How Victor Hugo came to write “Les Misérables”

http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21717357-extraordinary-story-book-changed-world-how-victor-hugo-came-write-les?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/bythebookhowvictorhugocametowritelesmisrableshismagnumopus

by ghosh • 9 years ago

79 20 9 years ago

economist.com

devindotcom2• 9 years ago

Hugo is fantastically intelligent but also unabashedly romantic - perhaps even sentimental. I loved Les Miserables, and one of the good things about it was its exoneration of the conscience, of what the main characters unshakingly feel to be be good.

He also packs a fair amount of (occasionally apocryphal) history into it. I love the many pages spent describing Waterloo from start to finish, and his judgment of the battle is sobering:

http://coldewey.cc/post/19163335604/the-victor-of-waterloo-a...

clairity• 9 years ago

what do you mean when you say "exoneration of the conscience"? it's an interesting phrase that can be taken many ways.

i also loved les miserables, and took the story to be an implication of the state: of law & order and it's imperfections and corruptibilities. of how right and wrong aren't forever attached to labels, titles, persons, or any of the other mental shortcuts we take in our daily judgements.

it's really interesting to see how this dichotomy continues to play out in the current political environment. some people believe we are safer when we lock up criminals and thugs, to separate our good selves from those bad selves, to harshly punish in the hopes of instilling order in the world. yet we are each but a single mistake away from crossing that divide into a label we would never apply to ourselves. it goes against our own ego to understand that we are, in the same person, at times lawful and at other times lawless, and the application of justice against that backdrop is often neither fair nor just.

devindotcom2• 9 years ago

I think that in Les Miserables, the main characters are driven by their consciences, and unfailingly make their decisions based on what they feel is right. Sometimes that has ugly or unforeseen consequences, or is even fatal. Many of the characters are plunged into poverty or despondency because they chose to act according to their conscience. Meanwhile people making choices out of expedience or because of external forces they obey (Javert, Thenardier) prosper at least temporarily.

But ultimately the story and characters who do what they think is right end up on top. Now this is also in a way the case in many a moralistic book (the patient Christian triumphs over the predatory thief or what have you) but in Les Miserables I think it is deeper than that, an indication that it is the strong and principled that buoy those around them and feed the matrix of society, even at times with their own lives.

Naturally it's all a bit artificial but I liked it immensely nevertheless.

pavel_lishin2• 9 years ago

It doesn't really explain how, or why. Just that he did, in 1845. And then had to do so from exile, after 1848.

7Z7• 9 years ago

Show HN: I wrote a book?

jhbadger• 9 years ago

It's interesting that this is the second book for the general public this year to be about another book and its influence. I recently read "The Book That Changed America: How Darwin's Theory of Evolution Ignited a Nation" which is about the Origin of Species.

tjr• 9 years ago

In 150 years or so, just for kicks, somebody should write a book about that book.

mauvehaus2• 9 years ago

A contract that paid by the word, perhaps? I got 700 pages in one year over winter break when I was in college. A (mostly, it was many years ago now) complete summary of the events that had happened that would be familiar to those who have seen the musical:

1. Jean Valjean acquired some silver from the bishop. 2. It was established that M. Thenardier looted the deceased soldiers at the battle of Waterloo. 3. The existence of Fantine and possibly Cosette had been established? 4. Perhaps Valjean had become the mayor of some town after using what was formerly the bishop's silver to become an honest man?

Note that Javert, who is the other major character besides Valjean has yet to put in an appearance, despite showing up in perhaps the first 10 minutes of the musical. M. Thenardier is, at best, a minor player in the musical, and prior to his introduction, we get ~50 pages on the history of the Battle of Waterloo.

The Princess Bride gently mocks the genre by advertising itself as "abridged". I can't help but feel it's justified.

david9275• 9 years ago

Why would you write so many sentences to simply say that you couldn't finish a great novel? There's nothing wrong with The Princess Bride... but it's for children.

Try reading it again. It's worth it, I assure you. It's vastly better than any of the film adaptations or the musical.

Steko• 9 years ago

Why would you write so many sentences to simply say that you couldn't finish a great novel?

He used the sentences to explain why he found it not great. Not every great novel is great to all readers and I found his comments informative.

mauvehaus2• 9 years ago

I'm not going to claim to be a connoisseur of literature, so perhaps I've just overlooked the greatness. The point I was trying to make is that the book takes a great many pages to advance the plot relatively little. If you're familiar with the musical adaptation and are expecting a more plot-driven novel, you probably won't find that the book meets those expectations. I have not seen any of the movie adaptations, and cannot comment on them; on the basis of your recommendation, I probably will not.

As I recall, structurally, the novel is somewhat like The Grapes of Wrath, with expository sections interspersed with sections that directly advance the plot. I quite liked that about the Grapes of Wrath. I'm not sure if I take issue with the exposition/advancement ratio in Les Miserable, or if I feel less of a connection with the period Les Miserables is set in.

For children or not, I certainly won't hold The Princess Bride up as example of greatness. I would claim that the fact that it works as a send-up of a genre, including the alleged abridgement, is illustrative of something.

david9275• 9 years ago

The article would better be titled, "How Les Misérables changed the world." Its impact is sadly lost in generations since who would rather view the film or musical at the expense of reading the novel.

I'm not surprised it's also the most adapted novel of all time as it is, in my opinion, the greatest novel ever written and a monument to what literature can be. But I definitely worry that its impact will be more and more limited by alternatives to simply reading the original.

decasteve• 9 years ago

the most adapted novel of all time...

I'm a little surprised by that fact. I had always assumed The Three Musketeers was the most adapted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Musketeers_in_film (If you count the bullet points, it's pretty close...57 vs 65?)

pathsjs• 9 years ago

I read the book and found all the characters extremely simplified and shallow. I guess the audience was not ready for sophisticated personalities - there are the evil Thenardier, the saint Myriel, the disgraced Cosette... Most books written today are better written than that

pavel_lishin2• 9 years ago

The article would better be titled, "How Les Misérables changed the world."

I don't think the article really answers that. It just posits that it did, and offers nothing to back that up.

How Victor Hugo came to write “Les Misérables”

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