Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
Author of Les Misérables
About the Author
Victor Hugo was born in Besançon, France on February 26, 1802. Although he originally studied law, Hugo dreamed of writing. In 1819, he founded the journal Conservateur Litteraire as an outlet for his dream and soon produced volumes of poetry, plays, and novels. His novels included The Hunchback show more of Notre Dame and Les Miserables. Both of these works have been adapted for the stage and screen many times. These adaptations include the Walt Disney version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the award-winning musical sensation Les Miserables. In addition to his literary career, Hugo also held political office. In 1841, he was elected to the Academie Francaise. After political upheaval in 1851, he was exiled and remained so until 1870. He returned to Paris in 1871 and was elected to the National Assembly, though he soon resigned. He died on May 22, 1885. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Victor Hugo en 1878 parr Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, dit)
Series
Works by Victor Hugo
The Works of Victor Hugo: One Volume Edition (Black's Readers Service) (1928) — Author — 337 copies, 1 review
Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame: A Graphic Novel (2006) — Original story — 129 copies, 1 review
Dernier Jour D Un Condam (Folio (Gallimard)) (French Edition) (1829) — Author — 112 copies, 2 reviews
Three Novels: The Hunchback of Notre Dame / Les Misérables / The Man Who Laughs (2008) 61 copies, 1 review
The Hunchback of Notre Dame In Easy-to-Read Type (Dover Children's Thrift Classics) [adapted] (1995) 50 copies
Les Misérables (4/5) : The idyl of the rue Plumet and the epic of the rue Saint-Denis (2009) — Author — 40 copies
MISÉRABLES (LES) 25 copies
Les Misérables: The Classic Story of the Triumph of Grace and Redemption, Adapted for Today’s Reader (Reimann Classics) (2014) 17 copies
De elendige. B.3 16 copies
Victor Hugo: Four Plays: Hernani, Marion de Lorme, Lucrece Borgia and Ruy Blas (World Classics) (2004) 16 copies
Victor Hugo: Oeuvres complètes - 122 titres (Annotés et illustrés) - Arvensa Editions (French Edition) (2013) 14 copies
Lire et s'entraîner : Victor Hugo : Notre-Dame de Paris [book + sound recording] (2002) — Writer — 13 copies
Lire et s'entraîner : Victor Hugo : Les Misérables [book + sound recording] (2008) — Writer — 11 copies
Les Miserables (Fantine), T. 1 CD Audio MP3 (Hugo) (LFF (Lire en français facile)) (French Edition) (2010) 11 copies
Complete Works of Victor Hugo 10 copies
God and The End of Satan / Dieu and La Fin de Satan: Selections: In a Bilingual Edition (2014) 9 copies
Les Misérables Tome 2: Cosette (A2): Les Misérables Tome 2: Cosette (A2) (Lff (Lire En Francais Facile)) (French Edition) (2010) 8 copies
History of a Crime / Napoleon the Little — Author — 8 copies
Les Miserables Vol III — Author — 8 copies
I miserabili - Vol. I 8 copies
Les Miserables, Abridged and Edited with introduction, notes, and Vocabulary By O. B. Super (in French) (1903) 8 copies
Jen ty nám zůstáváš, ó lásko 7 copies
Notre-Dame de Paris Book (Level 3) (Lectures Cle En Francais Facile) (French Edition) (2003) 7 copies
Toute la lyre 7 copies
Victor Hugo's Novels Volume III: Les Miserables Part Two, By Order of the King (1880) 7 copies, 1 review
The Hunchback of Notre Dame 6 copies
Notre-Dame de Paris: Une anthologie (Folio classique - Prescriptions) (French Edition) (2017) — Author — 6 copies
Works of Victor Hugo. Les Miserables, Notre-Dame de Paris, Man Who Laughs, Toilers of the Sea, Poems & more (mobi) (2008) 6 copies
Hüljatud. [romaan] / 1 6 copies
Œuvres de Victor Hugo : Hernani-Marion De Lorme - Le roi s'amuse — Author — 6 copies
Hans of Iceland, Bug-Jargal, and Claude Gueux Valjean Leatherbound Edition (The Novels of Victor Hugo, Valjean Edition) (1877) 5 copies
De klokkenluider van de Notre Dame 5 copies
Les Contemplations, Livres I à IV : suivi du parcours « Les Mémoires d'une âme » (La poésie) (French Edition) (2019) 5 copies
Les misérables volume 2 — Author — 5 copies
Les Miserables, Tome 1: Fantine (Textes En Francais Facile - Level 1) (French Edition) (1990) 4 copies
Nędznicy. tom II 4 copies
Victor Hugo: The Complete Novels A Biography of the Author (The Greatest Writers of All Time) 4 copies
Dramas, Volume 1 4 copies
Les misérables - Niveau 2/A2 - Lectures CLE en Français facile - Livre CD - 2ème édition (Découverte classique) (French Edition) (2016) 4 copies
Los miserables I 4 copies
Les Miserables (Penguin Classics) [ LES MISERABLES (PENGUIN CLASSICS) BY Hugo, Victor ( Author ) Apr-29-1982 (1982) 4 copies
Les Misérables, Volume V / Hans of Iceland — Author — 4 copies
KATEDRALJA E PARISIT 4 copies
Poésies complètes, tome 2 : Les Chansons des rues et des bois, L'année terrible, L'Art d'être grand-père (1972) 4 copies
Quatre-vingt-treize, niveau 1, tome 2. Le Français universel, 2ème série, moins de 1600 mots (1994) 4 copies
The Dramas of Victor Hugo, Vol. 22: The Burgraves Torquemada Lucretia Borgia (Classic Reprint) (2015) — Author — 4 copies
Le Misérables. Tome 2 (Les incontournables de la littérature en BD) (2010) — Auteur illustré — 4 copies
Samfunnets ulykkelige B. 1 4 copies
I miserabili - Vol. III 4 copies
Le Pape 4 copies
Samfunnets ulykkelige 2 4 copies
Hüljatud. 2. 4 copies
Victor Hugo: The Complete Novels (Les Misérables, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Toilers of the Sea, The Man Who Laughs...) (2020) 4 copies
Dramas 4 copies
Oeuvres de Victor Hugo 4 copies
Hüljatud. 1 4 copies
Những người khốn khổ 4 copies
Poésies complètes, tome 1 : Odes et Ballades, Les Orientales, Les Feuilles d'automne, Les Chants du crépuscule (1972) 4 copies
The Works of Hugo 4 copies
Things Seen - Essays 3 copies
NOTRE DAME; and THE HISTORY OF A CRIME, THE TESTIMONY OF AN EYE-WITNESS. THE NOVELS OF VICTOR HUGO, Volume I (1880) 3 copies
Victor Hugo. La Légende des siècles . Avec... des notes explicatives par Philippe Van Tieghem,... 3 copies
Les misérables 3 copies
Les Misérables, t.2 3 copies
I miserabili - Vol. V 3 copies
Notre-Dame de Paris (Les incontournables de la littérature en BD) (2010) — Auteur illustré — 3 copies
Les Misérables 1 3 copies
I miserabili - Vol. IV 3 copies
OS GRANDES ROMANCES HISTORICOS 3 copies
The works of Victor Hugo (Ten-Volume De Luxe Edition Set, Vol. 03) (Les Misérables, Books 03-04) 3 copies
Les Misérables , par Victor Hugo... 3 copies
Los miserables. Prologo con resena critica de la obra, vida y obra del autor, y marco historico. (Spanish Edition) (2013) 3 copies
Dramas, Volume 2 3 copies
Jadnici, dio 1 3 copies
works of Victor Hugo, The 3 copies
LOS MISERABLES (I) 3 copies
Kurjat 5 Jean Valjean 3 copies
Les Miserables, Vol. 3 3 copies
Poésie 3 copies
Les Contemplations: choix de poèmes 3 copies
