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Les Miserables Paperback – September 26, 2012
| Victor Hugo (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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- Print length1042 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSimon & Brown
- Publication dateSeptember 26, 2012
- Reading age18 years and up
- Dimensions6 x 2.05 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101613820259
- ISBN-13978-1613820254
- Lexile measure990L
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Product details
- Publisher : Simon & Brown (September 26, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 1042 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1613820259
- ISBN-13 : 978-1613820254
- Reading age : 18 years and up
- Lexile measure : 990L
- Item Weight : 3.01 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 2.05 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,061,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #63,276 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #132,918 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

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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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on July 5, 2019
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I only noticed this as I got into the book and realized that the typos were going to make it impossible for me to finish -- although I was enjoying the translation I have, whichever one it might be. In the rendition I received, at least once per line the space between words has been omitted. You get used to "inthe" instead of "in the" but it gets a lot harder when the the two words joined need you to stop and spend time to figure them out -- if only briefly.
I came back to Amazon to see if a different edition would work for me, and that's when I discovered that the reviews are all applied to all of the editions.
I am stymied. I am determined to read this book but I don't read French. I don't want to keep shelling out my Kindle budget on sub-par translations or versions riddled with typographical mine-fields. I don't know where I'll go from here.
The phrase I chose as the title for this review is an excellent summary of _Les Misérables_, or at least, of the philosophy behind it. Humanity as a whole may look rotten, the author seems to say, but millions of individual men and women persevere, show true goodness, and emerge victorious from the struggle we call life. This victory, it must be pointed out, is not always apparent; it often looks more like utter defeat. The victory that Victor Hugo is talking about is that of the soul. Just in case the reader needs clarification, the author/narrator makes his point more explicit in part 5, chapter 1.20: “The book which the reader has under his eye at this moment is, from one end to the other, as a whole and in detail, whatever may be its intermittences, exceptions and faults, the march from evil to good, from the unjust to the just, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from rottenness to life, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to God. Point of departure: matter; point of arrival: the soul. The hydra at the beginning, the angel at the end.”
The hero of this Romantic novel is Jean Valjean, who at the beginning of the novel has finished serving a prison sentence. He is, to put it simply, one of the most pure, benevolent characters in the history of the novel. As a virtuous criminal, he shatters society’s binaries: he is proof that an apparently evil person may in fact be good, despite his faults. (_Les Misérables_ is, among many other things, a liberal statement against the inhumane treatment of convicts, who are often more humane than so-called upright citizens.) Valjean’s nemesis is the inspector Javert, who after spotting him dedicates his life to catching this (in his view) despicable man. Fate will lead Valjean to Fantine, an innocent young woman who has fallen from grace in the eyes of society as a result of a single mistake. Throughout most of the novel, Valjean will take care of Fantine’s daughter Cosette, who becomes his raison d’être, as he escapes from Javert. Finally, there’s the young Marius, who lives with his grandfather M. Gillenormand, and whose father died fighting with Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo. His life changes when he lays eyes on a beautiful young woman… The lives of these characters are intertwined with that of the innkeeper Thénardier and his family. He and his wife “adopt” and exploit Cosette. Their daughter Eponine will prove that evil does not necessarily engender evil; their son Gavroche, who lives in the streets, is one of the novel’s most colorful characters. _Les Misérables_ is divided into five parts. We follow Jean Valjean, who encounters Javert, Fantine, and Cosette. Then we learn about Marius, who encounters Valjean and Cosette. The novel’s climax describes the Paris Uprising of 1832, in which the characters find themselves participating.
_Les Misérables_ (1862) is, like Tolstoy’s _War and Peace_, like Dickens’ _Bleak House_, like Melville’s _Moby Dick, like Cervantes’ _Don Quixote_, a literary monument and a literary monster. Descriptions are long and exhaustive, sometimes even exhausting. Digressions abound. The reader will wonder at times if what he/she is reading is a “novel” at all. What is a novel, anyway? Camilo José Cela (that Spanish Nobel Laureate few people read) famously answered, “A book that bears the description ‘a novel’ below its title.”
Another important issue to consider: _Les Misérables_ has been turned into a successful musical and has been adapted for the screen numerous times, most recently in 1998 (directed by Bille August), 2012 (directed by Tom Hooper), and 2018 (the BBC mini-series, directed by Tom Shankland). These very good adaptations will give you the story. You won’t have to “put up” with the long descriptions and digressions. Why read the 1,260-page book?
