jums reviewed Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
such a classic
5 stars
One of the biggest classic of French literature of all times
Hardcover, 1432 pages
English language
Published May 23, 1997 by Knopf.
4 stars
(25 reviews)
It has been said that Victor Hugo has a street named after him in virtually every town in France. A major reason for the singular celebrity of this most popular and versatile of the great French writers is Les Misérables (1862). In this story of the trials of the peasant Jean Valjean—a man unjustly imprisoned, baffled by destiny, and hounded by his nemesis, the magnificently realized, ambiguously malevolent police detective Javert—Hugo achieves the sort of rare imaginative resonance that allows a work of art to transcend its genre.
Les Misérables is at once a tense thriller that contains one of the most compelling chase scenes in all literature, an epic portrayal of the nineteenth-century French citizenry, and a vital drama—highly particularized and poetic in its rendition but universal in its implications—of the redemption of one human being.
Eduardo Santiago reviewed Les misérables by Victor Hugo
Review of 'Les misérables' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Tougher going than I remember -- maybe because it's unabridged? Some of the preachy/speechy parts are hard to slog through... but even so, what a joy to reread this, and what a beautifully done translation.
