| | |  | Books | Home » » » Les Miserables (Barnes & Noble Classics) | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, 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 Barnes & Noble Classics: All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influencesbiographical, historical, and literaryto enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.
One of the most widely read novels of all time, Les Misérables was the crowning literary achievement of Victor Hugo’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 Les Misérables, an enormous melodrama set against the background of political upheaval in France following the rule of Napoleon I. This newly abridged edition of Les Misérables tells the story of the peasant Jean Valjeanunjustly 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. A monumental classic dedicated to the oppressed, the underdog, the laborer, the rebel, the orphan, and the misunderstood, Les Misérables is a rich, emotional novel that captures nothing less than the entirety of life in nineteenth-century France. Laurence M. Porter has published twelve books, including Victor Hugo (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. | | | Features: | |
• ISBN13: 9781593080662
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Victor Hugo | | Paperback:
| 896 pages | | Publisher:
| Barnes & Noble Classics | | Publication Date:
| November 01, 2003 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1593080662 | | Product Length:
| 8.24 inches | | Product Width:
| 5.08 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.85 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.58 pounds | | Package Length:
| 8.24 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.08 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.85 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.58 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 14 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Kindle version not Fahnestack and MacAfee's translationsDec 27, 2009
I borrowed the paperback version from a friend and greatly enjoyed the translation by Lee Fahnestack and Normal MacAfee, based on the classic C. E. Wilbour translation. At project Gutenberg, I've downloaded the free versions which seemed to be Wilbour's translation, but still liked the Fahnestack and MacAfee translation more. I was delighted to find that there is a Kindle version of this book, but was dismayed to find that an additional dollar still did not give me the translation I required. It was exactly the same as the one on project Gutenberg. Thus, I give 5 stars for the book, but 3 stars for Amazon's misleading Kindle link to this particular version of the book.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
 abridged version cuts out Hugo's Waterloo chaptersOct 14, 2009
Despite being 900 pages long, this version of Les Miserables cuts out Hugo's magnificient chapters describing the Battle of Waterloo.
The description of this "edition" should state this openly.
6 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Edited with a chainsaw.May 28, 2009
Extremely disappointed with the abridging of this book. For example, almost 19 chapters are omitted regarding Waterloo. Not only is Hugo's telling of the battle moving, the artistic strokes of the pen, descriptions and insight are what classic novels and literature are all about. I suppose under Porter's cuttings, the Louve would only feature the Mona Lisa and sparsely anything else.
Readers of this edition are robbed of fantastic writing and to try and claim you have read Les Miserables through this edition is like claiming to be a doctor by having a subscription to the journal of medicine. '
This book was a WASTE of my money and full and true edition faithful to Hugo's vision needed to be purchased
Finely Crafted TaleApr 14, 2009
I had no idea what this book would be about, all I knew that there was a Broadway musical based on the book. Well I was quite pleased as it was an intriguing read. I love books that are long because you really come to know the characters. Jean Valjean is a great role model for life, I believe the author made him a little bigger than life but that's OK. Diction is always a challenge with books this old, but it is a great example of a master writer weaving a spell binding story. Parts I don't like, I might have a French last name but am very ignorant of the French language and culture. I was tired of trying to pronounce French words in my head. I was also was surprised by how the author handled Javert in the end of the story.
Prisoner 24601Jul 18, 2008
Les Miserables, originally pulped in 1862, has inspired dozens of films, one of the most successful Broadway plays of all time, plays, radio dramas, and even video games, but can it still inspire your heart when read today?
I picked up this Barnes and Noble edition at one of their sales, never before reading this book, and wanting to get some classics into my reading queue.
Les Miserables is a blast, the characters are bigger than life, and Jean Valjean is a symbolic representation of redemption, of leading an upright life though the world drags you down at every turn.
This is an abridged version, and even so, parts of it aren't an easy read. Hugo mixes in philosophy, religion, politics, and even life lessons into his narrative, and at times this was great and other times it was difficult for me to trudge through. However, the book has a great story at the heart of it.
This book is vast in what it covers: honor, war, nobility, neglect, poverty, thievery, inter-family conflict, love, and fait
My favorite line: "Love each other foolishly, for the foolishness of man is the wisdom of God."
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