Les Miserables: I-III 3 copies
Pendant l'Exil 1852-1870 3 copies
Kozetta. Iz romana "otverzhennye" 3 copies
Oeuvres complètes . Politique : Paris. Mes Fils. Actes et Paroles (I, II, III, IV). Testament littéraire. (1985) 3 copies
Sefiller Cilt II 3 copies
I Miserabili. Volume quarto 3 copies
Samhällets olycksbarn. Bd 3 3 copies
T. 1 3 copies
T. 2 3 copies
T. 3 3 copies
Oeuvres complètes 15 : Les Burgraves, Mille francs de récompense, Torquemada (1963) — Author — 3 copies
I Miserabili. Volume primo 3 copies
Les chatiments - L'année terrible 3 copies
I Miserabili. Volume secondo 3 copies
I Miserabili. Volume terzo 3 copies
Pauca meae (Livre IV des Contemplations): suivi d'une anthologie sur la poésie du romantisme au surréalisme (2016) 3 copies
The Hunchback of Notre Dame 3 copies
Os miseráveis 3 copies
Notre-Dame de Paris 3 copies
NJERIU QË QESH 3 copies
Les Miserables: Smithsonian Historical Performances [1937 recording] (1995) — Author — 3 copies, 1 review
La légende des siècles, vol. III 3 copies
La légende des siècles II 3 copies
Jadnici, dio 2 3 copies
Le Misérables. Tome 1 (Les incontournables de la littérature en BD) — Auteur illustré — 2 copies
Conversando com a Eternidade 2 copies
البؤساء (abridged) 2 copies
Les Contemplations - Victor Hugo - Livres I - VI - Les classiques de la poésie française: (3) (French Edition) (2020) 2 copies
Tutto il teatro 2 copies
Les misérables [1988 TV animated movie] — Author — 2 copies
Os miseráveis III 2 copies
Theatre, 4 vols. 2 copies
Travailleurs de la Mer 2 vols. 2 copies
Voix Interieures 2 copies
Os Miseráveis 2 copies
Os miseráveis IV 2 copies
Os miseráveis V 2 copies
I Miserabili. Volume quinto 2 copies
En Voyage 2 copies
Nuestra Señora de París. Vol. I 2 copies
Quatre-Vingt Treize, 2 vols. 2 copies
La Legende des Siecles, 1e serie 2 copies
Les Miserables, 5 vols. 2 copies
Die Elenden Bd. 1 [...] 2 copies
Ode et Ballades 2 copies
Les Misérables [1952 film] — Original book — 2 copies
HAN 2 copies
Los Miserables (Volumen III) 2 copies
A nyomorultak I. kötet 2 copies
A nyomorultak II. kötet 2 copies
Victor Hugo's Works 2 copies
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame : Illustrated Abridged Children Classic English Novel with Review Questions (2021) 2 copies
Almas crucificadas 2 copies
A párizsi Notre-Dame 1482 regény 2 copies
مذكرات محكوم عليه بالإعدام 2 copies
Vesalingarnir (I - II) 2 copies
The Complete Novels of Victor Hugo 2 copies
L' intervention: comédie: Postface de Arnaud Laster: Petit carnet de mise en cène de Ruth Orthmann (2002) 2 copies
The voice of genius down the ages 2 copies
Crotaire Notre Dame 2 copies
Ce que disent les tables parlantes 2 copies
Die Elenden Bd. 2 [...] 2 copies
The Works of Victor Hugo, Hans of Iceland, Bug-Jargal, Claude Gueux, Last Days of a Condemned 2 copies
Les Misérables... 2 copies
Η ΠΑΝΑΓΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΠΑΡΙΣΙΩΝ 2 copies
Notre-Dame de Paris [Histoires universelles - Edition abrégée et adaptée par Thomas Leclere et illustrée par Benjamin Carré] (1831) 2 copies
Galejslaven 2 copies
Les Miserables Volume I 2 copies
Hafvets arbetare 2 copies
Fantine 2 copies
Toilers of the Sea, Vols 3 & 4 2 copies
Em viagem III 2 copies
1928 WORKS OF VICTOR HUGO ILLUSTRATED FINE BINDING HUNCHBACK NOTRE DAME CRIME [Hardcover] Victor Hugo (1928) 2 copies
The wretched 2 copies
Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné: suivi d'un parcours « Écrire pour dénoncer l'injustice » (2020) 2 copies
MISÉRABLES (LES) T.01 2 copies
Os Miseráveis - volume II 2 copies
Han z Islandii 2 copies
El Jorobado de Notre Dame (Clasicos Para Ninos/ Classics for Children) (Spanish Edition) (2006) 2 copies
Os Miseráveis I: Fantina 2 copies
LOS MISERABLES (II) 2 copies
Oamenii mării 2 copies
Actes Et Paroles, Vol. 5: Depuis l'Exil, 1870-1871 (Classic Reprint) (French Edition) (2017) 2 copies
Hugo Victor 2 copies
L'homme qui rit, [vol.] 3 2 copies
Les travailleurs de la mer, [vol.] 3 2 copies
Les Misérables - Tome III 2 copies
Carnets intimes: 1870-1871 2 copies
L' esprit de la lettre: [exposition, Paris,] Maison de Victor Hugo, 25 octobre 2007-3 février 2008 (2007) 2 copies
Hernani, Esmeralda, Marion de Lorme 2 copies
La poésie de victor hugo. extraits présentés par maurice levaillant et madame c. daubray. (1943) 2 copies
Samhällets olycksbarn. Bd 12 2 copies
Obras de Vitor Hugo ( Volume I ) 2 copies
De Ulykkelige. Bind 1-4 2 copies
L'homme qui rit, [vol.] 4 2 copies
Sefiller I 2 copies
Notre-Dame of Paris, volume four 2 copies
Notre-Dame of Paris, volume three 2 copies
L'archipel de la Manche Les travailleurs de la mer (L'oeuvre romanesque de Victor Hugo.) (1992) 2 copies
Os Fundos Falsos do Obstáculo 2 copies
4 Vintage Hardcover Books by Victor Hugo: Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Laughing Man, Toilers of the Sea, Ninety-Three (1909) — Author — 2 copies
Miserables, Les: Volume 1 2 copies
De klokkeluider van de Notre Dame 2 copies
Lettres à la fiancée: 1820-1822 2 copies
Claude Gueux suivi de La Chute 2 copies
Histoire d'un crime. 2 — Author — 2 copies
Calvário de libertação 2 copies
Les Mise'rables 2 copies
The Novels of Victor Hugo, Vol. 13: Toilers of the Sea Part Two, and, Ninety-Three Part One (2016) 2 copies
VIC Los miserables (1) 2 copies
Les Misérables, tome 4 2 copies
Собрание сочинений в 15 томах 2 copies
Hans of Iceland and Bug-Jargal — Author — 2 copies
Les Miserables, Vol. III 2 copies
The dramas complete and unabridged of Victor Hugo, VI : Mary Tudor ; The twins — Author — 2 copies
The Burgraves ; Amy Robsart — Author — 2 copies
Hernani ; Esmerelda — Author — 2 copies
Chefs-d'oeuvre poétiques 2 copies
Los miserables T2 2 copies
Oeuvres complètes 14 : Angelo, tyran de Padoue, La Esmeralda, Ruy Blas, Inez de Castro (1963) 2 copies
Los Miserables. Tomo 1 2 copies
Cet immense rêve de l'océan... : Paysages de mer et autres sujets marins par Victor Hugo (2005) 2 copies
Dramas, Volume 4 2 copies
Les Misérables, tome 1 2 copies
Océan (suite) 2 copies
Dramas, Volume 3 2 copies
Brockhaus Literaturcomics - Weltliteratur im Comic-Format - Der Glöckner von Notre-Dame (2012) 2 copies
Les Miserables, Tome 1 2 copies
A Bilingual Edition of the Major Epics of Victor Hugo (Studies in French Literature) (2002) 2 copies
Poésies — Author — 2 copies
Ruy Blas. Los Burgraves. Torquemada 2 copies
Hernani el rey se divierte 1 copy
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame 1 copy
Nostra senyora de parís 1 copy
Nhà Thờ Đức Bà Pari 2 1 copy
Los Miserables I 1 copy
Victor Hugo Raconte Par Un Temoin De Sa Vie (Oeuvres Completes de Victor Hugo, Tome Premier) (1936) 1 copy
L'Homme qui rit (2) 2Tomes 1 copy
Les Miserables (Volume I): Vol. I. - Fantine, Translated From The French By Isabel F. Hapgood (2019) 1 copy
Die Elenden 1 [...] 1 copy
أحدب نوتردام 1 copy
Jumalaema kiriku kellamees 1 copy
