Les Misérables: Translated by Julie Rose

I advise those perusing these reviews to take with a measure of salt the dogmatic pronunciations on the quality of Rose's translation. Provenance is important, and one should always "consider the source." (Yes, even with me.)A number of interviews with Rose are available online, in which she discusses her work, and her work on this novel. The novel has a lengthy and detailed Translator's Preface, in which she discusses the novel, the translation process, and her approach to it. You also can find online some independent articles about this translation.The great translator of Spanish language literature, Edith Grossman, said:"I can't say what makes a book translatable, but I do think that all texts can be translated. The question of whether or not a work is "translatable" stems from a mistaken and widely held notion that a translation is really a one-for-one set of equivalences with the original--a straightforward lexical problem--when in fact it is a rewriting of the first text. Some, of course, are immensely difficult (they're usually just as difficult in the original) and challenge the translator's sensitivity to nuance, levels of meaning, and artistic impact in both languages. I see my work as translating meaning, not words."Rose has spoken similarly about her work."I think the essential difference is that...and I'm not saying that translators always have to do this, there are reasons for departing a little bit further from a writer's text where it just won't work in English. I found on the contrary what really worked better in English was to follow Hugo much more closely than anyone else seems to have done. So I've actually followed his syntax as closely as possible, I've followed the rhythm of his sentences and I've actually broken it up the way he has and stuck more closely to what he says." -- Julie Rose, interview, 2009She's translated more than thirty French works into English -- plays, poetry, novels, genre fiction. She worked on Les Miserables for three years. She has been awarded three international prizes for her translations. I'm willing to take the leap of faith -- she is "fluent in French." I recommend others accept the facts in plain sight, and do likewise.I stopped reading works in translation in the early 1980s, and didn't start up again until around 2005. The reason I stopped was that I concluded that I could not hear the author's voice in the translated work. The reason I started again was that Rose, Grossman, and some others showed that they understood this challenge, accepted it, and that it is possible to capture the author's voice in a translation, by actually listening to the author's intent.According to one account, the Rose translation is almost 100,000 words longer than the 1976 Denny "translation" -- that's how much material he excised from the novel to "improve it." Denny, in fact, is on record as saying that Victor Hugo was a terrible writer, and needed some "tidying up." If you're just looking to pad your reading CV with another of the "great books," then it doesn't matter which one you read. Might as well go with a shorter one. If you're looking to read the translation of Les Mis, that will make you feel like you are reading the original, hearing Victor Hugo's voice, then pick up Rose's translation.

I am in love with this translation. I’d picked up and thumbed through the classic translations over the years, but the language was so dry. I figured the book was itself dry, so I stopped. But I’m such a fan of the musical that I really wanted to dig in. And then the cover of the Julie Rose translation jumped out at me in a library one day. Within a page, I knew this was different. Witty and funny and alive. I bought it on Kindle and read half of it on flights to and from Japan. It never bored me and I was having *fun.* Who knew that I’d find Les Miserables a *fun* read! I’m now a bigger fan of the book than I am the musical. I definitely recommend buying this version. It’s wonderful.

I was able to read the Julie Rose translation all the way through, reading the cussing wasn't a big issue at the time I read it. When I listened to the audio book on audible, it seemed like the cursing was all over the story and just wasn't able to listen to it. In my thoughts, Julie Rose's translation was an intriguing read and the narrator of her translation was very good. The only thing that made me lose my hopes in her translation was the excessive use of the curse words and overly modern language. Maybe I will have better luck with the other translations of this classic.

This translation was so wonderfully readable. If you are going to spend time reading over 1000 pages of amazing story, this is the translation to read first. I wish I had this translation the first time I read it. Les Miserables, the unabridged, is one of my favorite stories. It is impossible to finish without your heart being tugged and moved. Give it a try and enjoy the ride.

This translation contains over a hundred pages of historical footnotes. These are needed. This is an historical picture of the transition from monarchy to republic from the social cultural perspective. Hugo's detailed account is not simple but worth the effort required to appreciate it. Abridged versions cannot provide sufficient coverage of the Bishop's life and decisions; the battle of Waterloo (pro & con); the street urchins of Paris; class differences. Hugo is probably a more poetic prose in the French, but Julie Rose has made a flowing full translation version accessable. I gave this translation to two people that I believe will use it for more than a door stop. This is depth writing requiring time commitment to thinking through ideas, problems and the desperations of the times.

I wanted to read this book on the kindle as it is quite long and so quite a heavy book! Chose the Julia Rose translation as it seemed more up-to-date. I enjoyed the book immensely, the main storyline has so many twists and turns, Hugo does however sometimes go off on a tangent - i.e. the history of the Paris sewers. I didn't feel this modern version was in any way dumbed down, it suited me very well and the footnotes were very helpful. Would definately recommend this kindle version!

I was pleasantly surprised to find this novel a much better read than I had anticipated. As well as telling a story, Victor Hugo takes the reader through a slice of French social and economic history. The translator kept to the original novel, so no editing. Also there is a glossary in the back which explains various references during the narrative. This item arrived within a reasonable amount of time from placing the order.

A wonderful story that kept me up late at nights wanting more. I have to say though that if one stands back and wants to be slightly critical there are some slightly unbelievable coincidences, chance encounters and strokes of luck. Also I'm not sure it would ever be possible for a 50 plus year old man to carry another man through the sewers of Paris in the dark, but I suppose some of Dickens novels also stretch credulity in the same way. I cheated a bit for time to time and skipped sections that Hugo has included that go into great detail about that period of French history, which are in my view not totally relevant to the plot, although I did enjoy reading his detailed description of the battle of Waterloo.

Got this for my 13 year old daughter on her request. This is the full version so it's a huge book. She feels that this translation is not quite as good as the original one. As for the actual story, she said it's "amazing" though one has to get through many tangents.

I went to see the film not knowing it was a musical (er, yes) and when R. Crowe opened his mouth and out came a computer assisted voice my heart sank, but I endured the following two hours of torture only by holding on to the idea that when I got out of the cinema I would buy the best available translation and read it in its entirety. Julie Rose's translation is the best available translation, and it is marvellous. I cannot praise it too highly. I'm a translator (not of French, but Persian) and I think I know a good translation when I see one. It should say 'This Will Change Your Life' on the cover but anyway, I'm sure you'll be re-reading it when Mr Crowe and company are long faded from the memory.