Les Miserables did what no other novel has ever achieved before or since: it took serious topics like injustice, poverty, politics and history, and turned them into a global bestseller.
Read a facsimile of the French original here. A complete English translation is available from Project Gutenberg, or can be bought from any good book store.
The book was was originally released in seventeen parts, which readers could then bind into five (or in the picture on this page,eight) volumes. Now it commonly sold as a single book, or in two parts at most.
Hugo planned the book as early as the 1830s. An early draft from 1840 already had the structure of the book, in four parts: Story of a Saint, Story of a Man, Story of a Woman and Story of a Doll. The characters were inspired by real people: Valjean and Javert were based on François Vidocq, the criminal-turned-police who became the first chief of the Sûreté. Bishop Myriel was based on bishop Miollis who had accepted the convict Pierre Maurin just like Myriel received Valjean. Marius was Hugo himself. At first the book was called Jean Tréjean, then Les Misères, then Les Misèrables
The first edition (1862) sold out within hours in Paris, and was reprinted in all the major cities of Europe. Some philosophers said the book had dangerous ideas, and the Pope placed it on the list of banned books. But ordinary people loved it, and its ideas of justice and education and welfare have become accepted as normal throughout the developed world. How many books can say that?
Images courtesy of raremapsandbooks.com.
For more about Victor Hugo visit hugo-online.org
Why Does Les Miserables matter today?
Les Miserables is set in early nineteenth century France, but its themes are still relevant. There are still poor people today, there is still injustice in the world, there is still romance. But its relevance goes much further than that.
Nation building (ever heard of Iraq?)
The great political themes of the book are the monarchy versus the Bonapartists versus the republicans. Or put in modern language, traditional tyrants versus strong progressive leaders versus democracy. Or put in even more modern language, we can apply it to the Middle East. It's "one party" Arab leaders versus western armies versus what the people would vote for - usually local religious leaders. What is the right answer? Each side can make a powerful case.
Crime and punishment
Les Miserables is a powerful argument to see the villain's point of view. When California passed the famous "three strikes law," a California state appellate judge compared one case to Jean Valjean's sentence. Hugo is not saying that every villain is like Valjean: Les Miserables has every kind of villain. Some, like Panchaud or Thenardier appear thoroughly evil. But Hugo forces us to see villains as humans and listen to them, not demonize them.
Terrorism
In the last volume, book 5 chapter 3, Marius is called "this Buonapartist, this Jacobin, this terrorist, this Septembrist." Is the word "terrorist" too strong for Marius? His friends were secretly stockpiling weapons in order to overthrow the government. "But he did not target innocent civilians" you say? When Marius raised that keg of gunpowder and threatened to blow up everyone, he was in the middle of Paris! Marius was a suicide bomber! But we see things from his point of view. This is not to say that Victor Hugo supports him: Marius soon renounced his terrorist ways. In real life, Hugo led the soldiers against the barricades in 1848. But he does force us to look at things from the terrorists' point of view, and that is a revolutionary idea.
Economic justice
This topic will be explored more in later versions of this game, so we'll just quote Victor Hugo and say no more. This is from volume 4, book 1, chapter 4:
"render property democratic, not by abolishing it, but by making it universal, so that every citizen, without exception, may be a proprietor, an easier matter than is generally supposed; in two words, learn how to produce wealth and how to distribute it, and you will have at once moral and material greatness."
Amen to that!
How Les Misérables became a classic
and why it matters today
