, Isabella Hapgood, before kindle and digital books were in existence. Going to the annotations then was a chore and was often neglected which inevitably hampered my level of appreciation for the book. Despite that, my first read shook me to the core by the breadth and depth of Hugo's masterpiece on the wretched human condition and the hand of God in redeeming His elects, Jean Valjean chief amongst many in the book. Desiring a second enjoyment, I researched and sampled the various translations on offer after a 30 years gap, this time round on digital by kindle. For translations I always go to the reliable and more expensive Penguin publishers first before looking at other publishers. Les Misérables with the unique English title "The Wretched", convinced me to be the best after some comparisons of the first chapter of various translations. A Penguin yet again. The audacity of translating the title "Les Miserables" to "The Wretched" was ingenious and original to set itself apart from the other translations. As a genuine connoisseur of literature of the finest kind that I consider myself, I cannot emphasise enough to all non French speaking readers on the careful choice of the best translation and to spare no expenses for the best experience one must have. Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" is the finest of them all. Its the top notch Beluga caviar and it is the finest of the finest brandy ever distilled. As you would pay top dollar to enjoy them so too should you for the pride and joy of classic literature, the world (Hugo in this case) has to offer to the universe. Hugo's fine work must undoubtedly be also the pride and joy of God since it showcases His will on mankind. God has already shown in the story of Job, the finest men can be inflicted with life's greatest catastrophes and grief, and in the gospels that the most perfect man must walk the hardest road. Hugo's premise in Les Miserables was exactly that providence is responsible for the wretchedness in our lives. Providence can also lift the wretchedness from the most wretched and turn them into the greatest salt and light of the world. There are many wretched characters in Hugo's les miserables. Once you have read them, you can play the game of picking the most wretched of them all. The drama of "road to Damascus" was played out several times in the book. Like the Jew persecutor, Saul transformed into fiery apostle Paul, so too was a hardened ex convict touched by the hand of God and was transformed into a loving angel to the world of wretched souls that crossed his path.
Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2023
Top reviews from other countries
A brilliant modern translation by Christine Donougher.
And what a masterpiece!
Simply magnificent! Unforgettable characters!
For drama’s lover this is a treat.
An enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, sacrifice and redemption and a testament to the survival of the human spirit, set during the French Revolution.
The night before starting this book I went to the theatre to see the latest musical production of Les Miserables. It was my fifth time and it was so marvellous that I decided to finally face this book.
And what a wonderful surprise this was. Much better than I expected. But there are lots of “fillers” that perhaps are not included in the abridged version.
I do have to applaud all of those people who worked on the adaptation for the musical/play and for the movies, as they did an excellent job keeping the essence of the original story (especially William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Herbert Kretzmer who all wrote the screenplay for the 2012 movie adaptation directed by Tom Hooper).
I do have several free editions in ebook format, as well as another paperback by Penguin Classics which was translated by Norman Denny.
As a simple example, which may give you an idea, see below a comparison between the translations by Donougher (1) and Denny (2):
(1): “Still hidden at the corner of Rue Mondétour, irresolute and shivering, Marius had witnessed the first phase of the fighting.
(2): “Crouched at the turning of the Rue Mondétour, Marius had witnessed the beginning of the battle, still irresolute and trembling.”
(1): “Some time after the events we have described Boulatruelle had a severe shock.”
(2): “Some time after the events we have just related, Sieur Boulatruelle experienced great excitement.”
My favourite part of the book was the opening “Fantine” (Part 1). There was a lot of heart in this section that left me emotional (and how I hated the Thénardiers! In the musical they are hideous but hilarious).
e-book (Kobo) - Penguin Classics (translation by Christine Donougher and an introduction by Robert Tombs): 2011 pages (default), 623k words - unabridged
Paperback - Penguin Classics (translation by Christine Donougher and an introduction by Robert Tombs): 1456 pages, 366 chapters - unabridged
Audiobook narrated by: Adeel Akhtar, Natalie Simpson, Adrian Scarborough, Emma Fielding, John Owen-Jones
Length: 65 hrs and 41 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 2020-04-23
Publisher: Penguin Audio
PS. I had the pleasure of reading this book while simultaneously listening to the audiobook. Both were the same edition, and I can certify that the audiobook is word by word accurate.