Ч. 1,2 1 copy
Los miserable Vol. 2 1 copy
Los miserables Vol. 1 1 copy
Historia de un crimen 1 copy
The Collected Works of Victor Hugo: The Complete Works PergamonMedia (Highlights of World Literature) (2015) 1 copy
Yhdeksänkymmentäkolme 1 copy
Fantine 1 copy
Οι ΑΘΛΙΟΙ β΄τόμος 1 copy
POESIES DE VICTOR HUGO 1 copy
Le roi s'amuse ; Lucrece Borgia ; Marie Tudor ; A.Q.C.H.E.B. (a quelque chose hasard est bon) 1 copy
Le contemplations. tome i. 1 copy
Οι ΑΘΛΙΟΙ 1 copy
MAESTRI I MISERABILI VOL 1 1 copy
رجل نبيل 1 copy
Les Miserables: Volume II 1 copy
Os miseráveis 1 copy
Os Imortais 1 copy
Der Glöckner von Notre Dame. Band Eins (Die Geschichte von Esmeralda und Quasimodo 1) (German Edition) (2022) 1 copy
Les Misérables. Volume 1, extraits des 1ère et 2ème parties : Epopée de Jean Valjean, Fantine et Cosette (2003) 1 copy
Les Miserables, Vol. 5 1 copy
Los miserables 1 1 copy
L'uomo che ride (volume II) 1 copy
The Hunchback of NotreDame 1 copy
A párizsi Notre-Dame II 1 copy
Kilencvenhárom II 1 copy
Victor Hugo dessinateur 1 copy
Bog 1 copy
L'homme qui rit. English 1 copy
Hugo's Works: 20 Volume Set 1 copy
OS MISEVÁVEIS VOLUME 4 1 copy
Children in Literature: Selections from the Works of Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot (2010) 1 copy
Les Miserable pb 1 copy
A király mulat 1 copy
Les Feuilles D'Automme 1 copy
Les Misérables - Tome 4 - Gavroche: L’idylle de la rue Plumet et l’épopée de la rue Saint-Denis (2015) 1 copy
Los miserables 2 1 copy
Les tables tournantes de Jersey: Procès-verbaux des séances de spiritisme chez Victor Hugo (2021) 1 copy
KLOD FUKARAI 1 copy
N.MURAVIEVA 1 copy
Nędznicy. Tom III/IV 1 copy
La Légende des Siècles - Victor Hugo - Texte intégral: Édition illustrée | 193 pages Format 15,24 cm x 22,86 cm (2020) 1 copy
TË MJERËT 2 1 copy
L'année terrible 1 copy
NJERIU QË QESH 1 1 copy
Φιλοσοφία καί Φιλολογία 1 copy
View of Notre Dame 1 copy
El año terrible 1 copy
Cromwell; María Tudor 1 copy
TË MJERËT 3 1 copy
Nedznicy-3 1 copy
Η Παναγία των Παρισίων Η Τελευταία Ημέρα ενός Καταδίκου Ο Κλωντ Γκε Ο Φιλελληνισμός του Ουγκώ 1 copy
TE MJERET -VELLIMI 2 1 copy
Choix de Posies Lyriques 1 copy
Complete Works 1 copy
Человек, который смеется 1 copy
Viti 93 1 copy
DITA E NJE TE DENUARI 1 copy
Ρούυ Μπλας 1 copy
Kozeta 1 copy
Han of Iceland: Volumes I-II 1 copy
گوژپشت نتردام 1 copy
Oeuvres de Victor Hugo. Poesie.Tome 5. Les Contemplations, I Autrefois 1830-1843 (Litterature) (French Edition) (2013) 1 copy
Hunchback of Notre Dame 1 copy
SHËN MËRIA E PARISIT 1 copy
Les Misérables, Vol. one 1 copy
L'Homme qui rit (1) 2Tomes 1 copy
Les Miserables 1 1 copy
Отверженные. Т.1. 1 copy
Os Miseráveis II: Cosetta 1 copy
Os Miseráveis III: Mário 1 copy
Человек, который смеется 1 copy
Notre Dame de Paris 1 copy
TË MJERËT 1 copy
NGJARJE TË JETUARA 1 copy
The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1 copy
The Bishop's Candlesticks 1 copy
Der Zeichner Victor Hugo 1 copy
PQ2286 .A47 Les Misérables 1 copy
History of a crime. Volume 1 1 copy
Os Miseráveis - I volume 1 copy
Rondônia 1 copy
Bídníci. 2.sv. 1 copy
Esmerelda 1 copy
Bídníci. 1.sv. 1 copy
Парижката Света Богородица 1 copy
O Suíno Etéreo 1 copy
Sefiller I-II-III-IV 1 copy
Correspondance 1833-1883 1 copy
Notre Dame'nin Kamburu 1 copy
OS MISERÁVEIS VOLUME 4 1 copy
Dramata 1 copy
Les misérables (tome3) 1 copy
Les misérables (tome 1) 1 copy
Great works of Victor Hugo 1 copy
Œuvres Poétiques compètes 1 copy
Seçme Şiirler 1 copy
Victor Hugo en America 1 copy
Los miserables Tomo I y II 1 copy
Les misérables (tome5) 1 copy
Novantatrè 1 copy
Les Miserables - Unabridged 1 copy
Os Homens do Mar 1 copy
Les Misérable 1 copy
Los miserables. 2 tomos 1 copy
Les Miserables Volume 2 1 copy
Отверженные [Les Misérables] 1 copy
1793 - Γαλλική Επανάσταση 1 copy
Notre Dame' n kamburu 1 copy
Nhung Nguoi Khon Kho 1 copy
Nhung Nguoi Khon Kho tap 3 1 copy
Nha Tho Duc Ba Pari 2 1 copy
Les misérables (tome4) 1 copy
Les misérables (tome6) 1 copy
Os Miseráveis - Volume 1 1 copy
The Worst Treason 1 copy
Ardua Ascensão 1 copy
Do Abismo às Estrelas 1 copy
Oeuvres (sette tomi) 1 copy
Párias em Rendenção 1 copy
ASCESE - SALVATORES DEI 1 copy
Quedas e Ascensão 1 copy
Theatre II 1 copy
Les misérables (tome7) 1 copy
Los Misserables (2) 1 copy
Les feuilles d'automne - Les chants du crépuscule - Les voix intérieures - Les rayons et les ombres 1 copy
Les misérables - Tome 2 1 copy
Les misérables - Tome 3 1 copy
Oeuvres poétiques : avant l'exil 1802-1851, les châtiments, les contemplations - préface par gaëtan picon, édition établie et… (1964) 1 copy
Les Misérables / TomeIII 1 copy
SEFİLLER 1 copy
Les misérables (tome9) 1 copy
Les misérables (tome8) 1 copy
Los Miserables I 1 copy
Le Fançais universel, "Notre-Dame de Paris" d'après le roman de Victor Hugo, niveau 1. 4e série moins de 3000 mots (1993) 1 copy
Os Miseráveis 1 copy
Los miserables - Volumen 2 1 copy
Los miserables - Volumen 1 1 copy
Wo Du bist, da ist das Glück 1 copy
Os Miseráveis - Volume 2 1 copy
ImzlaḌ 1 copy
Mizerabilii, vol. I-V 1 copy
کلود ولگرد 1 copy
آخرین روز یک محکوم 1 copy
Козетта. Гаврош 1 copy
Cugetări 1 copy
Człowiek śmiechu 1 copy
Lettres à Juliette Drouet 1 copy
LITERATURA Y FILOSOFIA 1 copy
Œuvres Complètes de Victor Hugo, Vol. 4: Drame; La Esmeralda, Ruy Blas, les Burgraves (Classic Reprint) (French Edition) (2017) 1 copy
The hunchback of Notre Dame 1 copy
Nôtre-Dame de Paris. [T.] 2 1 copy
The Laughing Man Vol. 2 1 copy
The Laughing Man Vol. 1 1 copy
Os Miseráveis - 3 1 copy
Os Miseráveis - 2 1 copy
Os Miseráveis - 1 1 copy
Les Misérables 1 copy
POESÍAS 1 copy
Poésies: Tome I 1 copy
Os Miseráveis vol. IV 1 copy
Os Miseráveis vol. V 1 copy
Φιλοσοφία και Φιλολογία 1 copy
Los miserables II 1 copy
Los miserables I 1 copy
The Hunchback of Notredame 1 copy
El último día de un condenado a muerte. Claude Geaux (Básica de Bolsillo nº 347) (Spanish Edition) 1 copy
Ninety-Three, Volume 1 of 2 1 copy
Victor Hugo's Novels 1 copy
Mizerabilii 1 copy
Os Miseráveis vol. II 1 copy
Os Miseráveis vol. III 1 copy
Rabelais: Gargantua 1 copy
Fiche de lecture Bug-Jargal de Victor Hugo (Analyse littéraire de référence et résumé complet) (2019) 1 copy
NUESTRA SEÑORA DE PARIS 1 copy
Ceuvres de V. Hugo 1 copy
Ostatni dzień skazańca 1 copy
Οι άθλιοι (Les misérables) 1 copy
LOS MISERABLES TOMO II 1 copy
LOS MISERABLES TOMO I 1 copy
Victor Hugo (prose) 1 copy
Victor Hugo: Oeuvres compltes - 122 titres (Annots et illustrs) - Arvensa Editions (French Edition) 1 copy
Hüljatud, romaan, II 1 copy
Les Plus Beaux Poèmes 1 copy
GAVROCHE SI COSETTE 1 copy
Hüljatud, romaan, III 1 copy
Hüljatud, romaan, I 1 copy
Lúltim dia d'un condemnat 1 copy
The man who laughs. Vol.2 1 copy
The man who laughs. Vol 1 1 copy
First Chapter Collection 001 1 copy
Notre-Dame de Paris - II 1 copy
LE RHIN lettres a un ami 1 copy
AVANT L´EXIL 1 copy
EL NOVENTA Y TRES TOMO II 1 copy
