The Essential Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo

Jun 2004 · OUP Oxford

About this eBook

'To the English, I am "shocking"...What's more, French, which is disgusting; republican, which is abominable; exiled, which is repulsive; defeated, which is infamous. To top it all off, a poet...' Victor Hugo dominated literary life in France for over half a century, pouring forth novels, poems, plays, and other writings with unflagging zest and vitality. Here, for the first time in English, all aspects of his work are represented within a single volume. Famous scenes from the novels Notre-Dame, Les Misérables, and The Toilers of the Sea are included, as well as excerpts from his intimate diaries, poems of love and loss, and scathing denunciations of the political establishment. All the chosen passages are self-contained and can be enjoyed without any previous knowledge of Hugo's work. Much of the material is appearing in English for the first time, and most of it has never before been annotated thoroughly in any language.

About the author

E. H. and A. M. Blackmore have translated some Hugo poems in their OWC edition, Six French Poets of the Nineteenth Century. Their other translations include Selected Poems of Victor Hugo (2001; winner of the American Literary Translators' Association Prize and the MLA Scaglione Prize for Literary Translation), The Major Epics of Victor Hugo, and Contemplations, Lyrics, and Dramatic Monologues by Victor Hugo.