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About the book:
Hugo's monumental novel of justice, revolution, and grace offered here as a matching set of both volumes.
Far richer and stranger than any adaptation suggests.
A genuine achievement of 19th-century literature.
Sold as a pair.
Condition:
Good secondhand condition.
Both volumes carry previous-owner inscriptions on the first page.
Volume 1 has some wear to the spine and minor liquid damage to the upper corner of the final pages; all text remains fully legible.
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https://www.bobshop.co.za/seller/5375758/Orphan_Books
About the author: Victor Hugo (1802 to 1885)
Victor Marie Hugo was born on February 26, 1802, in Besançon, France, the son of a Napoleonic general. A child prodigy who published his first poems in his teens, he rose to prominence during the Romantic movement. His experiences of political upheaval, exile during the reign of Napoleon III, and personal tragediesincluding the loss of his daughtershaped a worldview rooted in passionate humanism, social justice, and an unshakeable belief in progress, liberty, and the redemptive power of love and compassion.
Hugo achieved early fame as a poet and dramatist with works like Hernani (1830), which sparked the battle between Classicists and Romantics. His monumental novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862) established him as Frances greatest literary figure of the 19th century. His sweeping, lyrical stylerich with vivid description, moral fervor, and epic scopecombined social realism with Romantic grandeur. Major achievements include shaping French Romanticism and producing works that became enduring symbols of resistance against injustice.
Influenced by Shakespeare, Dante, Sir Walter Scott, and the Bible, Hugo also drew from French revolutionary ideals and his deep engagement with social issues. He, in turn, profoundly shaped writers such as Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Albert Camus, and later authors including Gabriel García Márquez, Umberto Eco, and global voices in social realism. Adjacent figures include his Romantic contemporaries Alexandre Dumas, Alfred de Musset, and George Sand, as well as fellow champions of liberty like Lord Byron.
Recurring themes in Hugos work include the struggle between good and evil, social inequality and redemption, the power of conscience, exile and return, the beauty of Gothic architecture and nature, and humanitys capacity for both cruelty and greatness. Major works include The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), Les Misérables (1862), The Toilers of the Sea (1866), Ninety-Three (1874), and his vast poetic collections such as Les Contemplations (1856).
In his later years, Hugo returned triumphantly to France after exile and became a revered national figure and political voice for the poor and oppressed. He died on May 22, 1885, and received a state funeral attended by millions. His legacy as one of literatures greatest humanists endures, and his unique contribution lies in harnessing the power of the word to champion the downtrodden, blending epic storytelling with moral vision to inspire generations in the fight for justice and human dignity.
