NOW A SIX-PART MINISERIES ON MASTERPIECE ON PBSThe only completely unabridged paperback edition of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece—a sweeping tale of love, loss, valor, and passion.Introducing one of the most famous characters in literature, Jean Valjean—the noble peasant imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread—Les Misérables ranks among the greatest novels of all time. In it, Victor Hugo takes readers … In it, Victor Hugo takes readers deep into the Parisian underworld, immerses them in a battle between good and evil, and carries them to the barricades during the uprising of 1832 with a breathtaking realism that is unsurpassed in modern prose.
Within his dramatic story are themes that capture the intellect and the emotions: crime and punishment, the relentless persecution of Valjean by Inspector Javert, the desperation of the prostitute Fantine, the amorality of the rogue Thénardier, and the universal desire to escape the prisons of our own minds. Les Misérables gave Victor Hugo a canvas upon which he portrayed his criticism of the French political and judicial systems, but the portrait that resulted is larger than life, epic in scope—an extravagant spectacle that dazzles the senses even as it touches the heart.
Translated by Lee Fahnestock and Norman Macafee, based on the classic nineteenth-century Charles E. Wilbour translation
Inlcudes an Introduction by Lee Fahnestock
and an Afterword by Chris Bohjalian
more
One of the most important novels of all time. It can be hard to get through—the Victorians were literary moralists and did so at great length with plenty of exposition–but the contrast between righteousness and immorality in this book is what makes it so powerful. Jean Valjean, so named to represent Every Man (and woman) and his life are analogies of each of us and whom we are to become: True followers of Christ and His teachings. He also represents Christ himself in that he is a person who, through sacrifice, suffering, and charity for even his enemies, rises above the natural man and becomes the very means of happiness and even life to those whose lives touch his. He is constantly forced to choose between two evils, or two “goods” , and always emerges from the gray areas to step into the light. When there are two roads before him, he takes the one less travelled, the hardest, and least beneficial to him personally. He is my #1 literary hero (sorry Darcy!) and a personal hero, too. This story exemplifies integrity, repentance, forgiveness, charity, love, kindness, and self-sacrifice, in a powerfully riveting tale of one man’s road to redemption. It has certainly influenced my own ideals when it comes to depicting my heroes who live between the pages of my books.