A book as rich, remarkable and long-lasting as the novel at its heart.
David Bellos is Meredith Howland Pyne Professor of French Literature at Princeton University, where he also teaches Comparative Literature. He is the author of many books and articles on nineteenth-century fiction, alongside biographies of three icons of French culture in the twentieth century- Georges Perec, Jacques Tati and Romain Gary. He is also a well-known translator and the author of Is That a Fish in Your Ear? The Amazing Adventure of Translation.David Bellos was recently awarded the rank of officer in the Ordre National des Arts et des Lettres for his services to French culture.
This biography of one of the world's most read novels is rich in
extraordinary detail ... Bellos traces the life of the 1,500-page
novel from conception to publication, mentioning along the way the
many film and musical adaptations of Les Miserables that have given
it a rich life beyond the printed page
*Guardian*
Genuinely fresh and inspiring ... Bellos's book is a major
accomplishment. His warm and engaging study of Victor Hugo's 1862
masterpiece renews faith in the idea, so fundamental to the
mysterious attraction of literature, that great books of whatever
age continue to be worthwhile objects of attention. In applying a
melange of literary criticism, linguistics, political science and
history to the study of one of the best-known, if least-understood
great books of all time, he illuminates the work in a way that
transcends conventional literary criticism.The section on the
publication of Les Miserables is one of the most informative
accounts of the mechanics of the 19th-century book business that I
have ever read
*Washington Post*
Written with clarity and wit; at once erudite and entertaining ...
[Bellos] restores Les Mis to its maker and his times
*Economist*
Bellos's fine book could be seen as part of the recent critical
genre that Joyce Carol Oates baptized the 'bibliomemoir' ... But it
is not so much about Bellos's personal engagement with the novel as
a study of its genesis, its production, its reception, and notably
its language ... The story of the composition of the novel, and of
the journey of manuscript, proofs, then corrected proofs between
Guernsey and Brussels, is one of the most entertaining and
illuminating in Bellos's book ... Best of all is Bellos's command
of the French language, including its linguistic underclass, argot
... He is an excellent guide to a kind of nineteenth-century high
style that needs to be enjoyed for itself if we are to respond
fully to Hugo's epic ambitions
*New York Review of Books*
Bellos's near-unmitigated zeal is convincing, and itself part of
the pleasure of the book; and he's a knowledgeable, attentive
reader, and an engaging storyteller himself, alert to vivid detail
... Any reader who hasn't yet embarked on Hugo's book might be
converted to the idea by this one
*The Spectator*
Never mind those self-help manuals urging that some classic novel
may change your life; in this sparkling study of the birth, growth
and afterlife of Hugo's evergreen blockbuster, David Bellos argues
that Les Miserables already has
*1843*
In telling the engrossing story of the book and its author's
journey from staunch defender of the government to exile in
Guernsey after Napoleon III's 1851 coup d'état, Bellos ... makes a
powerful case for the novel's enduring relevance
*Financial Times*
Intriguing ... Impeccably researched and pithily written, Bellos's
book provides an important corrective ... The notion posited by
Bellos's title that Les Miserables is the novel of the (19th)
century is given a thoroughly good airing ... Bellos's book also
doubles as a fascinating partial biography of Hugo's life
*New York Times Book Review*
The Novel of the Century ... vividly traces the origin and
development of Hugo's most famous work, assessing its impact on the
novel as a genre
*Los Angeles Review of Books*
[A] vivid biography of Hugo, and an engaging introduction to his
masterpiece
*Sunday Times*
Bellos condenses tranches of research into a gripping tale about
Victor Hugo's masterpiece
*Paris Review*
Bellos has not written a volume of literary criticism, or at least
not a conventional one. Instead he paints in fine lines and great
splashes of colour a backdrop to what he calls the novel of the
century ... He writes beautifully about the drab palette of
everyday life ... [A] genial saunter through the writing,
publishing and reading of Les Miserables
*Australian Book Review*
It is possible for a book to have adventures as well as recount
them. David Bellos' witty, informed but never over-loaded work
proves the case thoroughly. Here we learn a great deal about the
career of a writer, the turbulent politics of his times, the
composition of a great novel, and the life and afterlife of the
novel itself. And whether the subject is exile, poverty, suffrage,
Hugo's 'split mind' during the 1848 Revolution, or the
complications of the word 'miserable' in English and French, the
sense of adventure never lapses. The recurring, multi-faceted
question posed by Les Miserables, as Bellos says, is not whether
good will triumph over evil, but 'how hard it is to be good'
*Michael Wood*
In full command of the artistic and moral complexities of Victor
Hugo's masterpiece, as well as of the social and political
conditions in 19th century France, David Bellos offers the reader a
comprehensive view of Hugo's creative genius and of the historical
circumstances of the great novel's composition. He does so with
brio, humor, and in a distinctly personal voice
*Victor Brombert, author of 'Victor Hugo and the Visionary
Novel'*
There's no question about it: David Bellos makes the case for the
fame of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables(1862). It's the novel of the
century and possibly then some ... [A] superb biography of a novel
rather than a man
*CounterPunch*
Captivating ... The Novel of the Century perfectly captures all
sides of this publishing phenomenon and the man at its center.
Bellos fascinates from beginning to end
*Christian Science Monitor*
In this lively and engaging account of the making of Les
Misérables, David Bellos captures the brilliance not only of Victor
Hugo's novel but also of its conception, execution, and
publication. His learned study bristles with insights on topics
great and small - from French history, politics, and linguistic
registers to the meaning of colors, coinage, dates, and modes of
transport in the book to its untranslatable title and its many
adaptations worldwide. The story behind the greatest novel of the
nineteenth century will enchant both popular and scholarly readers,
who will come away with an even deeper understanding of and
appreciation for Hugo's prose masterwork
*Kathryn Grossman, Penn State University*
Whether you're contemplating a run at Les Miserables or returning
to it, Bellos' book is a perfect guide - as well as a compelling
story in its own right ... [It] becomes surprisingly suspenseful as
Bellos takes us through the months leading up to the novel's
publication ... Bellos has struck the ideal balance of top-notch
research and readable prose in the chapters that deftly lead us
through the world of the novel and its characters ... An engaging
and enlightening companion
*NPR*
David Bellos, whose distinguished career has been dedicated to
propagating appreciation of French Fiction in the resistant
Anglophone world, makes a grand claim for Les Miserables. It is,
against (to take other champions) Tolstoy, Dickens and Melville,
the novel of the nineteenth century. He follows the novel's course
from first stirrings to most recent adaptation. He proves his
case
*John Sutherland, Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern
English Literature at University College London*
The Novel of the Century is the best, most instructive book about
Les Misérables ever written - the shrewdest, the most
knowledgeable, the most detailed, the most enthusiastic, and the
most enjoyable
*Paul Berman, author of 'Tale Of Two Utopias' and 'Power and the
Idealists'*
[Bellos] is a crisp stylist capable of seizing the readers'
attention and holding it effortlessly ... Anyone who loves [Victor]
Hugo, France, and the French language will revel in this delightful
book that explains all the intimacies of 19th-century French
life
*Kirkus Reviews*
In the guise of a book about translation this is a richly original
cultural history ... A book for anyone interested in words,
language and cultural anthropology ... Bellos's fascination with
his subject is itself endlessly fascinating
*Economist*
For anyone with a passing interest in language this work is
enthralling ... A wonderful celebration of the sheer diversity of
language and the place it occupies in human endeavour ... A
whirlwind tour round the highways and byways of translation
*Scotsman*
A dizzyingly inventive book
*New York Times*
Please read David Bellos's brilliant book
*Guardian*
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