Victor Hugo is an icon of French culture. He achieved immense success as a poet, dramatist, and novelist, and he was also elected to both houses of the French Parliament. Leading the Romantic campaign against artistic tradition and defying the Second Empire in exile, he became synonymous with the progressive ideals of the French Revolution. His state funeral in Paris made headlines across the world, and his breadth of appeal remains evident today, not least thanks to the popularity of his bestseller, Les Misérables, and its myriad theatrical and cinematic incarnations. This biography, the first in English for more than twenty years, provides a concise but comprehensive exploration of Hugo’s monumental body of work within the context of his dramatic life. Hugo wrestled with family tragedy and personal misgivings while being pulled into the turmoil of the nineteenth century, from the fall of Napoleon’s Empire to the rise of France’s Third Republic. Throughout these twists of fate, he sensed a natural order of collapse and renewal. This unending cycle of creation shaped his ideas about freedom and roused his imagination, which he channeled into his prolific writing and other outlets like drawing. As Bradley Stephens argues, such creative intellectual vigor suggests that Hugo was too restless to sit comfortably on the pedestal of literary greatness; Hugo’s was a mind as revolutionary as the time in which he lived.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Victor Hugo’s The Memoirs of Victor Hugo is a classic work of French literature reimagined for modern readers.
Selected from the French writer's vast collection of verse, this bilingual collection introduces readers to the breadth of Hugo's poetic vision, which covered religion, love, politics, and other incisive themes.
This book was approved by Victor Hugo and his wife, was translated into several languages, and is generally considered to be the best life of Victor Hugo.
Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this book now in an affordable, high-quality, modern edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.
This fine edition features the renowned original translation and a sensitive abridgment.
These outlaws find sanctuary within the walls of medieval Paris' greatest monument, the grand Cathedral of Notre Dame."What a beautiful thing Notre-Dame is!" declared Gustave Flaubert of Victor Hugo's 1837 novel.
Victor Hugo was a poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic Movement. And he is also considered to be one of the greatest and best-known French writers. This meticulously edited collection will bring you closer to his true persona.
We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public.
"Graham Robb tells the complicated story of this colossal life with authority and sympathy. . . . Unquestionably, a magnificent biography".--"Washington Square Press". of photos.
Analyzes the major themes and motifs in Hugo's novels, describes his poetic and moral vision, and assesses his accomplishments as a writer