The Temptation of the Impossible: Victor Hugo and "Les Miserables" (Hardcover)

~ (Author), John King (Translator)
Key Phrases: divine stenographer, fictive reality, les misérables, Victor Hugo, Monseigneur Bienvenu, Monsieur Madeleine (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

As "a masterpiece of impossibility," Les Miserables provoked the ire of conservative critic Alphonse de Lamartine. But for Peruvian novelist Vargas Llosa, it is the very impossibilities Hugo creates that endow this work with its enduring imaginative value. By defying the limits of merely factual history, Vargas Llosa insists, Hugo transports his readers to a better world--a world of moral heroism and spiritual redemption. The self-sacrificing Jean Valjean, the Christ-like Monseigneur Bievenu, the angelic Cosette--these and other enchanting characters join the godlike narrator in beckoning the reader toward utopian ideals of justice and perfection, even as they obscure the tawdry complexities of nineteenth-century France. Vargas Llosa probes these ugly complexities--establishing, for instance, that the rebels that Hugo romanticizes for ascending the barricades actually espoused a wide range of incompatible causes. Yet Vargas Llosa discerns genius in the French novelist's artistic transmutation of such leaden terrestrial events into a golden utopian fantasy. Readers who cherish Hugo's powerful novel will value this insightful study. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Among the best parts are when Vargas Llosa goes at it from a writer's point of view." -- The Complete Review

"As Vargas Llosa sees it, the story affirms the existence of God and the redemptive effect of grace." -- Diane Scharper, Baltimore Sun

"Novelist Mario Vargas Llosa contributes to the canon with his provoking and insightful study of 19th century French novelist." -- Robert Hicks, San Francisco Chronicle

"Peruvian novelist/essayist Llosa offers a remarkable critique of Victor Hugo's masterpiece." -- Nedra Crowe Evers, Library Journal

"The volcanic hugeness of the novel does not seek to change reality but to replace it." -- Benjamin Lytal, The Los Angeles Times Book Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; annotated edition edition (April 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691131112
• ISBN-13: 978-0691131115
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,116,356 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars One Great Novelist Reads Another, July 30, 2008

By	Waxwing Slayne - See all my reviews

If you've just read Les Miserables, then read this book immediately, while Hugo's vast masterpiece is still resonating in your mind. Mario Vargas Llosa talks about everything you hope he'll talk about: each important character, the themes, the digressions, the religiosity, the sewers, and most of all, Hugo's monumental ambition to produce a work that contains the world (his temptation to do the impossible). Once you've finished, you'll want to read more Mario Vargas Llosa, if not more Hugo.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great insight, April 5, 2008

By	Alfred J. Garrotto (Pittsburg, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mario Vargas Llosa provides a unique insight into Hugo's classic novel. It blew me away.

Alfred J. Garrotto
Author
The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Temptation to read Les Miserables, November 3, 2007

By	Anthony Schaeve "reading is fun" (Crystal Lake, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Vargas Llosa's entertaining and informative discussion has made me go back and reread Victor Hugo's classic.