The Temptation of the Impossible: Victor Hugo and "Les Miserables"

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, French, European
Cover of the book The Temptation of the Impossible: Victor Hugo and "Les Miserables" by Mario Vargas Llosa, Princeton University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mario Vargas Llosa ISBN: 9781400827572
Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication: September 2, 2008
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Mario Vargas Llosa
ISBN: 9781400827572
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication: September 2, 2008
Imprint:
Language: English
It was one of the most popular novels of the nineteenth century and Tolstoy called it "the greatest of all novels." Yet today Victor Hugo's Les Misérables is neglected by readers and undervalued by critics. In The Temptation of the Impossible one of the world's great novelists Mario Vargas Llosa helps us to appreciate the incredible ambition power and beauty of Hugo's masterpiece and in the process presents a humane vision of fiction as an alternative reality that can help us imagine a different and better world. Hugo Vargas Llosa says had at least two goals in Les Misérables --to create a complete fictional world and through it to change the real world. Despite the impossibility of these aims Hugo makes them infectious sweeping up the reader with his energy and linguistic and narrative skill. Les Misérables Vargas Llosa argues embodies a utopian vision of literature--the idea that literature can not only give us a supreme experience of beauty but also make us more virtuous citizens and even grant us a glimpse of the "afterlife the immortal soul God." If Hugo's aspiration to transform individual and social life through literature now seems innocent Vargas Llosa says it is still a powerful ideal that great novels like Les Misérables can persuade us is true.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
It was one of the most popular novels of the nineteenth century and Tolstoy called it "the greatest of all novels." Yet today Victor Hugo's Les Misérables is neglected by readers and undervalued by critics. In The Temptation of the Impossible one of the world's great novelists Mario Vargas Llosa helps us to appreciate the incredible ambition power and beauty of Hugo's masterpiece and in the process presents a humane vision of fiction as an alternative reality that can help us imagine a different and better world. Hugo Vargas Llosa says had at least two goals in Les Misérables --to create a complete fictional world and through it to change the real world. Despite the impossibility of these aims Hugo makes them infectious sweeping up the reader with his energy and linguistic and narrative skill. Les Misérables Vargas Llosa argues embodies a utopian vision of literature--the idea that literature can not only give us a supreme experience of beauty but also make us more virtuous citizens and even grant us a glimpse of the "afterlife the immortal soul God." If Hugo's aspiration to transform individual and social life through literature now seems innocent Vargas Llosa says it is still a powerful ideal that great novels like Les Misérables can persuade us is true.

More books from Princeton University Press

Cover of the book The Qualities of a Citizen by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Garden Insects of North America by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Imperfect Garden by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Closing the Shop by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book From Populations to Ecosystems by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book The Spirit of Cities by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book The Expanding Blaze by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Faces of Muhammad by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book China's New Confucianism by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Deep Life by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Investigating the President by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Inside Paradise Lost by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Winning by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book The Macropolitics of Congress by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book A Reader on Classical Islam by Mario Vargas Llosa
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy