New South Wales
New World, see under United States
New York
Broadway
Brooklyn
Nicholas Nickleby, novel by Dickens
Night Watch, The, painting by Rembrandt
Nivelles
Norman dialect
Normandy, Duchy of
Notre–Dame de Paris, novel by Victor Hugo
Nyomorultak, Hungarian title of Les Misérables
Ohain
Old Curiosity Shop, The, novel by Dickens
Old Goriot, see under Le Père Goriot
Oliver Twist, novel by Dickens
Oliver! by Lionel Bart
Oppenheim Bank
Orion
Ostend
Ottoman Empire
Otverzhennie, Russian title of Les Misérables
Our Mutual Friend, novel by Dickens
Out of Evil Cometh Good, play by Holt
Outsider, The, novel by Camus
Ozymandias, poem by Shelley
PAGNERRE (Charles-Antoine), bookseller, 1834–1867
PAGNERRE (Madame)
PAGNOL (Marcel) French writer and director, 1895–1974
PALMYRA
PALMYRE, draft name of Éponine Thénardier
PARFAIT (Noël), French writer, 1813–1896
Paris, passim, but more specifically:
Académie française
Arc de Triomphe
Avenue Daumesnil
Avenue Ledru-Rollin
Bastille, fortress
Bicêtre Prison
Boulevard de l’Hôpital, see also under Gorbeau tenement
Boulevard Diderot
Café Corinthe
Café Musain
Chambre des pairs
Cloître Saint-Merri
Conciergerie
Convent of Dames de Sainte–Madeleine
Convent of Petit-Picpus
Convent of the Perpetual Adoration of the Holy Sacrament
Convent of the Perpetual Adoration, see under Convent of Petit-Picpus
Cour Batave
Faubourg du Temple
Faubourg Saint–Antoine
Gare d’Austerlitz
Gare d’Orléans
Gare de l’Est
Gare de Lyon
Gare du Nord
Gare Saint–Lazare
Gorbeau tenement
Hôtel de Ville
House of Lords, see under Chambre des pairs
Ile de la Cité
La Force Prison
Latin Quarter
Les Feuillantines
Les Halles
Luxembourg Gardens
Luxembourg Palace
Maison central de detention, see under Mazas
Marais
Mazas Prison
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Panthéon
Père Lachaise cemetery
Petit-Picpus
Place de la Bastille
Place de la Concorde
Place de la Madeleine
Place des Vosges, see under Place Royale
Place Royale
Polytechnique
Pompidou Centre
Pont d’Austerlitz
Restaurant Rousseau
Rue de l’Homme-Armé
Rue de la Chanvrerie
Rue de Lyon
Rue de Seine
Rue de Thorigny
Rue de Tournon
Rue des Saints-Pères
Rue du Roi-de-Sicile
Rue du Temple
Rue Le Goff
Rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève
Rue Oudinot
Rue Plumet
Rue Saint-Denis
Rue Saint-Pierre-Montmartre
Rue Taitbout
Rue Transnonain
Saint-Lazare Prison
Tuileries
Vaugirard cemetery
Patron-Minette (gang)
Paul Clifford, novel by Bulwer–Lytton
Peau de chagrin, La, novel by Balzac
Père Goriot, Le, novel by Balzac
PEREC (Georges), French writer, 1936–1982
PÉRIER (Casimir), French banker and politician, 1796–1832
PERKIN (William Henry), English chemist, 1838–1907
Petersburg Tales, by Gogol
Petit Chose, Le, by Alphonse Daudet
Philadelphia, PA
Picard dialect
PINSON (Albert)
PIP (Philip Pirrip), a character in Dickens
PLUTARQUE, Mabeuf’s housekeeper
POE (Edgar Allan), American writer, 1809–1849
Poland
POLONIUS, character in Hamlet
Pontarlier (Doubs)
PONTMARTIN (Armand de), French critic, 1811–1890
PONTMERCY (Georges)
PONTMERCY (Marius)
Pontoise (Val-d’Oise)
Poor Folk, novel by Dostoevsky
Poor Relations (Les Parents pauvres), novel series by Balzac
Portsmouth
Portugal
PRADIER (Claire), daughter of Juliette Drouet, 1826–1846
PRADIER (James), French sculptor, 1790–1852
Prague
PRÉSENTATION, Mother
Presse, La, newspaper
PRINCE RUDOLPH OF GEROLSTEIN, a character in Sue
PRINCESS BARI, Korean legend
Probalinthus, a location in Ancient Greece
PROUVAIRE
Provençal language
Provence
PROVIDENCE, Mother
Prussia
PUSHKIN (Aleksandr Sergueievich), Russian poet, 1799–1837
Putney
Pyramids, Battle of the
RACINE (Jean), French dramatist, 1639–1699
RASKOLNIKOV, a character in Dostoevsky
Red and Black, novel by Stendhal
REMBRANDT (Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn), Dutch painter, 1606–1669
Remizeraberu, Japanese title of Les Misérables
Remizeraburu Shouju Kozetto, Japanese TV series
RENDUEL (Eugène), French publisher, 1798–1874
Rheims (Marne)
Richmond, VA
Righteous Among Nations
Rio Grande
Rivoli, Battle of
ROBB (Graham), biographer
ROBESPIERRE (Maximilien), French politician, 1758–1794