Ringaren i Notre Dam 1 copy
OS MISERÁVEIS - QUADRINHOS 1 copy
A nyomorultak II.kötet 1 copy
Notre DameI;n Kamburu 1 copy
Bogorodičina crkva u Parizu 1 copy
O CORCUNDA DE NOTRE-DAME 1 copy
EL NOVENTA Y TRES TOMO I 1 copy
Lao động biển cả 1 copy
Mannen som ler B. 1 1 copy
Jadnici / 2 1 copy
Mannen som ler B. 3 1 copy
Mannen som ler B. 2 1 copy
Dramatic Works of Victor Hugo: Translated by Frederick L. Slous and Mrs. Newton Crosland (1894) (2009) 1 copy
Notre-Dame de Paris, Vol. 2: Adapted For Use In Schools And Colleges (Classic Reprint) (French Edition) (2017) 1 copy
La Epopeya del Leon 1 copy
Œuvres poétiques II 1 copy
The Spanish Dancer. As Told In Don Caesar De Bazan, Pola Negri Edition Illustrated with Scenes from The Paramount Picture (1901) 1 copy
Les Orientales II 1 copy
Les Orientales I 1 copy
La Philosophie religieuse de Victor Hugo : poèmes choisis sur la méthode philosophique du mot juste 1 copy
Œuvres poétiques III 1 copy
Œuvres poétiques I 1 copy
Les misérables Tome IV L'idylle rue Plumet et l'épopée rue Saint-Denis (French Edition) (2011) 1 copy
Victor Hugo Lamartine Discours et Lettres Discours Politiques de Hugo et Alphonse de Lamartine 1 copy
Les Miserables, Tome 4 1 copy
Les Miserables, Tome 3 1 copy
Les Misérables: The Classic Story of the Triumph of Grace and Redemption, Adapted for Today's Reader 1 copy
Les Miserables, Tome 6 1 copy
Les misérables IV 1 copy
Mizerabilii vol.1 1 copy
Napoléon (suivi de Napoléon le petit par Victor Hugo): édition intégrale (Histoire de France) (2013) 1 copy
Poésies - tome 2 1 copy
Les Miserables, Tome 5 1 copy
Les Miserables, Tome 7 1 copy
Depuis l'Exil, tome 2 1 copy
Nędznicy: Tom VII-VIII. 1 copy
Nędznicy: Tom V-VI. 1 copy
Avant l'Exil 1 copy
Depuis l'Exil, tome 1 1 copy
Les Miserables, Tome 8 1 copy
Toute la lyre, tome 1 1 copy
Les Oeuvres de Victor Hugo 1 copy
La Condition Animale 1 copy
Théâtre de Victor Hugo, deuxième série : Lucrèce Borgia - Marie Tudor - Angelo - Procès d'Ernani et d'Angelo (1850) 1 copy
Oeuvres poétiques Tome 1 1 copy
Meren ahertajat 1 copy
Kurjat. 1-2 1 copy
Les Misérables, Volume III: Marius: Unabridged Bilingual Edition: English-French (Volume 3) (2016) 1 copy
ΟΙ ΑΘΛΙΟΙ ΤΟΜΟΣ Α Β & Γ 1 copy
Théâtre complet 1 copy
Victor Hugo. Oeuvres choisies illustrées : Par Léopold-Lacour,... Préface de Gustave Simon. Poésies et drames en vers (1953) 1 copy
Nesrečniki 1 copy
The Big Story of the Lion 1 copy
Los Miserables . Volumen II 1 copy
Poésie 1 copy
Os miseráveis (Vol 3) 1 copy
Prose et poésies: selection made and edited by Arthur Wilson-Green (Cambridge modern French series, senior group) (1926) 1 copy
Les misérables VII 1 copy
Os miseráveis VI 1 copy
O homem que ri II 1 copy
Noventa e três III 1 copy
Em viagem II 1 copy
Die Elenden I 1 copy
Victor Hugo. Lettres à Juliette Drouet : 1833-1883, le livre de l'anniversaire. Texte établi et présenté par Jean Gaudon (1964) 1 copy
The Words of Hugo 1 copy
L'Annee Terrible. 1 copy
The poetry of Victor Hugo 1 copy
Les Misérables / tome IV 1 copy
Les Misérables / Tome II 1 copy
Poems (Xist Classics) 1 copy
Victor hugo : prose. 1 copy
Værker 1 copy
Zvoník u Matky Boží 1 copy
Poésies et essais 5 vol. 1 copy
Os Miseraveis - Volume VIII 1 copy
Three works by Victor Hugo 1 copy
Odes 1 copy
L'avenir 1 copy
Avez-vous lu Victor Hugo ? 1 copy
"Je dirai tout" 1 copy
Ausgewählte Gedichte 1 copy
De verstootenen, 1-4 1 copy
Μπροστά στη λαιμητόμο 1 copy
Victor Hugo: dessinateur 1 copy
Miserables, Les: Volume 2 1 copy
Victor Hugo. Odes et ballades. Les Orientales : Extraits. Avec une notice... des notes... par Jean Bogaert (1949) 1 copy
Samhällets olycksbarn. Bd 5 1 copy
Samhällets olycksbarn. Bd 4 1 copy
Oeuvres completes XI. Litterature et philosophie - William Shakespeare - Paris - Victor Hugo raconte 1 copy
De verstootenen, 5-7 1 copy
De verstootenen, 8-10 1 copy
Poésies - tome 1 1 copy
Les feuilles d'automne-Les chants du crépuscule- Les voix intérieures- Les rayons et les ombres 1 copy
Victor Hugo de la Jeunesse 1 copy
Victor Hugo's Works (6 VOLUME SET) — Author — 1 copy
Les Miserables (Vol 1); The Laughing Man, Ninety Three, The Toilers of the Sea, Notre Dame (Vol. 2) 1 copy
Théâtre tome 3 1 copy
Les Miserables Vol III 1 copy
Les Misérables, tomes 5 à 8 1 copy
Victor Hugo: Romans 1 copy
Choses vues 1 1 copy
La Costituente romana 1 copy
BI-NAVAYAN BARAYE NOJAVANAN 1 copy
Valda skrifter 1 copy
"93 god'. "Ernani." Stikhotvoreniia. — Author — 1 copy
The Impressionist 1 copy
Dramatic works 1 copy
Verbeelde Gedichten 1 copy
Torquemada. Les jumeaux 1 copy
I MISERABILI - Victor Hugo - versione integrale, arricchita da biografia e frasi celebri (Italian Edition) (2013) 1 copy
Hugo Selected Works 1 copy
Contos para os Meus Netos 1 copy
Victor Hugo's Works: Dramas Vols. 1 and 2 (Hernani, The Twin Brothers, Angelo, Amy Robsart) (1895) 1 copy
Roi s'amuse (Le). Lucrèce Borgia. Marie Tudor. A.Q.C.H.E.B. (A quelque chose hasard est bon). 1 copy
Sefiller Cilt #1 1 copy
Scrisori din calatorie 1 copy
Regele petrece. Ruy Blas 1 copy
Les Misérables - Tome I 1 copy
Les Misérables - Tome II 1 copy
Les Misérables - Tome IV 1 copy
Sefiller Cilt #2 1 copy
Samhällets olycksbarn. Bd 13 1 copy
Les misérables : Tome II. Edition abrégée : Collection : Bibliothèque verte cartonnée & illustrée n° 51 (1951) 1 copy
Les Miseralbles Book Two 1 copy
De ulykkelige Værker I 1 copy
Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) - Vol 1 (of 3) [French English Bilingual Edition] (2012) 1 copy
Samhällets olycksbarn. Bd 11 1 copy
Samhällets olycksbarn. Bd 10 1 copy
Samhällets olycksbarn. Bd 9 1 copy
Samhällets olycksbarn. Bd 8 1 copy
Samhällets olycksbarn. Bd 7 1 copy
Oeuvres complètes XIX. Lettres à la fiancée – Correspondance 1815-1882 - Post-scriptum de ma vie 1 copy
Dramas: Hernani, The Twin Brothers, Angelo, Amy Robsart; Cromwell, The Burgraves in Two Vol. (1892) 1 copy
Théâtre de Victor Hugo 1 copy
Theatre de Victor Hugo 1 copy
Four Novels 1 copy
Los Miserables. Tomo 1 1 copy
I miserabili 1 copy
Napoleon el pequeño 1 copy
Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) - Vol 2 (of 3) [French English Bilingual Edition] (French Edition) (2012) 1 copy
les miserables, volume IV The idyll of the street plumet and the epic of the Saint-denis street (English Edition) (2017) 1 copy
Les Misérables - Fantine - Vol 1 (of 5) [French English Bilingual Edition] (French Edition) (2011) 1 copy
Hernani Marion de Lorne 1 copy
Teatro de juventud 1 copy
Los miserables III 1 copy
Ninety-Three, Volume 3 1 copy
Notre-Dame De Paris, Etc. - Leatherbound (French Edition) — Author — 1 copy
Victor Hugo en el Perú — Author — 1 copy
CROMWELL VICTOR HUGO: Un poème épique et religieux en vers de Victor Hugo texte intégral ,contexte historique (French Edition) (2022) 1 copy
Собор Парижской Богоматери 1 copy