We expect a novel to be primarily a story. Of course, a novel should tell a story, but it may be many other things too. We may complain of the digressions in _Les Misérables_, but remember the encyclopedic _Moby Dick_ with its essays on the different aspects of whaling. Or _Don Quixote_ with its unrelated novellas within the novel. Or _War and Peace_ with its analysis of Napoleon, its philosophical considerations about “exceptional” men, and its comments on what it takes to win a war. Philosophy was an important component of the nineteenth-century novel. There was no fear of preaching back then. The author/narrator was a colossal, godlike figure (let’s remember that, by etymology, a poet is a creator), and he, for most of the time it was a he, did not absent himself from his fictional world. With the “death of the author,” proclaimed by Roland Barthes et al, the text becomes the focus. Now, after postmodernism, we are seeing a return of the figure of the author through autofiction. Even during postmodernism, there were reactions against literary artifice; think of the work of Richard Yates, Raymond Carver, and Alice Munro.
You may watch the screen adaptations or read an abridged version of _Les Misérables_, and you will be able to discuss the story with people who have devoted 17 days of their lives (in my case, but I believe in slow reading) to the complete novel. I, for my part, celebrate the long descriptions and the digressions. Is it necessary to dedicate 50 pages to a description of the battle of Waterloo just because one of the character’s *father* fought in the battle? Of course not. What about the 40-page description of monastic life, which includes Hugo’s personal views on this lifestyle? It is excessive, unnecessary. But during these digressions and descriptions you feel the enthusiasm of the author, who has in a sense lost control of his text. I love the story told in _Les Misérables_, but my favorite chapter, and I’m not trying to be funny here, is the second one of part 5, which offers a fascinating history, analysis and interpretation of the Paris sewer system. “The sewer is the conscience of the city,” Victor Hugo says. “The sewer, indeed, receives all the impulsions of the growth of Paris. It is, in the earth, a species of dark polyp with a thousand antennae which grows beneath at the same time that the city grows above.” The chapter is a great example of cultural studies, and this is something none of the screen adaptations will give you.
Regarding translations, the free Kindle version gives you the one made by Isabel Hapgood in 1887. This version sounds a bit archaic, as one may expect, but it is readable. The Modern Library edition (see my picture) presents the first translation of _Les Misérables_ into English, done by Charles Wilbour. It is, interestingly, smoother than the Hapgood version. It was only after I finished the book that I learned the translation was over 150 years old. Penguin offers a more modern translation, by Norman Denny, first published in 1976. Here’s a comparison, based on the first “philosophical” observation in the novel:
Original: Vrai ou faux, ce qu’on dit des hommes tient souvent autant de place dans leur vie et surtout dans leur destinée que ce qu’ils font.
Hapgood: True or false, that which is said of men often occupies as important a place in their lives, and above all in their destinies, as that which they do.
Wilbour: Be it true or false, what is said about men often has as much influence upon their lives, and especially upon their destinies, as what they do.
Denny: What is reported of men, whether it be true or false, may play as large a part in their lives, and above all in their destiny, as the things they do.
This sample shows how wordy and awkward the Hapgood translation may sound, at times, to modern ears. The Wilbour version has the advantage of being both faithful to the original and pleasant in the target language. Denny, finally, takes some liberties with structure, but reads quite well.
Bottom line: I recommend reading _Les Misérables_. It is about life, death, the human, the divine, love, hate, obsession, crime, redemption, fate, light, darkness, freedom, revolution, victory, defeat. You know, those things some readers still care about. From most nineteenth century classics, and _Les Misérables_ is a great example, the reader simply emerges a different person. Some novels one loves the way a person should be loved: with all their virtues and their defects. That is how I feel about _Les Misérables_.
My next long novel will be Thomas Mann’s _The Magic Mountain_.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the book!
