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 Searching for a Corporate Savior by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Becoming Right by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book The Age of Auden by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book A Way Out by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book The Founding Myths of Israel by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book The Struggle for Equality by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book The Wind From the East by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book No Shadow of a Doubt by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Will You Be Alive 10 Years from Now? by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book The Loneliness of the Black Republican by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Pursuits of Wisdom by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book F.B. Eyes by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book On Purpose by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cover of the book Uncorked 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