Ninety-three - Victor Hugo

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Résumé :
Ninety-three, the last of Victor Hug?s novels, is regarded by many ? including such diverse critics as Robert Louis Stevenson and Andr? Maurois ? as his greatest work. 1793, Year Two of the Republic, saw the establishment of the National Convention, the execution of Louis XVI, the Terror, and the monarchist revolt in the Vend?e, brutally suppressed by the Republic. Hug?s epic follows three protagonists through this tumultuous year: the noble royalist de Lantenac; Gauvain, who embodies a benevolent and romantic vision of the Republic; and Cimourdain, whose principles are altogether more robespierrean. The conflict of values culminates in a dramatic climax on the scaffold. 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 Hug?s Travailleurs de la Mer. He died in 2006.

Biographie:
Victor Hugo (26 February 1802 - 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry and then from his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La L?gende des si?cles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Mis?rables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). He produced more than 4,000 drawings, which have since been admired for their beauty. He also earned widespread respect as a campaigner for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment. Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism; his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panth?on. His legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French franc banknotes.

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