By Don Quixote on July 5, 2019
The phrase I chose as the title for this review is an excellent summary of _Les Misérables_, or at least, of the philosophy behind it. Humanity as a whole may look rotten, the author seems to say, but millions of individual men and women persevere, show true goodness, and emerge victorious from the struggle we call life. This victory, it must be pointed out, is not always apparent; it often looks more like utter defeat. The victory that Victor Hugo is talking about is that of the soul. Just in case the reader needs clarification, the author/narrator makes his point more explicit in part 5, chapter 1.20: “The book which the reader has under his eye at this moment is, from one end to the other, as a whole and in detail, whatever may be its intermittences, exceptions and faults, the march from evil to good, from the unjust to the just, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from rottenness to life, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to God. Point of departure: matter; point of arrival: the soul. The hydra at the beginning, the angel at the end.”
The hero of this Romantic novel is Jean Valjean, who at the beginning of the novel has finished serving a prison sentence. He is, to put it simply, one of the most pure, benevolent characters in the history of the novel. As a virtuous criminal, he shatters society’s binaries: he is proof that an apparently evil person may in fact be good, despite his faults. (_Les Misérables_ is, among many other things, a liberal statement against the inhumane treatment of convicts, who are often more humane than so-called upright citizens.) Valjean’s nemesis is the inspector Javert, who after spotting him dedicates his life to catching this (in his view) despicable man. Fate will lead Valjean to Fantine, an innocent young woman who has fallen from grace in the eyes of society as a result of a single mistake. Throughout most of the novel, Valjean will take care of Fantine’s daughter Cosette, who becomes his raison d’être, as he escapes from Javert. Finally, there’s the young Marius, who lives with his grandfather M. Gillenormand, and whose father died fighting with Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo. His life changes when he lays eyes on a beautiful young woman… The lives of these characters are intertwined with that of the innkeeper Thénardier and his family. He and his wife “adopt” and exploit Cosette. Their daughter Eponine will prove that evil does not necessarily engender evil; their son Gavroche, who lives in the streets, is one of the novel’s most colorful characters. _Les Misérables_ is divided into five parts. We follow Jean Valjean, who encounters Javert, Fantine, and Cosette. Then we learn about Marius, who encounters Valjean and Cosette. The novel’s climax describes the Paris Uprising of 1832, in which the characters find themselves participating.
_Les Misérables_ (1862) is, like Tolstoy’s _War and Peace_, like Dickens’ _Bleak House_, like Melville’s _Moby Dick, like Cervantes’ _Don Quixote_, a literary monument and a literary monster. Descriptions are long and exhaustive, sometimes even exhausting. Digressions abound. The reader will wonder at times if what he/she is reading is a “novel” at all. What is a novel, anyway? Camilo José Cela (that Spanish Nobel Laureate few people read) famously answered, “A book that bears the description ‘a novel’ below its title.”
Another important issue to consider: _Les Misérables_ has been turned into a successful musical and has been adapted for the screen numerous times, most recently in 1998 (directed by Bille August), 2012 (directed by Tom Hooper), and 2018 (the BBC mini-series, directed by Tom Shankland). These very good adaptations will give you the story. You won’t have to “put up” with the long descriptions and digressions. Why read the 1,260-page book?
We expect a novel to be primarily a story. Of course, a novel should tell a story, but it may be many other things too. We may complain of the digressions in _Les Misérables_, but remember the encyclopedic _Moby Dick_ with its essays on the different aspects of whaling. Or _Don Quixote_ with its unrelated novellas within the novel. Or _War and Peace_ with its analysis of Napoleon, its philosophical considerations about “exceptional” men, and its comments on what it takes to win a war. Philosophy was an important component of the nineteenth-century novel. There was no fear of preaching back then. The author/narrator was a colossal, godlike figure (let’s remember that, by etymology, a poet is a creator), and he, for most of the time it was a he, did not absent himself from his fictional world. With the “death of the author,” proclaimed by Roland Barthes et al, the text becomes the focus. Now, after postmodernism, we are seeing a return of the figure of the author through autofiction. Even during postmodernism, there were reactions against literary artifice; think of the work of Richard Yates, Raymond Carver, and Alice Munro.
You may watch the screen adaptations or read an abridged version of _Les Misérables_, and you will be able to discuss the story with people who have devoted 17 days of their lives (in my case, but I believe in slow reading) to the complete novel. I, for my part, celebrate the long descriptions and the digressions. Is it necessary to dedicate 50 pages to a description of the battle of Waterloo just because one of the character’s *father* fought in the battle? Of course not. What about the 40-page description of monastic life, which includes Hugo’s personal views on this lifestyle? It is excessive, unnecessary. But during these digressions and descriptions you feel the enthusiasm of the author, who has in a sense lost control of his text. I love the story told in _Les Misérables_, but my favorite chapter, and I’m not trying to be funny here, is the second one of part 5, which offers a fascinating history, analysis and interpretation of the Paris sewer system. “The sewer is the conscience of the city,” Victor Hugo says. “The sewer, indeed, receives all the impulsions of the growth of Paris. It is, in the earth, a species of dark polyp with a thousand antennae which grows beneath at the same time that the city grows above.” The chapter is a great example of cultural studies, and this is something none of the screen adaptations will give you.
Regarding translations, the free Kindle version gives you the one made by Isabel Hapgood in 1887. This version sounds a bit archaic, as one may expect, but it is readable. The Modern Library edition (see my picture) presents the first translation of _Les Misérables_ into English, done by Charles Wilbour. It is, interestingly, smoother than the Hapgood version. It was only after I finished the book that I learned the translation was over 150 years old. Penguin offers a more modern translation, by Norman Denny, first published in 1976. Here’s a comparison, based on the first “philosophical” observation in the novel:
Original: Vrai ou faux, ce qu’on dit des hommes tient souvent autant de place dans leur vie et surtout dans leur destinée que ce qu’ils font.
Hapgood: True or false, that which is said of men often occupies as important a place in their lives, and above all in their destinies, as that which they do.
Wilbour: Be it true or false, what is said about men often has as much influence upon their lives, and especially upon their destinies, as what they do.
Denny: What is reported of men, whether it be true or false, may play as large a part in their lives, and above all in their destiny, as the things they do.
This sample shows how wordy and awkward the Hapgood translation may sound, at times, to modern ears. The Wilbour version has the advantage of being both faithful to the original and pleasant in the target language. Denny, finally, takes some liberties with structure, but reads quite well.
Bottom line: I recommend reading _Les Misérables_. It is about life, death, the human, the divine, love, hate, obsession, crime, redemption, fate, light, darkness, freedom, revolution, victory, defeat. You know, those things some readers still care about. From most nineteenth century classics, and _Les Misérables_ is a great example, the reader simply emerges a different person. Some novels one loves the way a person should be loved: with all their virtues and their defects. That is how I feel about _Les Misérables_.
My next long novel will be Thomas Mann’s _The Magic Mountain_.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the book!
Where the story of Jean Valjean really shines is in its remarkable portrayal of human emotion and conflict. Through the triumphs and tribulations of Valjean (and the other powerfully-written characters), Hugo examines interpersonal relationships as well as self-absorbed pondering. Stubborn rigidity, misunderstanding, and lack of empathy are the norms for the characters in LES MISERABLES, all leading to unnecessary pain and turmoil. The lack of communication between characters that results in so much heart ache is frustrating, but serves as a powerful lesson for real-world relationships. The examination of the human psyche found in this book encompasses broad ranges of who we are. From the dignity of the clear-headed and honest, to the recklessness of youth and the innocence of children, LES MISERABLES speaks to the reader about our complicated, yet simple, lives.
The most common and valid criticism of LES MISERABLES focuses on the lengthly tangents dispersed throughout the story. Hugo takes full advantage of having the reader’s attention by expounding on all manner of topics, from politics to architectural design. He utilizes these side tracks for spacing between the central plot sections. Hugo was obviously passionate about many diverse issues, but most of these are of very little interest to the modern reader. Being that this is already one of the longest novels ever written (longer than War and Peace by a substantial margin), taking approximately a quarter of the book for inane-seeming diversions has frustrated many readers. This is one case where I can certainly understand skipping over certain less-interesting parts. Luckily, the format of LES MISERABLES makes this easy. The novel has 5 Volumes, each divided into around 10 Parts. Each of the lengthly tangents makes up one of these Parts. If I were to read this again, I think I would be inclined to skip at least some of the less-relevant Parts.
Before writing this review, I watched the <recent movie adaptation> of the Les Miserables musical with Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, and Anne Hathaway. The directors, writers, musicians, and actors all did a magnificient job. They were able to effectively capture the emotion and drama of the story in a very limited space. I wouldn’t recommend the movie for those not familiar with the story (as you’d mostly be lost, or at least not appreciate the true emotional gravity of the story), but if you’ve read the book, the musical movie is a real treat.
