Les Miserables [ABRIDGED] (Mass Market Paperback)

by Victor Hugo (Author) "AN hour before sunset, on the evening of a day in the beginning of October, 1815, a man travelling afoot entered the little town of..." (more)
Key Phrases: yellow passport, ten louis, old convict, Jean Valjean, Monsieur Madeleine, Madame Magloire (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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.

Product Description
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.


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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett; Abridged edition (December 12, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449300021
• ISBN-13: 978-0449300022
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,510 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest of Melodramatic Fiction, December 4, 2007

By	Earl A. Myers, Jr. - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

To say that they don't write them as they did in the past is a gross understatement. Even in translation and abridgment, nothing is lost in Hugo's epic melodrama. He, like Dickens, Flaubert, Thackeray, and others,employs chance and coincidence to move the plot line, but the richness of language, coloration of character, and the lushness of setting is a marvel of technique. Although the lenghty descriptive passages of the battle of Waterloo, convent life, and the Paris sewer system have been abbreviated in this Fawcett edition, nothing is lost in the tension and excitement that the original composition intended to convey to the reader. Hugo was a master of this literary art form and the years and condensation of his masterpiece have not been diminished in the least. I had almost forgotten what great writing was all about. Hugo has brought me back to my youth and desire to revisit the classics. Hopefully others will follow in my quest to be inspired and enriched.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but..., June 5, 2006

By	Marcus - See all my reviews

A very good abridgment, but it cuts out much of Hugo's work. As an example it removes the very long and potentially dull narration of the Battle of Waterloo which is a plus for those looking to follow Jean Valjean and his quest for redemption. But it also removes the heartwarming tale of how Jean Valjean rescues Cosette. This offers a nice short read with the core material covered in the full work.