What’s the best translation of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo?
I researched the different translations of Les Miserables and posted on my other website, We Love Translations. That was, however, after I had already bought the two-volume Wordsworth Classics paperback edition of the Wilbour translation.
You know, the one with Zombie Cosette on the cover. = \
Anyway… Wordsworth is what I had, so Wordsworth is what I read!
Item description / significance This is a winged dragon carved from wood, made in Indonesia. Her name is Karen. She has some damage; a couple of teeth, one of her long whiskers, and some of her short whiskers are broken, but her wings and body are intact.
Bought where
in Singapore on Carousell, a second-hand marketplace app
Age and origin age unknown, made in Bali, Indonesia
What I like about it It’s a dragon! With wings! The detail is good.
Other notes I already had a dragon like this. I bought this one to give to my brother. He and Karen are still on opposite sides of the planet, though. =\
Les Miserables is reeeeeallllly long. I remember enjoying The Hunchback of Notre Dame, including the philosophical passages (“this will kill that,” i.e., the printing press will kill architecture), and in general I believe in reading unabridged books, but I understand why people might be drawn to an abridged version of Les Miserables. The pacing is stop-and-go, since Hugo frequently alternates between telling his story and telling history.
I might have read it in high school, but if I did it was probably an abridged version. Time to attack the real thing! My copy is the Wordsworth Classics two-volume edition, translated by Charles E. Wilbour.
Genre: French literature Date started / date finished: 27-Sep-21 to 19-Oct-21 Length: 494 pages ISBN: 9781853260858
Originally published in: 1862/1994/2002
Amazon link: Les Miserables (Vol 1)
Item description / significance This is a winged dragon carved from wood, made in Indonesia. Size: 32cm (H) x 11cm (W) x 25cm (D). No damage. Seems to be dancing! His name is Dave, thus he is Dave the dancing Indonesian dragon (because I like cheesy alliteration).
Age and origin age unknown, made in Bali, Indonesia
What I like about it It’s a dragon! With wings! The detail is good.
Other notes I think the first time I saw one of these was in Chinatown in Singapore, in a shop that had a lot of wood carvings from Indonesia. They had several sizes (all way too expensive).
The price tag on the on on the right says SG$788. These are maybe 22 inches (50 cm) tall. I like it that they are a mirror-image pair!I think these were priced at like SG$115. They are only maybe 7 inches (20 cm) tall.
I searched on Carousell and found one. It’s still there; the seller never responded.
I kept looking. As soon as another Indonesian dragon turned up, I messaged the seller offering to pay the asking price, and arranged to pick it up the same day. I never bought anything so fast! I took the MRT one stop from my house and met the seller, handed over the cash, and turned around and got back on the train. Never even went out of the station gantry. It was surreal. I am super pleased!
Many thousands of copies of this book have sold because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It makes sense to me that people are staying home and reading more, but I don’t quite understand why people are devouring novels about epidemics. Personally, I’d rather read to take my mind off the virus—something with dragons, perhaps. Reading epidemic fiction seems like a short, straight path to hypochondria. But maybe people are reading for reassurance.
What kind of book is The Plague? Hopeful? Relatable? Witty? Philosophical?
Rachel of the Hungry Hundred Book Club chose this book for April 2021.
Genre: Modern French Literature
Date started / date finished: 19-Apr-21 to 26-Apr-21 Length: 272 pages ISBN: 9780141185132
Originally published in: 1947/2002
Amazon link: The Plague
Pines and cranes are symbols of longevity. The flowers are a kind of peony (tree peonies, moutans, or mudan). They are medicinal as well as ornamental.
Too much anxiety-inducing news and screentime these last few months, am I right? Grab a chunk of dead tree and travel in your mind to another world, learn a new skill, or come to understand some interesting idea. Your year needs more books. This post will tell you how or where to get them.