LES MISERABLES is an epic that everyone should experience at some point. Such a powerful story should not be missed. If you hesitate at the length, try reading the book as five separate volumes. Each volume is easy to handle in this way, and the story is so powerful that you won’t forget important parts during your breaks. Trust me, the large amount of time you’ll dedicate to reading this will be worth it. Very highly recommended!
Top reviews from other countries
After doing some research I found out that there was an English translation (by Charles Wilbour) personally approved of by Victor Hugo himself, which is the translation used in this edition.
Wilbour's translation reads like an authentic piece of 19th century literature (because it is) and reads very much like Charles Dickens, which is a bonus.
As for the story itself, Les Miserables is simply one of the greatest stories ever told. Victor Hugo had his faults as a writer (he had a tendency to waffle aimlessly, get certain facts wrong and characterise his characters very basicly) but the story he told in the 1,000+ pages of Les Miserables is captivating and ultimately timeless.
I mention the above, because Les Misérables influenced Tolstoy. However, and to a slight surprise, Les Misérables is handled better.
The first thing I wish to address is the so-called 'filler chapters'. We have Waterloo, the convent, Louis Phillipe, Argot, barriers and Paris' sewers. All of these I feel are necessary. And as much as people warn of them, I believe Waterloo and the sewers to be some of the finest aspects of the novel. As a History graduate, Hugo made Waterloo fun; with its metaphors of letters and the dramatic style of providence. As for the sewers he made something boring become intriguing and with flashes of ominous dread. All parts link into the main plot, and the end of Waterloo is as if a light is shone into the mist revealing the long sought after answer. So, I disagree with the consensus of filler; for me they are fine examples of essays. And, unlike Tolstoy, they do not appear amateurish.
The second thing is the characters. Like War and Peace the reader goes through many years following these characters from flitters of joy to the so-often suffering. In a way these characters are perfect examples of the Schopenhauerian philosophy of constant suffering. What I really enjoyed was that most all characters played a part in the grander scheme of the plot. Even the villains have there lives laid out during the novel. If I had one criticism it is that chance plays too big a role in some scenarios. I mean what are the odds of some of them being on the same street at the same time, when they lived far away, beforehand? But, then again, it is a novel.
Lastly, I want to speak of the story and writing style. The story is one, I believe, of redemption and acceptance. People can always repent for their past actions and sometimes we have to accept ourselves for who we are and admit that we have changed. Moreover, we sometimes have to admit that people do not change and they will always be stuck in the cycle of good, or bad. Hugo wanted to highlight suffering, and I think he did a fairly good job. Conditions were worse in the past as to the present. And as with the intro, this book is still needed because suffering still exists. Yet for me I simply enjoyed the lives of the characters. Yes they do suffer, sometimes a bit too comically for my tastes, and they must have very low luck, but the book is more than suffering, as I mentioned above (acceptance and redemption). The best parts concerning suffering are contained in the 'filler chapters' that is why I feel they should not be skipped! The writing style can be either simple, or majestic. Great theatrical descriptions and monologues one minute, and the next grave, sharp facts. I particularly loved Hugo's metaphors to either authors (Dante and Shakespeare) or History (Greek, Roman etc). He is a wonderful writer, oft over the top, but it lends itself to the novel.
I read the Everyman's Library Edition, and I am sure it is one of the first English translations. It is fine, sometimes dry; although that is the nature of some parts. Will I read it again? Hopefully, in French most likely decades in the future.
It is a book that you have to accept on its own terms. The plot creaks with a whole series of coincidences and it moves forward by fits and starts. Characters are given to making long speeches that don't advance the action and the author is quite ready to interrupt the flow of the novel with digressions of several chapters on such subjects as the role of slang in a language or the history and development of Parisian sewers. You just have to stick in there. It's a great novel and it develops in its own way. But you can see why abridged versions are on the market.
This isn't abridged. It's the real McCoy. In all honesty I doubt whether I would have tackled a 1200+ page paper version so Many Thanks to my Kindle for getting me into it and through it. The Kindle edition is well set out and navigable down to individual chapters. I noticed some typos but no more, I suspect, than you would find in a paper edition. And it's for nowt! I found it a great way into someone who, for me, was a new author and I'd recommend anyone to take the plunge and give it a go.