Fiche de lecture Le Roi s'amuse de Victor Hugo (Analyse littéraire de référence et résumé complet) (French Edition) (2019) 1 copy
Bug-Jargal de Victor Hugo (fiche de lecture et analyse complète de l'oeuvre) (French Edition) (2020) 1 copy
أحدب نوتردام 1 copy
Os miseráveis - 5 volumes 1 copy
Fantine 1 copy
Poésies - 1933 1 copy
The Novels of Victor Hugo, Volume I: Notre-Dame; The History of a Crime - The Testimony of an Eye-Witness 1 copy, 1 review
Jumala ema kirik Pariisis 1 copy
I miserabili [vol 1/3] 1 copy
Les misérables : tome II 1 copy
Les misérables : tome III 1 copy
Les Misérables 02 1 copy
Los miserables (II) 1 copy
Les Miserables : Tome III 1 copy
Quatre-Vingt-Treize Tome II 1 copy
Oeuvres de V.Hugo 1 copy
Hüljatud III 1 copy
Les Misérables (Tome III) 1 copy
Les Misérables : Tome I 1 copy
Os Miseráveis Vol.II 1 copy
Veliký Jargal 1 copy
Ubožáci 1 copy
Les Miserables -Volumes 2 1 copy
Les Miserables : Tome IV 1 copy
The works of Victor Hugo (Ten-Volume De Luxe Edition Set, Vol. 02) (Les Misérables, Books 01-02) 1 copy
Les Misérables (extraits) 1 copy
Els Miserables II 1 copy
Les Misérables [PB,1987] 1 copy
Rui Blas 1 copy
Havets arbeidere B. 2 1 copy
Havets arbeidere B. 1 1 copy
Els Miserables III 1 copy
Nostra Dona de París II 1 copy
Árdua ascensão 1 copy
Post-scriptum de mi vida 1 copy
Les misérables. Vol3 1 copy
Tutti i romanzi, volume 01: (1823-1829). Han d'Islanda,Bug Jargal, l'ultimo giorno di un condannato 1 copy
Hermani - Marion de Lorme 1 copy
Liryki i poematy 1 copy
Człowiek śmiechu. T. 2 1 copy
Człowiek śmiechu. T. 1 1 copy
Poezje polityczne 1 copy
Nędznicy. T. 2 1 copy
Nędznicy. T. 1 1 copy
Marie Tudor 1 copy
I miserabili 5 - 8 1 copy
FA181 1 copy
Les Romans 1 copy
Cosas vistas / Hernani 1 copy
Yhdeksänkymmentäkolme II 1 copy
The End Of Satan (annotated) 1 copy
The Complete Poems 1 copy
Die Elenden in 3 Bänden 1 copy
Les Miserables 1 copy
Poésies Choisies, Tome 1 1 copy
Poésies Choisies, Tome 2 1 copy
En Voyage France et Belgique 1 copy
Nişanlıya Mektuplar 1 copy
I miserabili 1 - 4 1 copy
Les Miserables (1935) 1 copy
Oeuvres complets 1 copy
עלובי החיים : כרך שני 1 copy
Herodotus Vol 1 1 copy
Les Contemplations. Livres IV-V: Prépas scientifiques 2020-2021 (Littérature et civilisation) (French Edition) (2020) 1 copy
L'Homme au complet marron 1 copy
O Solar de Apolo 1 copy
Victor Hugo. Oeuvres politiques complètes. Oeuvres diverses : . Réunies et présentées par Francis Bouvet (1964) 1 copy
£ ı £ £ 1 copy
Nhà thờ đức bà Paris 1 copy
The Rhine, in Two Volumes 1 copy
VICTOR HUGO'S NOVELS Illustrated in 5 Volumes, Profusely Illustrated With Elegant Wood Engravings (1869) 1 copy
Victor Hugo. Les Feuilles d'automne. Les Chants du crépuscule : . Extraits. Avec une notice... des notes... par P.-A. Gadenne (1948) 1 copy
Oeuvres complètes. Océan 1 copy
Toute la lyre . 2. 1 copy
La Voix de Guernesey 1 copy
Les Miserables Vol 1-3 1 copy
Les Miserables Vol 4&5 1 copy
Les Miserables Vol 1-3 1 copy
The Tales of Hoffmann 1 copy
Herodotus Vol 2 1 copy
Poems in Translation 1 copy
Á mujó (ああ無情) 1 copy
Os Miseraveis, v.2 1 copy
Les miserables. Bind 1-4 1 copy
1966 1 copy
Der Mann 1 copy
Victor Hugo's sämmtliche Werke - fünfter Band : Der König macht sich lustig ; Marion de Lorme 1 copy
La Pitié Suprême 1 copy
Oeuvres de Victor Hugo. Le Rhin. Lettres a Un Ami.Tome 1 (Litterature) (French Edition) (2013) 1 copy
Préface de «Cromwell» 1 copy
The Burgraves 1 copy
Poèmes Uncollected 1 copy
Dernière Gerbe 1 copy
Les Années Funestes 1 copy
Religions et Religion 1 copy
L'Âne 1 copy
עלובי החיים : כרך שלישי 1 copy
La legende des siecles . La fin de satan / Victor Hugo. Texte etabli et annote par Jacques Truchet 1 copy
Oeuvres de Victor Hugo. Poesie.Tome 6. Les Contemplations, II Aujourd'hui 1843-1856 (Litterature) (French Edition) (2013) 1 copy
Na Sombra e na Luz 1 copy
Teatro Completo 1 copy
Préface du "Cromwell" 1 copy
Vesalingarnir - IV 1 copy
Vesalingarnir - III 1 copy
Oeuvres poétiques 1 copy
Vesalingarnir - I 1 copy
עלובי החיים : כרך ראשון 1 copy
La légende des siècles. 2 1 copy
Les Mis Vol. 2 1 copy
Vesalingarnir - II 1 copy
Os Miseraveis - Volume 5 1 copy
Romans. II 1 copy
Romans I 1 copy
Les Misérables.Tome I. 1 copy
O noventa e tres 1 copy
Les Chatiments Tome II 1 copy
Les Chatiments Tome I 1 copy
Les Miserables - (Vols.I,II,III) - Victor Hugo - Easton Press - Lynd Ward Illustrations (1966) 1 copy
Romans. III 1 copy
Os Miseraveis - Volume 4 1 copy
Noventa e tres - Volume 1 1 copy
Os Miseraveis - Volume 3 1 copy
Os miseraveis - Volume 2 1 copy
Os miseraveis - Volume 1 1 copy
O homem que ri - Volume 3 1 copy
O homem que ri - Volume 2 1 copy
O homem que ri - Volume 1 1 copy
Os Homens do Mar - Volume 2 1 copy
Noventa de tres - Volime 2 1 copy
Gavroche. Les Misérables III 1 copy
Victor Hugo, Juliette Drouet et "Tristesse d Olympio" d après des documents inédits. (1945) 1 copy, 1 review
La Légende des siècles II 1 copy
Associated Works
The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature, Volumes 1-2 (1955) — Contributor — 524 copies, 4 reviews
World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time (1998) — Contributor — 499 copies, 2 reviews
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 2: From "Kubla Khan" to the Brontë Sisters to The Picture of Dorian Gray (2012) — Contributor — 213 copies, 2 reviews
The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature (1999) — Contributor — 202 copies, 2 reviews
The Lincoln Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Legacy from 1860 to Now (2008) — Contributor — 172 copies, 1 review
The Hunchback of Notre Dame / The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2 Movie Collection) (2014) — Author — 73 copies
Buzz Words: Poems About Insects (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series) (2021) — Contributor — 56 copies
The Greatest War Stories Ever Told: Twenty-Four Incredible War Tales (2001) — Contributor — 31 copies, 1 review
Classic Survival Stories: Thirteen Tales of Strength, Determination, and the Will to Live (2004) 19 copies
Grolier Classics: Les Miserables, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, French Revolution, Divine Comedy (1956) 19 copies
Oogst Der Tijden. keur uit de werken van schrijvers en dichters aller volken en eeuwen (1940) — Contributor — 12 copies
Profil d'une oeuvre : Hernani, Ruy Blas, Hugo : 1830; Ruy Blas : 1838, Victor Hugo (2003) — Contributor — 5 copies
Die schönsten Bücher für junge Leser: Ein Baum wächst in Brooklyn, Taifun, Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, Lausbubengeschichten (1973) 5 copies
Voltaire: Studies of Franc̜ois-Marie Arouet, known as M. de Voltaire (1954) — Contributor — 5 copies
I magnifici 7 capolavori della letteratura francese (eNewton Classici) (Italian Edition) (2013) 5 copies
The Masterpiece Library of Short Stories Vol. III: French — Contributor — 4 copies