Romainville (Seine–Saint–Denis)
Romany language
Rome
Roncevaux (Roncesvalles, Spain)
RONCIÈRE LE NOURY (Clément de la), French naval officer, 1813–1881
ROSA (Guy), scholar of Victor Hugo
ROSE (Julie), Australian translator
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, play by Tom Stoppard
ROTHSCHILD (James Mayer de), French banker, 1792–1868
Rouen (Seine-Maritime)
ROYOL, friend of Mabeuf
ROYOL, Madame, bookseller
Russia
Saint or Sinner, stage play
Saint-Cloud (Hauts-de-Seine)
SAINT-JOSEPH, Mother
SAINT-PHALLE (Niki de), Franco-American artist, 1930–2002
SAINTE-MECHTILDE, Mother
SAKOSKI (Albert), celebrity bootmaker, 1758–1840
Salammbô, novel by Flaubert
San Sebastian
SAND (Georges), psd of Aurore Dudevant, baronne Dupin, French writer, 1804–1876
Sark, CI
SARTRE (Jean-Paul), French philosopher, 1905–1980
Savoie, region
Savoy, Kingdom of
SCAUFFLAIRE, ostler at Montreuil-sur-Mer
SCHÖNBERG (Claude-Michel), French composer
SCOTT (Sir Walter), Scottish writer, 1771–1832
Sedan (Ardennes)
Seine, Department of
Seine, River
SÉNAT, a dog
SÉRAPHINE
Sergeant of Waterloo, inn at Mont
fermeil
SEYMOUR (Harry), playwright
SHAKESPEARE (William), English dramatist, 1564–1616
Shanghai
SHAW (George Bernard), Irish playwright, 1856–1950
SHELLEY (Percy Bysshe), English poet, 1792–1822
Shojou Cosetta, see under Remizeraburu Shouju Kozetto
Siberia
Siguenza, Battle of
SIMENON (Georges), Belgian novelist, 1903–1989
Singapore
Sologne
Song of Roland
SOREL (Julien) a character in Stendhal
SOU (Jacques), draft name of Jean Valjean
Southampton
Soviet Union
Spa
Spain
Spanish language
Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, novel by Balzac
SQUEERS, a schoolmaster in Dickens
St Helena
St Helier, see under Jersey
St Peter Port, see under Guernsey
St Petersburg
STAËL (Germaine Necker, Madame de Staël), French writer, 1766–1817
STEINBOCK (Wenceslas), a character in Balzac
STENDHAL, French novelist, 1783–1842
Stockholm
STOPPARD (Tom), British playwright
SU MANSHU
SUE, Eugène, French writer, 1804–1857
Sweden
Switzerland
Sybil, novel by Disraeli
Sydney (NSW)
T (Madame de)
TACITUS (Publius Cornelius Tacitus), Roman historian CE
TAKAKO (Inuki), Japanese graphic artist
TAMERLANE, 1336–1405
Tamul language
Tancarville (Seine-Maritime)
TAPNER (Charles), the last man to be hanged on Guernsey, 1823–1854
Temps, Le, newspaper
Thames, River
The Barricade, play by C Holt
THE JACK, nickname of Jean Valjean
THÉNARD (Louis-Jacques), French chemist, 1777–1857
THÉNARDIER (Azelma)
THÉNARDIER (Éponine)
THÉNARDIER
THÉNARDIER, Madame, his wife, also called La Thénardière
Thérèse Raquin, novel by Zola
Thermopylae, Battle of
THESEUS, legendary hero
THIERRY (Denis), French bookseller
Things Seen, see Choses vues
THOLOMYÈS (Euphrasie), see under Cosette
THOLOMYÈS (Félix)
THOMAS, draft name of Marius
THOUVENEL (Edouard-Antoine), French diplomat, 1818–1866)
Thyl Eulenspiegel, by Charles de Coster
Times, newspaper
Tintin, cartoon
TOCQUEVILLE (Alexis de), French historian, 1805–1859
Toilers of the Sea, novel by Victor Hugo
TOLSTOY (Leo), Russian novelist, 1828–1910
Toulon (Var)
Toulouse (Tarn)
Trafalgar, Battle of
TRÉJEAN (Jean), draft name of Jean Valjean
TROLLOPE (Anthony), British novelist and civil servant, 1815–1882
TRUFFAUT (François), French film director, 1932–1984
Turkey
Turkish language
Twickenham
Twilight, novel series by Stephanie Meyer
Ulysses, by James Joyce
United Kingdom
United Nations
United States
USHIDA (Tomi), Japanese film director, 1989–1970
USHIHARA (Kiyochiko), Japanese film director, 1897–1985
VACQUERIE (Auguste), French man of letters, 1819–1895
VALENOD, a character in Stendhal
VALJEAN (Jean)
VAUTRIN, a character in Balzac
VERBOEKHOVEN (Eugène)
Vernon (Eure)
Verrières (Doubs)
Versailles (Yvelines)
Versailles, palace of
VESPASIAN, Roman emperor, 9CE–79CE
Victor Hugo as told by a witness of his life, by Adèle Hugo
Victor Hugo raconté par un témoin de sa vie see under Victor Hugo as told by a witness of his life
VICTORIA, Queen of England
VIDOCQ (Eugène-François), French criminal and police chief, 1775–1857
Vienna
