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annecrisp 's review for:
Les Misérables
by Victor Hugo
4.75 stars.
What a wonderful book. The characters were brilliantly crafted, and the world of 19th century France was brought vividly to life. Reading this book led to many tears, and also a few laughs. I finished reading only moments ago, and I am currently feeling like I lost a dear friend, but he was only a real man inside my head.
The translator of my copy (Wraxall) was an idiot. He seems to have missed the point that the reader is using a translation because he/she does not understand French. Therefore, it makes absolutely no sense to leave passages untranslated. I should not have had to google the last paragraph just to find out how it would end. I didn't deduct stars for the translator (that's unfair to Hugo and his masterful work), but I'd give the translator 2 stars. Most of his translation was well-phrased, but the failure to translate large passages cannot be overlooked. The lost 1/4 star is for Waterloo and that theological section.
What a wonderful book. The characters were brilliantly crafted, and the world of 19th century France was brought vividly to life. Reading this book led to many tears, and also a few laughs. I finished reading only moments ago, and I am currently feeling like I lost a dear friend, but he was only a real man inside my head.
The translator of my copy (Wraxall) was an idiot. He seems to have missed the point that the reader is using a translation because he/she does not understand French. Therefore, it makes absolutely no sense to leave passages untranslated. I should not have had to google the last paragraph just to find out how it would end. I didn't deduct stars for the translator (that's unfair to Hugo and his masterful work), but I'd give the translator 2 stars. Most of his translation was well-phrased, but the failure to translate large passages cannot be overlooked. The lost 1/4 star is for Waterloo and that theological section.