Le bossu de Notre-Dame / Victor Hugo ; adapted for intermediate students by Paulette Collet and Frank Milani (2000) — some editions — 3 copies
Les Misérables / The White Seal / Remembrance of Things Past / Selected Passages from Walden (1987) — Contributor — 1 copy
* De Provence Lege Artis: Verhalen uit het land van Van Gogh — Contributor — 1 copy
Literaire rechtspraak — Contributor, some editions — 1 copy
Uit den vreemde : bloemlezing uit de vertaalde poezy — Contributor — 1 copy
L'Oeuvre de Balzac, Tome 09 : La comédie Humaine, Etudes de Mœurs au XIXe siècle (1962) — Preface, some editions — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Hugo, Victor
- Legal name
- Hugo, Victor-Marie
- Birthdate
- 1802-02-26
- Date of death
- 1885-05-22
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Occupations
- novelist
playwright
poet - Awards and honors
- state funeral
Académie française (1841) - Relationships
- Hugo, Adèle (wife)
D'Aunet, Leonie (lover)
Hugo, François-Victor (son) - Short biography
- Victor Marie Hugo (26 February 1802) – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote abundantly in an exceptional variety of genres: lyrics, satires, epics, philosophical poems, epigrams, novels, history, critical essays, political speeches, funeral orations, diaries, letters public and private, and dramas in verse and prose.
Hugo is considered to be one of the greatest and best-known French writers. Outside France, his most famous works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris), 1831. In France, Hugo is renowned for his poetry collections, such as Les Contemplations (The Contemplations) and La Légende des siècles (The Legend of the Ages). Hugo was at the forefront of the Romantic literary movement with his play Cromwell and drama Hernani. Many of his works have inspired music, both during his lifetime and after his death, including the musicals Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris. He produced more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime, and campaigned 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 touched upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. His opposition to absolutism and his colossal literary achievement established him as a national hero. He was honoured by interment in the Panthéon. - Cause of death
- pneumonia
- Nationality
- France
- Birthplace
- Besançon, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
- Places of residence
- Madrid, Spain
Brussels, Belgium
Channel Islands, UK - Place of death
- Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Burial location
- The Pantheon, Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Map Location
- France
Members
Discussions
Os miseráveis, Victor Hugo. Literatura Francesa in Clube de leitores Sala de Leitura - EE Vilma Ferrari - Piracicaba, SP. (September 2025)
Easton Press Item 2782 Victor Hugo's THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME 2 volume DLE in Easton Press Collectors (September 2023)
Best Les Miserables? in Folio Society Devotees (September 2023)
Best edition of Les Miserables? in Fine Press Forum (July 2023)
Les Miserables Translations in Easton Press Collectors (May 2023)
Pictures of Hunchback of Notre Dame DLE in Easton Press Collectors (July 2020)
Newly discovered Hunchback of Notre Dame DLEs in Easton Press Collectors (July 2020)
Group Read, March 2014: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame in 1001 Books to read before you die (April 2014)
1001 Group Read - February, 2013: Les Miserables in 1001 Books to read before you die (June 2013)
Toilers of the Sea Group Read in Author Theme Reads (February 2013)
Reviews
Let's say that I could choose a single book with the guarantee that every man, woman, and child would read it. I would not choose my top three favorites, nor would I choose the one whose remnants are permanently inked upon me. I would choose this one. You argue, the length! The time period! The cultural barriers! It's just another long expounding by some old dead white guy whose type has suffocated literature for centuries! Women will be frustrated with poor representation, people who aren't show more white will be angered by no representation, and everyone will bored to tears! Alright, I see that. Now, let me explain.
Human rights have not been perfected. They are as much a work in progress now as they were 150 years ago when this book was first published. If you wish to find the book that gives every variation on the theme of humanity its due, it does not exist, and in all likelihood never will. With that in mind, it is this book that I choose, as while Victor Hugo may have been limited by the era he grew up in, he did a damn good job in dreaming beyond it. He wrote what he knew, but he also wrote what he hoped, and together they form a piece of writing that can mean something to everyone, whatever their life consists of.
The book is called 'The Miserables'. I have a feeling that it is the blatant despair that this title provokes that has dissuaded publishers from rendering it into English, instead keeping it in that slightly prettier to the ear French form. It can even be shortened to that chic and oh so clever 'Les Mis', as is the norm whenever the play is discussed. In that light, when you say that truncated phrase it brings to mind not the triumphant book in its majestic entirety, but the abridged version, or perhaps the even more abridged play. You think of the story, but you do not think of the author's ideas, ones that he devotes full chapters to and are just as important to this tome as the characters he has sent running through it. And this is a tragedy.
Is tragedy too harsh a word? I don't think so. The book itself is one where tragedy heavily outweighs every other emotional aspect, and reducing it to a pittance of itself is flat out disgraceful. You have countless flavors of human sorrow worked out here: imprisonment, ostracization, slavery, decay of health, decay of morals, decay of life through the brutality of war as well as the slow grind of society’s wheels. There are also the more subtle restrictions on the human spirit, propagated by a firmness of belief that slowly stagnates into constricting bigotry, where humans substitute bias for their reality and confine themselves to a small and mean existence. These confines are more difficult to escape from than the strongest chains, which may bend and break under pressure, whereas prejudices will turn in on themselves and feed on the opposition. It is these barriers that build the barricades, it is these walls that let slip the dogs of war, it is these restrictions that make someone relish petty glories gained in the downfall of their fellow human beings. Where a difference of opinion exists, there will be conflict, and Victor Hugo was intimately familiar with the facets of this violent mechanism.
