Les Miserables

First you might ask - why should I read Victor Hugo.  Well I'm glad you asked.  You see, Reading Victor Hugo is an immersive and profound experience.  But before we deal into Les Miserables, I want to say a little bit about his earlier novels.

You see, before his masterwork Les Misérables (1862), Victor Hugo wrote several other significant works, including novels, plays, and poetry. Two of his most important earlier novels are The Last Day of a Condemned Man (1829) and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831). These works were crucial for his development as a writer and established the themes that he would later fully realize in Les Misérables.

The Last Day of a Condemned Man (1829)
This short but powerful novel is told entirely from the perspective of a man awaiting execution by the guillotine. It is a raw and unflinching look at the psychological torment of a person facing death. Hugo doesn't reveal the man's name or his crime, forcing the reader to focus on his humanity rather than his guilt. Abolition of the Death Penalty: The novel is a direct and passionate plea for the abolition of capital punishment. Hugo uses the condemned man's thoughts and fears to expose the brutality and inhumanity of the state-sanctioned killing. This was a core moral conviction for Hugo and became a lifelong crusade. This work is considered a precursor to the social consciousness of Les Misérables. It shows Hugo's early commitment to using literature to champion the cause of the oppressed and challenge a justice system he viewed as flawed. The book's central argument—that the act of killing a human being is fundamentally wrong, regardless of the crime—is a theme he would revisit.

Transcript

First you might ask - why should I read Victor Hugo.  Well I'm glad you asked.  You see, Reading Victor Hugo is an immersive and profound experience.  But before we deal into Les Miserables, I want to say a little bit about his earlier novels.

You see, before his masterwork Les Misérables (1862), Victor Hugo wrote several other significant works, including novels, plays, and poetry. Two of his most important earlier novels are The Last Day of a Condemned Man (1829) and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831). These works were crucial for his development as a writer and established the themes that he would later fully realize in Les Misérables.

The Last Day of a Condemned Man (1829)
This short but powerful novel is told entirely from the perspective of a man awaiting execution by the guillotine. It is a raw and unflinching look at the psychological torment of a person facing death. Hugo doesn't reveal the man's name or his crime, forcing the reader to focus on his humanity rather than his guilt. Abolition of the Death Penalty: The novel is a direct and passionate plea for the abolition of capital punishment. Hugo uses the condemned man's thoughts and fears to expose the brutality and inhumanity of the state-sanctioned killing. This was a core moral conviction for Hugo and became a lifelong crusade. This work is considered a precursor to the social consciousness of Les Misérables. It shows Hugo's early commitment to using literature to champion the cause of the oppressed and challenge a justice system he viewed as flawed. The book's central argument—that the act of killing a human being is fundamentally wrong, regardless of the crime—is a theme he would revisit.