Les Miserables [Abridged] [Mass Market Paperback]

Victor Hugo (Author), Charles E. Wilbour (Translator), James K. Robinson (Introduction)

Book Description

Release date: December 12, 1982

Sensational, dramatic, packed with rich excitement and filled with the sweep and violence of human passions, LES MISERABLES is not only superb adventure but a powerful social document. The story of how the convict Jean-Valjean struggled to escape his past and reaffirm his humanity, in a world brutalized by poverty and ignorance, became the gospel of the poor and the oppressed.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Geoffrey Rush, this edition offers a quality hardcover at a reasonable price.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Rich and gorgeous. This is the [translation] to read… and if you are flying, just carry it under your arm as you board, or better still, rebook your holiday and go by train, slowly, page by page.”
—Jeanette Winterson, The Times (London)

“[A] magnificent story… marvelously captured in this new unabridged translation by Julie Rose.”
—The Denver Post

“A new translation by Julie Rose of Hugo’s behemoth classic that is as racy and current and utterly arresting as it should be.”
—Buffalo News (editor’s choice)

“Vibrant and readable, idiomatic and well suited to a long narrative, [Julie Rose’s new translation of Les Miserables] is closer to the captivating tone Hugo would have struck for his own contemporaries.”
—Diane Johnson

“A lively, dramatic, and wonderfully readable translation of one of the greatest 19th-century novels.”
—Alison Lurie

“Some of us may have read Les Miserables back in the day, but… between Gopnik and Rose, you’ll get two introductions that will offer you all the pleasures of your college instruction with none of the pain.”
—The Agony Column (trashotron.com)


From the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 334 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett; Abridged edition (December 12, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449300021
• ISBN-13: 978-0449300022
• Product Dimensions: 1.1 x 4.1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Please read the unabridged version... August 24, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I just finished reading the original unabridged version of this book, in French, and believe me, I was moved. So when my wife and I wanted to get an abridged version for her to read in English, we bought this one. On skimming through the book, and maybe it's just us, but we found no trace of Fantine's story before she ended up in Jean Valjean's care, or of Jean Valjean's rescue of Cosette from the Thénardiers, which are both very moving parts. If those are missing, there are probably other very touching and important parts missing. We plan on taking our version back and getting the full version. It would be better to just skip past the sections that talk about the convent, the battle of Waterloo, the sewer system, etc., because they're wasy to skip, and the rest of the book will still be there. Honestly, Les Mis is probably the best book I've ever read, but it has to be purchased in it's full format to really be truly appreciated.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars A sackaged version of the Masterpiece January 23, 2010

By Alain Lescart

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I am a university professor -and French by birth and parenthood- and I teach Masterpiece of World Literature. Knowing very well the original text of Victor Hugo and having presented papers on Les Miserables in international academic colloquiums, I decided to put Les Miserables on my program. As the original has quite a voluminous number of pages and I have to cover many pieces, I decided to go for an abridged version of it.

My disappointment is total!!!

1. This is the most ancient translation of Les Miserables made in 1862 (like that the publisher doesn't need to pay any copyright to any translator or author making a full profit) and the English is dated and not always faithful to the original (for instance when Cosette watch herself in the mirror the French original says that she felt like she was ugly [laide] but it is translated homeless (a word my student didn't even understand).

2. In addition, the abridged work made here is one of the worse I have seen. The classic pieces have been removed (like: who was Fantine and how she got Cosette and was abused by a student in Paris and how she was really in love with him - she was a grisette - Fantine selling all she has (hair, teeth ...) to provide for Cosette and becoming a prostitute is removed - the famous episode of Valjean taking Cosette back from the Thenardier is not even there!!!! Valjean giving the factory back to the workers, etc ...). The first part Fantine should be renamed as so much on Fantine has been cut!
The cut is completely arbitrary and there are absolutely no transitions between the cuts! It is a lame work.

I had to make photocopies of the missing text to be able to do my class!

3. To add insult to injury, my bookstore also ordered used version of this book and with exactly the same cover, same ISBN. So i had 48 students in class with the same cover book all the same look but ... from previous editions to the new one, all the pages number were wrong form one version to another because the editor in the last edition decided to increase the font size. There are - at the end of the book- more than 70 pages additional which makes it impossible for students to follow from one version to another and impossible to quote in an academic work!!!!!
This is close to a crime for an academic!

Therefore, I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS VERSION.

Buy the original and read portions of it rather than this! I do recommend warmly the original text of Hugo. Julie Rose is the one who made the most recent translation. Rather go for this last one.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars 5-star novel, 3-star abridgement November 15, 2007

By S. Heinen

Format:Paperback

This is one of the most amazing stories I have ever read. I loved the musical and wanted the rest of the story. I wanted the unabridged version, but got this one as a gift. GREAT story--and well worth the read--but this abridgement is too severe in my view. I felt like too many chunks of the story were missing and left unexplained.

I recently bought another abridged (but still 880 pages) version (actually the Barnes & Noble version) and that one is just about right. Whatever they cut, I didn't miss (and there were still a few segments I could have skipped over).

So if you want to experience the real Les Miserables and see what all of the fuss is about, I would skip this version and get a less severe abridgement or, if you dare, an unabridged version.