Vilna (Vilnius)
VIOLLET-LE-DUC (Eugène), French architect, 1814–1879
VIRGIL
Virginia
Visiteur du pauvre (Visitor of the Poor), by De Gerando
Viva Maria!, film by Louis Malle
VLAJEAN (Jean), draft name of Jean Valjean
VOLTAIRE, psd of François-Marie Arouet, French writer, 1694–1778
Wagram, Battle of
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
Warsaw
Waterloo, Battle of
Waterloo, see also under Battle of Waterloo
WELLER (Sam), a character in Dickens
WELLES (Orson), American director, 1915–1985
WELLINGTON (Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington), British soldier, 1769–1852
Weymouth
Wight, Isle of
WILBOUR (Charles Edwin), American translator of Les Misérables, 1833–1896
Wild Ass’s Skin, see under La Peau de chagrin
WILLIAM I THE CONQUEROR, 1028–1087
Winchester Cathedral
WRAXALL (Sir Charles Lascelles), British writer, 1828–1865
WREN (Jenny), a character in Dickens
Wretched, The, first American title of Les Misérables
Yad Vashem
Yellow Passport, The, stage play
Yiddish language
Yorkshire
YOURCENAR (Marguerite), Belgian writer, 1903–1987
Zaragoza, Battle of
ZÉPHINE
ZOLA (Émile), French writer, 1840–1902
ALSO BY DAVID BELLOS
Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything
Romain Gary: A Tall Story
Jacques Tati: His Life and Art
Georges Perec: A Life in Words
Balzac Criticism in France, 1850–1900: The Making of a Reputation
EDITOR AND TRANSLATOR
Essays on Seventeenth-Century French Literature, by Leo Spitzer
A Note About the Author
David Bellos is a well-known translator of modern French fiction and the author of several prizewinning biographies of French literary figures. His irreverent study of translation, Is That a Fish in Your Ear? (2011), was a runner-up for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and has itself been translated into Korean, Spanish, German, and French. Bellos teaches French and comparative literature at Princeton University and holds the rank of Officier in France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Author’s Note: On Reading Les Misérables
Translations and References
Maps
Introduction: The Journey of Les Misérables
PART ONE: CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
1. Victor Hugo Opens His Eyes
2. Fantine
3. The First Draft
Interlude: Invisible History
PART TWO: TREASURE ISLANDS
4. The Money Plot
5. Hauteville House
6. The Beliefs of Victor Hugo
7. Hugo Gets Back to Work
Interlude: Inventing the Names
PART THREE: ROOMS WITH A VIEW
8. Victory at Waterloo
9. The Contract of the Century
10. The Five Parts of Les Misérables
Interlude: The Mind of Jean Valjean
PART FOUR: WAR, PEACE AND PROGRESS
11. The Start of It All
12. The Paris of Les Misérables
13. The Politics of Les Misérables
14. The Stumbling Block
Interlude: High Style, Low Style, Latin and Slang
PART FIVE: GREAT EXPECTATIONS
15. Publication Day: 4 April 1862
16. A Story without End
17. The Meaning of Les Misérables
Epilogue: Journey’s End
France in the Nineteenth Century: A Time Line
Acknowledgements
Works Cited
Notes
Index of Names
Also by David Bellos
A Note About the Author
Copyright
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
18 West 18th Street, New York 10011
Copyright © 2017 by David Bellos
All rights reserved
Originally published in 2017 by Particular Books, an imprint of Penguin Books, Great Britain
Published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
First American edition, 2017
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bellos, David, author.
Title: The novel of the century: the extraordinary adventure of Les Misérables / David Bellos.
Description: New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016049133 | ISBN 9780374223236 (hardback) | ISBN 9780374716295 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Hugo, Victor, 1802–1885. Misérables. | BISAC: LITERARY CRITICISM / European / French. | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary.
Classification: LCC PQ2286 .B45 2017 | DDC 843/.7—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016049133
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