- Paperback: 484 pages
- Publisher: Kennedy And Boyd (30 Oct 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1904999840
- ISBN-13: 978-1904999843
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,690,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
“Ursus was a man, Homo a wolf”: the former a travelling mountebank, the latter his faithful companion. Gwynplaine was abducted as an infant, and cruelly mutilated so that his face shows the permanent smile of a clown. Abandoned by his abductors some years later, Gwynplaine rescues a blind baby girl from the frozen corpse of her mother at the foot of a gibbet. Time passes, and the young girl – christened Dea – comes to love Gwynplaine. Being blind, she is unaware of his disfigurement, but from passing her fingers over his face, assumes that he is always happy. Ursus and Homo meet up with Gwynplaine and Dea, and travel around England performing at funfairs. After some vicissitudes, Gwynplaine is, surprisingly, summoned to the court of Queen Anne, where it is revealed that he is in fact the missing heir of the murdered Lord Linnaeus Clancharlie, Marquis of Corleone. He is, accordingly, installed as an English peer; but when he addresses the House of Lords is ridiculed for his clownish features. He renounces his peerage and rejoins his companions, who resolve to abandon England forever. During the voyage, while Ursus sleeps, Dea reveals to Gwynplaine her secret passion for him, then dies. Gwynplaine drowns himself. Victor Hugo’s gothic tale has been the inspiration of numerous plays, films (the first in 1909) novels and short stories. Following a distinguished career as a civil servant, James Hogarth acquired a reputation as a versatile and punctilious translator. His translations span travel guides, archaeological texts, and novels. In 2002 he won the French-American Foundation Translation Prize for his English translation of Victor Hugo’s Travailleurs de la Mer. He died in 2006.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
His Best Book,
By M. Dowden (London, UK) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Laughing Man (Paperback)
Ayn Rand called this Hugo's best book, and I must agree. A simple morality tale of friendship and money not buying happiness is poignantly and delicately told. The hero of the story comes from a respectable family but is cruelly mutilated so as to become a fool/ clown. His story is what this book is about, and how he finds true happiness and love. If you enjoy George Eliot's Silas Marner you will love this book. And I must admit, although I love Les Mis, this book is shorter and even better.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing Novel,
By C. Zimmerman "Soda, Riddlin & Books" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Laughing Man (Paperback)
This is an amazing novel with a mesmerizing plot line that will keep the reader thinking and constantly empathizing with the characters.
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