He did not want this for the world. More specifically, he did not want this for his France, his Paris, his creative beacon that teems with contagious culture and ridiculous fashions to this very day, one that can be silly but is often so very, very brave. Like Gavroche the gamin, it thumbs its nose at the world and thinks it slow and stupid, but all the same it loves its fellow human beings, and lives for the times when it can lead them, striding forward towards that thing called Progress. Victor Hugo loved the concept of Progress, and he wished that everyone would love it as well. In his words:
He sent his characters off with this dream of Progress, of finding a life for themselves, of living in a world that bettered itself by the passing day, where the future was not dreary but vibrant and brimming with unlimited potential. Many of them do not succeed. Many fall by the wayside, desiccated by sickness, shot down in wars, slain by grief and the resignation that life is not so much better than death. Some survive in miserable conditions, as restricted by their morality as by a chain around their neck. Some survive only by having stripped their morality as easily as a snake sheds its skin, and in the conditions, who can blame them? The weight of society squeezes the supports, and one is so much lighter and flexible without cumbersome thoughts of being good and kind.
In all this sadness and life cut short by miserable conditions long before its time, there is still hope. Victor Hugo illustrated this in his diverging sections as thoroughly as he did in his main story, as hard as that may be to believe. It is true, though. For example, his section on the Battle of Waterloo seems no more than an endless list of casualties, pages of warfare and tactics, and death, so much death. But at the very end, he points out it is not this battle that we remember in so much detail, nor any that came before it. We remember literature. In Hugo’s words:
And what of the other sections? There are many, but two that are particularly powerful in their own subtle ways are the sections on argot and the sewers. Argot is the language of criminals disguising their speech from the ignorant and the all too interested. It is an ever-changing labyrinth of slang, idioms, innuendos, wordplay that whips itself into more contorted evolutions in its effort to escape the law. If this kind of creativity runs rampant on the street, how would it fare if given a warm place to sleep, three meals a day, and a chance to improve its station in life? And the sewers. When first described, they are dirty, desperate, despicable things that do nothing but spread filth and disease and provide a home for the equally depraved. This however was Hugo’s vision of how it had been in the past. In his time, they were clean and meticulous in their function, as well designed as the streets above and ten times as useful. If humans can so improve the lot of that out of sight contraption that carries their shit, imagine what they could do with the parts of life that are meant for open viewing and enjoyment.
One last mention. Victor Hugo’s prose has been accused of excessive flouncing about, rambling sentences that quickly devolve into meaningless lists without form or function beyond the enjoyment of their own existence. I say, isn’t that last part enough? Reading his sentences brings to mind a dance, an endless waltz, to a symphony that builds and builds to a final crescendo, for Hugo is very good at taking his countless paragraphs and using them to reach a final glorious message. He could have said it plainly, but it would not have been nearly as powerful without all the exposition; just as his point about the memory of Byron outliving the memory of Waterloo would not have been nearly as striking had he not gone through the motions of describing every minute detail of that terrible battle. To bring the reader to his level of understanding and to make them feel as much as he does about these things, the prose is essential. And frankly, I have yet to come across another author that is as joyous to read as he is, for even while he is going on and on about useless trivia from a time long past, his enthusiasm is contagious. He loved what he wrote about, and he wanted you to love it too, progressing sentences growing more and more triumphant much like the Progress he wished for mankind. An ideal where all, I repeat, all are allowed to flourish and grow, developing their own ideas while more importantly learning to accept those of others, where a stretch of one's limb doesn't require the injury or confinement of another's.
So, read the full version, if you can. You’re welcome to the other, shorter versions, but read the full one at least once in your lifetime. Read the introduction even, for in this particular edition there is a wonderful amount of detail about Victor Hugo’s life that brings the book into beautiful focus. The introduction also calls the abridged version insufficient, and says:
I cannot agree more.
And lastly, for the tl;dr'ers, a summary for what I have said above, which rests within the very first pages of the book:
Human rights have not been perfected. They are as much a work in progress now as they were 150 years ago when this book was first published. If you wish to find the book that gives every variation on the theme of humanity its due, it does not exist, and in all likelihood never will. With that in mind, it is this book that I choose, as while Victor Hugo may have been limited by the era he grew up in, he did a damn good job in dreaming beyond it. He wrote what he knew, but he also wrote what he hoped, and together they form a piece of writing that can mean something to everyone, whatever their life consists of.
The book is called 'The Miserables'. I have a feeling that it is the blatant despair that this title provokes that has dissuaded publishers from rendering it into English, instead keeping it in that slightly prettier to the ear French form. It can even be shortened to that chic and oh so clever 'Les Mis', as is the norm whenever the play is discussed. In that light, when you say that truncated phrase it brings to mind not the triumphant book in its majestic entirety, but the abridged version, or perhaps the even more abridged play. You think of the story, but you do not think of the author's ideas, ones that he devotes full chapters to and are just as important to this tome as the characters he has sent running through it. And this is a tragedy.
Is tragedy too harsh a word? I don't think so. The book itself is one where tragedy heavily outweighs every other emotional aspect, and reducing it to a pittance of itself is flat out disgraceful. You have countless flavors of human sorrow worked out here: imprisonment, ostracization, slavery, decay of health, decay of morals, decay of life through the brutality of war as well as the slow grind of society’s wheels. There are also the more subtle restrictions on the human spirit, propagated by a firmness of belief that slowly stagnates into constricting bigotry, where humans substitute bias for their reality and confine themselves to a small and mean existence. These confines are more difficult to escape from than the strongest chains, which may bend and break under pressure, whereas prejudices will turn in on themselves and feed on the opposition. It is these barriers that build the barricades, it is these walls that let slip the dogs of war, it is these restrictions that make someone relish petty glories gained in the downfall of their fellow human beings. Where a difference of opinion exists, there will be conflict, and Victor Hugo was intimately familiar with the facets of this violent mechanism.
He did not want this for the world. More specifically, he did not want this for his France, his Paris, his creative beacon that teems with contagious culture and ridiculous fashions to this very day, one that can be silly but is often so very, very brave. Like Gavroche the gamin, it thumbs its nose at the world and thinks it slow and stupid, but all the same it loves its fellow human beings, and lives for the times when it can lead them, striding forward towards that thing called Progress. Victor Hugo loved the concept of Progress, and he wished that everyone would love it as well. In his words:
Go on, philosophers—teach, enlighten, kindle, think aloud, speak up, run joyfully toward broad daylight, fraternize in the public squares, announce the glad tidings, lavish your alphabets, proclaim human rights, sing your Marseillaises, sow enthusiasms, tear off green branches from the oak trees. Make thought a whirlwind.
He sent his characters off with this dream of Progress, of finding a life for themselves, of living in a world that bettered itself by the passing day, where the future was not dreary but vibrant and brimming with unlimited potential. Many of them do not succeed. Many fall by the wayside, desiccated by sickness, shot down in wars, slain by grief and the resignation that life is not so much better than death. Some survive in miserable conditions, as restricted by their morality as by a chain around their neck. Some survive only by having stripped their morality as easily as a snake sheds its skin, and in the conditions, who can blame them? The weight of society squeezes the supports, and one is so much lighter and flexible without cumbersome thoughts of being good and kind.
In all this sadness and life cut short by miserable conditions long before its time, there is still hope. Victor Hugo illustrated this in his diverging sections as thoroughly as he did in his main story, as hard as that may be to believe. It is true, though. For example, his section on the Battle of Waterloo seems no more than an endless list of casualties, pages of warfare and tactics, and death, so much death. But at the very end, he points out it is not this battle that we remember in so much detail, nor any that came before it. We remember literature. In Hugo’s words:
Nowadays when Waterloo is merely a click of sabers, above Blücher Germany has Goethe, and above Wellington England has Byron.
And what of the other sections? There are many, but two that are particularly powerful in their own subtle ways are the sections on argot and the sewers. Argot is the language of criminals disguising their speech from the ignorant and the all too interested. It is an ever-changing labyrinth of slang, idioms, innuendos, wordplay that whips itself into more contorted evolutions in its effort to escape the law. If this kind of creativity runs rampant on the street, how would it fare if given a warm place to sleep, three meals a day, and a chance to improve its station in life? And the sewers. When first described, they are dirty, desperate, despicable things that do nothing but spread filth and disease and provide a home for the equally depraved. This however was Hugo’s vision of how it had been in the past. In his time, they were clean and meticulous in their function, as well designed as the streets above and ten times as useful. If humans can so improve the lot of that out of sight contraption that carries their shit, imagine what they could do with the parts of life that are meant for open viewing and enjoyment.
