Les Miserables

　　“ 附彩色插圖 ”

　　「這是一部表達對上帝與人類之愛最偉大的藝術品！」 --俄國文學家托爾斯泰
　　「唯一活在法國人民心中的偉大人物！」─法國作家，羅曼‧羅蘭
　　「一部真正的奇特詩篇」─法國詩人，韓波
　　只要這個世界還存在著愚昧與窮困，那麼，這本書，則絕不會無益於人。─雨果自序

　　雨果：「（這是）一個聖人的故事，一個男子的故事，一個女子的故事，一個小女孩的故事。」

　　透過主角尚萬強等人的悲慘際遇，以及卞福汝主教感化尚萬強後，尚萬強所做的種種令人感動的事蹟，深刻揭露與批判了十九世紀法國封建社會的敗壞本質以及其產生的種種罪惡，對於窮苦人民在封建制度的壓迫下遭受的剝削以及殘酷的迫害充分表現了憐憫與同情。

　　書中提到當時法國革命的狀況，以及社會的迂腐與扭曲時，令人聯想到現在的社會現況。我們生活在真實的悲慘之中，也因為這樣，我們都需要真實的勇氣，要知道，對人民來說，唯一的權力是法律；對個人來說，唯一的權力是良心。

　　此書中譯本<<悲慘世界>>由野人 出版

　　The first new Penguin Classics translation in forty years of Victor Hugos masterpiece.

　　The subject of the world s longest-running musical and the recent Academy Award nominated and BAFTA-winning film starring Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"is a genuine literary treasure. Victor Hugo s tale of injustice, heroism, and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him, and has been a perennial favorite since it first appeared nearly 150 years ago. This exciting new translation will be a gift both to readers who have already fallen for its timeless story and to new readers discovering it for the first time.

　　For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators."

維克多‧雨果﹙Victor Marie Hugo 1802-1885﹚   

　　十九世紀法國浪漫主義以及人道主義作家代表人物。作品非常豐富，文體跨越詩歌、小說、劇本以及散文與各式文藝評論與政論文章，他的作品也反映十九世紀時法國社會以及政治的進展與演變。

　 　雨果相當早慧，九歲就開始寫詩，二十歲就出版了第一本詩集《頌詩集》。西元一八二七年，雨果二十五歲時發表了劇本《克倫威爾》以及其序言，其序言被認為 是法國浪漫主義戲劇運動的開端，為開啟一個新世代的重要作品，三十歲時發表的劇本《愛那尼》在法國首次公演，確立了浪漫主義在當時法國文壇的主導地位。

　 　之後隨著法國接連發生「七月革命」、「法蘭西第二共和」、「巴黎公社起義」等等內亂，雨果也成為了熱心的共和主義者，用他的行動與創作直接且積極的表達 出他對當時政治的不滿，其中最讓人津津樂道的是他在流亡期間寫了一部政治諷刺詩《懲罰集》，每個章節都用拿破崙三世的一則施政綱領搭配，並加以諷刺，還將 拿破崙一世的功績和拿破崙三世的惡行互相對比。

　　西元一八八五年，雨果逝世，法國人民為他舉行了國葬，並將他安葬在法國專門安葬文化名人的「先賢祠」

　　他的一生，留下了許多經典作品，較著名的有：《克倫威爾》、《巴黎聖母院》﹙又名：鐘樓怪人﹚、《悲慘世界》、《九三年》等。

　　關於《悲慘世界》的小插曲：

　　雨果將《悲慘世界》書稿寄給出版社後遲遲沒有回音，於是又去了一封書信，內文是「？」。出版社編輯很快的也回給他一封信，內文則是「！」以表達對《悲慘世界》的驚喜。如此往返書信的趣聞也傳為佳話一件，被稱為「史上最短的書信」。

　Victor Hugo was born in Besançon in 1802, the youngest of three sons of an officer, who took his family with him from posting to posting, as far as Italy and Spain. Victor’s prolific literary career began with publication of poems, a novel and a drama, Cromwell, the preface of which remains a major manifesto of French Romanticism. The riot occasioned at the first performance of his drama Hernani (1830) established him as a leading figure among the Romantics, and Notre-Dame (1831) added to his prestige at home and abroad. In exile in Brussels, Jersey and Guernsey he published some of his finest works. Only with Napoleon 111’s defeat and replacement by the Third Republic did Hugo return, to be elected deputy, and later senator. His opposition to tyranny and continuing immense literary output established him as a national hero. When he died in 1885 he was honoured by interment in the Panthéon.