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Les Miserables (Abridged) (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
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Les Miserables (Abridged) (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Paperback - 2003

by Victor Hugo; Abridged by Laurence M. Porter; C. E. Wilbur (Translator)


About this book

Considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century, Les Miserables (translated variously from French as The Miserable Ones, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, The Victims) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo. The story follows the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean from 1815 through the 1832 Rebellion in Paris. Les Miserables' beloved story of redemption encourages compassion and hope in the face of adversity and injustice.   

The epic novel is divided in five volumes, each of which is divided into several books and subdivided into chapters, totaling 48 books and 365 chapters. Les Miserables, as a whole, is one the longest novels ever written with about 1,500 pages in unabridged English editions and 1,900 pages in French. Les Misérables is known to many through its numerous stage and screen adaptations, such as the stage musical of the same name, sometimes abbreviated "Les Mis".

Summary

Les Miserables is the great epic masterpiece of the mid-nineteenth century. Begun in 1845, the year Louis Philippe conferred a peerage and a lifetime seat in the Senate upon Victor Hugo, it was completed when the author was living in exile in the Channel Islands. Les Miserables is a product as well as a document of the political, social, and religious upheaval that followed the Napoleonic Wars and Europe's great democratic revolutions. The story is centered on Jean Valjean, a peasant who enters the novel a hardened criminal after nineteen years spent in prison for stealing a loaf of bread for the starving children of his sister. The path of Valjean's last twenty-five years, leading from the French provinces to the battlefield of Waterloo and the ramparts of Paris during the Uprising of 1832, introduces us to secret societies of revolutionaries and the vast world of the French lower classes. Jean Valjean's flight from the police agent Javert--the prototype of over a hundred years of fictional detectives--culminates in one of the most famous scenes in all literature, the chase through the sewers of Paris. Les Miserables sold out its large first printing in twenty-four hours and has remained enormously popular. This edition is the classic English translation of Hugo's friend Charles Wilbour, which appeared the same year the novel was published in France.

From the publisher

&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RLes Miserables&&L/I&&R, by &&LB&&RVictor Hugo&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R&&LI&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&R

  • New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
  • Biographies of the authors
  • Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
  • Footnotes and endnotes
  • Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
  • Comments by other famous authors
  • Study questions to challenge the readers viewpoints and expectations
  • Bibliographies for further reading
  • Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate
All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences--biographical, historical, and literary--to enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&ROne of the most widely read novels of all time, &&LI&&RLes Misrables &&L/I&&Rwas the crowning literary achievement of &&LB&&RVictor Hugo&&L/B&&R's stunning career. Though he was considered the greatest French writer of his day, Hugo was forced to flee the country because of his opposition to Napoleon III. While in exile he completed&&LI&&R Les Misrables&&L/I&&R, an enormous melodrama set against the background of political upheaval in France following the rule of Napoleon I. &&LP&&RThis newly abridged edition of &&LI&&RLes Misrables&&L/I&&R tells the story of the peasant Jean Valjean--unjustly imprisoned, baffled by destiny, and hounded by his nemesis, the magnificently realized, ambiguously malevolent police detective Javert. As Valjean struggles to redeem his past, we are thrust into the teeming underworld of Paris with all its poverty, ignorance, and suffering. Just as cruel tyranny threatens to extinguish the last vestiges of hope, rebellion sweeps over the land like wildfire, igniting a vast struggle for the democratic ideal in France. &&LP&&RA monumental classic dedicated to the oppressed, the underdog, the laborer, the rebel, the orphan, and the misunderstood, &&LI&&RLes Misrables&&L/I&&R is a rich, emotional novel that captures nothing less than the entirety of life in nineteenth-century France.&&L/P&&R&&LP&&R&&LB&&RLaurence M. Porter&&L/B&&R has published twelve books, including &&LI&&RVictor Hugo &&L/I&&R(1999), and a hundred articles and chapters. He was a National Endowment for the Humanties Senior Fellow in 1998. He teaches French at Michigan State University, where he won the Distinguished Faculty Award in 1995.&&L/P&&R&&L/DIV&R

First Edition Identification

Lacroix, Verboeckhoven & Co. first published Les Miserables in Brussels in 1862. The Paris edition was published a few days later.

Details

  • Title Les Miserables (Abridged) (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
  • Author Victor Hugo; Abridged by Laurence M. Porter; C. E. Wilbur (Translator)
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition 3rd
  • Pages 896
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Barnes & Noble Classics, New York, New York
  • Date November 1, 2003
  • Abridged Yes
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9781593080662 / 1593080662
  • Weight 1.58 lbs (0.72 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.24 x 5.08 x 1.85 in (20.93 x 12.90 x 4.70 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 1800-1850
    • Cultural Region: French
  • Library of Congress subjects Ex-convicts, Orphans
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2003108030
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC
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Les Miserables (Barnes & Noble Classics)
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Les Miserables (Barnes & Noble Classics)

by Hugo, Victor

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