One last mention. Victor Hugo’s prose has been accused of excessive flouncing about, rambling sentences that quickly devolve into meaningless lists without form or function beyond the enjoyment of their own existence. I say, isn’t that last part enough? Reading his sentences brings to mind a dance, an endless waltz, to a symphony that builds and builds to a final crescendo, for Hugo is very good at taking his countless paragraphs and using them to reach a final glorious message. He could have said it plainly, but it would not have been nearly as powerful without all the exposition; just as his point about the memory of Byron outliving the memory of Waterloo would not have been nearly as striking had he not gone through the motions of describing every minute detail of that terrible battle. To bring the reader to his level of understanding and to make them feel as much as he does about these things, the prose is essential. And frankly, I have yet to come across another author that is as joyous to read as he is, for even while he is going on and on about useless trivia from a time long past, his enthusiasm is contagious. He loved what he wrote about, and he wanted you to love it too, progressing sentences growing more and more triumphant much like the Progress he wished for mankind. An ideal where all, I repeat, all are allowed to flourish and grow, developing their own ideas while more importantly learning to accept those of others, where a stretch of one's limb doesn't require the injury or confinement of another's.
So, read the full version, if you can. You’re welcome to the other, shorter versions, but read the full one at least once in your lifetime. Read the introduction even, for in this particular edition there is a wonderful amount of detail about Victor Hugo’s life that brings the book into beautiful focus. The introduction also calls the abridged version insufficient, and says:
It is almost impossible to predict the individual detail, the flashing image or human quirk precisely observed, that will burn its way into a reader’s mind for good.
I cannot agree more.
And lastly, for the tl;dr'ers, a summary for what I have said above, which rests within the very first pages of the book:
So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation which, in the midst of civilization, artificially creates a hell on earth, and complicates with human fatality a destiny that is divine; so long as the three problems of the century—the degradation of man by the exploitation of his labor, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the atrophy of childhood by physical and spiritual night—are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a still broader point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, there should be a need for books such as this.show less
–Hauteville House, 1862
Does Les Mis really deserve 5 stars after all the overly-long, inexcusably nationalistic info-dumping historical sections? NOPE! Am I still going to give it 5 stars anyway because reading this book was one of the most beautiful and cathartic experiences of my life? HECK YES
(9) Oh my. I thought I would never finish. Surely the longest book I ever read. I saw the musical with my Dad as a teenager and was mesmerized, but really had rather forgotten most of it. I have been meaning to read the book for some time not realizing just. how. long. it is. until it arrived in the mail. Imprisoned for literally stealing a crust of bread, Jean Val Jean escapes and goes on the run attempting to make a life for himself. Triumph after tragedy after triumph - he steals away show more with the little girl, Cosette - the daughter of a prostitute working for a dastardly couple as slave labor at their inn. He is constantly pursued by chief inspector Javert, who will never give up on the law -- or will he? All in the backdrop of post-Revolution Paris. The monarchy has been re-established, but the people are restless. The fervor of the Republic is ready to rise up with the slightest provocation. I most certainly remember some climactic scenes at the barricade from the musical.
When the action and character and world building took place - the book was vert engaging. But when Hugo went on tangents, it was dreadful. Less readable than Moby Dick and the minutia of whaling at these times. So many Paris streets, allusions to antiquity, examples upon examples upon examples of the point he may be trying to make about good, evil, conscience, duty, government, the patois of the underclass, etc., etc, etc. All one could do was skim certain (many) chapters of adjacent memoranda. Painful at times which prevents a higher rating.
I do feel a sense of accomplishment having finished and I enjoyed Chris Bohjalian's Afterword that helped me appreciate what I just read and put it in context. I would love to see the musical again or at the very least, find one of the movie adaptations which I have never seen. I am both glad to be finished, but glad I read. Pauvre Jean Val Jean - he deserved better. show less
When the action and character and world building took place - the book was vert engaging. But when Hugo went on tangents, it was dreadful. Less readable than Moby Dick and the minutia of whaling at these times. So many Paris streets, allusions to antiquity, examples upon examples upon examples of the point he may be trying to make about good, evil, conscience, duty, government, the patois of the underclass, etc., etc, etc. All one could do was skim certain (many) chapters of adjacent memoranda. Painful at times which prevents a higher rating.
I do feel a sense of accomplishment having finished and I enjoyed Chris Bohjalian's Afterword that helped me appreciate what I just read and put it in context. I would love to see the musical again or at the very least, find one of the movie adaptations which I have never seen. I am both glad to be finished, but glad I read. Pauvre Jean Val Jean - he deserved better. show less
Oh this is very excellent!
I can only translate the blurb on the back of this book because it's perfect.
"Victor Hugo was 26 years old when he wrote, in two and a half months, The Last Day of a Condemned Man.
We willl not know who the condemned man is, nor will we know what crime he committed. Because the purpose of the author is not to enter a debate but to exhibit the horror and the absurdity of the situation in which any man finds himself whose neck we are about to slice in a few hours. show more
This book - with strangely modern accents - has a great power of suggestion that the reader ends by identifying with the narrator with whom he shares anxiety and vain hopes. Till the last lines of the book, Victor Hugo's genius has us participating in a grueiling wait: that of the screeching noise that the blade will make following the rails of the guillotine."
Part of the genius of the book is how the book begins: two explications. The first, that this book was discovered as a pile of crumpled yellow sheets of paper. The second, that a philospher imagined it all. Victor Hugo lets the reader decide for himself.
We are then presented with "A comedy about a tragedy", a short one act play with characters discussing this new book about a condemned man that has just come out. The characters reactions?
"It's a terrible book."
"At each chapter there is an ogre that eats a child."
"It takes place in Iceland."
"They have no right to make a reader suffer physically."
"It is certain that books are often a subversive poison to social order."
Then comes the actual narrative of the condemned man. Oh how he makes us feel pity and emotionally involved with his situation. We seek his innocence! (Never mind the fact that he briefly states that he has spilled blood.) When he cleverly gets a guard to almost switch clothes with him how we want to laugh in the guard's face.
And then, while the crowd parades around the guillotine waiting for the final chop, a man cries "who needs a spot?" to which our condemned man reflects "who wants mine?".
We ride with the condemned man to the guillotine, we have our hands tied behind our back, our hair chopped, our collar removed and then, reprising our role as the reader we stop to think: if the condemned man is the narrator how can he be relating this to us all? And that is Victor Hugo's final genius.
FOUR O'CLOCK. show less
I can only translate the blurb on the back of this book because it's perfect.
"Victor Hugo was 26 years old when he wrote, in two and a half months, The Last Day of a Condemned Man.
We willl not know who the condemned man is, nor will we know what crime he committed. Because the purpose of the author is not to enter a debate but to exhibit the horror and the absurdity of the situation in which any man finds himself whose neck we are about to slice in a few hours. show more
This book - with strangely modern accents - has a great power of suggestion that the reader ends by identifying with the narrator with whom he shares anxiety and vain hopes. Till the last lines of the book, Victor Hugo's genius has us participating in a grueiling wait: that of the screeching noise that the blade will make following the rails of the guillotine."
Part of the genius of the book is how the book begins: two explications. The first, that this book was discovered as a pile of crumpled yellow sheets of paper. The second, that a philospher imagined it all. Victor Hugo lets the reader decide for himself.
We are then presented with "A comedy about a tragedy", a short one act play with characters discussing this new book about a condemned man that has just come out. The characters reactions?
"It's a terrible book."
"At each chapter there is an ogre that eats a child."
"It takes place in Iceland."
"They have no right to make a reader suffer physically."
"It is certain that books are often a subversive poison to social order."
Then comes the actual narrative of the condemned man. Oh how he makes us feel pity and emotionally involved with his situation. We seek his innocence! (Never mind the fact that he briefly states that he has spilled blood.) When he cleverly gets a guard to almost switch clothes with him how we want to laugh in the guard's face.
And then, while the crowd parades around the guillotine waiting for the final chop, a man cries "who needs a spot?" to which our condemned man reflects "who wants mine?".
We ride with the condemned man to the guillotine, we have our hands tied behind our back, our hair chopped, our collar removed and then, reprising our role as the reader we stop to think: if the condemned man is the narrator how can he be relating this to us all? And that is Victor Hugo's final genius.
FOUR O'CLOCK. show less
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