La réponse courte
- Choose our edition if you want the whole Les Misérables: nothing left out, with a 15-minute summary beside it.
- For study: set a few key passages of Les Misérables beside a close, annotated scholarly translation.
How translations differ
Les Misérables has five parts, with story chapters interrupted by Hugo's digressions. A translator must therefore decide how to carry the reader between the movement of the story and passages that turn away from its characters to examine other subjects.
What makes Les Misérables hard to translate
Hugo writes about the convent and the slang of the Paris streets between story chapters. Those subjects pose different translation questions: how to convey an account of the convent, and how to represent street language in English. The translator must attend to both subject and expression. Rendering the slang means deciding how much of its French character to retain while making its meaning accessible.
The story follows the convict Jean Valjean, the police inspector Javert, and Fantine and her daughter Cosette. Translation must keep those identities and relationships clear without replacing the author's telling with explanation. Part 1 opens with the bishop who shelters Valjean. That opening offers a place to examine how English sentences present an encounter between characters, and how clearly the actions of each person come through.
The kinds of translation of Les Misérables
| Kind of translation | What it keeps | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Close to the original | The French word order and flavour of Les Misérables | Study, next to the French. |
| Smooth and natural | Les Misérables as a story that reads like an English novel | A first read. |
| Annotated | The names, history and allusions of Les Misérables, explained in notes | Study and teaching. |
| Library of Alexandria | The whole story of Les Misérables, in clear, modern English | A first read, with a 15-minute summary beside it. Open our edition |
When to set a passage beside a scholarly translation
For study, use our edition for the whole story and set a few key passages beside a close, annotated scholarly translation. Compare Part 1: the bishop and the silver candlesticks for the bishop's sheltering of Valjean; the chapters on the battle of Waterloo for Hugo's digression from the story; and the escape through the Paris sewers for the sewers' appearance in the last part.
Questions
Is Les Misérables hard to translate?
Yes, its shifts between story chapters and subjects such as the slang of the Paris streets make Les Misérables hard to translate. A translator must decide how to convey that language in English. Compare how a passage preserves its particular expressions and how clearly its meaning comes through.
How long is Les Misérables?
The Library of Alexandria edition takes about 37 hours of reading at an average pace. The novel has five parts, so that reading time covers a story arranged across those five divisions.
Are there shortened translations of Les Misérables?
Yes, abridged English versions of Les Misérables exist alongside complete ones. Check whether a translation is abridged or complete before choosing it. That distinction concerns how much of the novel it presents, rather than whether its English stays close to the French or uses a smoother style.
What subjects do the digressions in Les Misérables cover?
Hugo's digressions cover the battle of Waterloo, the convent, the Paris sewers and the slang of the Paris streets. Rather than treating them only as interruptions, compare a digression with a nearby story chapter. Notice how the translator handles the change of subject and the return to the characters.
Is the Library of Alexandria edition of Les Misérables complete?
Yes. The whole story is there, from beginning to end, in clear, modern language.
