The Wretched

Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.7

Word count: 584K words
Chapters: 59

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.De Ellendigen (Deel 2 van 5) by Victor HugoAuthor: Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885,Language: Dutch, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Oct 7, 2011

Editor's review

This is the second volume of the Dutch translation of Hugo's Les Misérables, a public-domain ebook. Its value lies first in the documentary and linguistic dimension: readers can compare it with the French original or a Chinese translation and observe how nineteenth-century French long sentences, character monologues, and historical digressions are rendered in Dutch—useful for translation studies and comparative-literature reading. The volume format also lowers the psychological barrier to reading the whole book and suits a volume-by-volume approach. Note that this ebook is released by Project Gutenberg; the text is in Dutch and has no modern introduction, notes, or scholarly apparatus, so readers must look up names, places, and historical background themselves. If you are learning Dutch and want to expand vocabulary and syntax through a literary text, this volume can serve as advanced material; if you only want the story of Les Misérables, read a complete Chinese or English translation first and return to this volume as a comparative text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers learning Dutch who want to advance through a literary original
Comparative-literature readers studying translations of Hugo's works and translation strategies
Those who have read a Chinese translation of Les Misérables and want to read a foreign-language volume closely in comparison
Digital-reading enthusiasts who collect Project Gutenberg public-domain ebooks

Not a good fit for

Ordinary readers with no Dutch who only want the plot
Course users who need detailed notes, introductions, or scholarly apparatus
Readers who prefer a complete single-volume story and do not want to read volume by volume

Reading tips

Read the corresponding part of a Chinese or English translation first, then move to the Dutch text to reduce the burden of following the plot.
After each chapter, note three to five key Dutch words and long-sentence structures as language-learning notes.
When you meet historical digressions, you may skip them first, keep to the main character thread, and read them again on a second pass.
Compare it side by side with the French original or a translation in another language to observe how the translator handles Hugo's long sentences.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this volume the complete story of Les Misérables?

No. This is the second volume of a five-volume Dutch translation and covers only part of the whole work. To read the complete story, you need all the other volumes, or read a complete Chinese or English translation first and then use this for comparison.

Can I read this book without knowing Dutch?

It is very difficult to read on its own. The text is in Dutch and there is no bilingual text or notes. Readers without Dutch are better off choosing a Chinese translation, or treating this volume only as material for collecting and comparing editions.

Does this ebook have notes and an introduction?

According to the information, this is a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, and no modern introduction, notes, or scholarly apparatus are stated. Readers need to look up the historical background, names, and places themselves.

Why was it published in volumes rather than as a single volume?

The information shows that the translation is in five volumes, and this is the second. Volumes are easier to carry and to read in stages, and this format is also common in early translations or digitization arrangements, but readers need to pay attention to the volume order.

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About the author

Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885 Author

Hugo, Victor (1802–1885) was a French author renowned for his novels and poetry. The collection holds 54 of his works, including volumes of Les Misérables (such as Jean Valjean and Fantine), Notre-Dame de Paris, and Quatrevingt-Treize. These works center on poverty, justice, revolution, and redemption, weaving the fate of individuals tightly into social reality. His narratives are grand and emotionally rich, combining romantic sweep with deep concern for the poor and marginalized. Classified under inspirational growth, his characters' struggles amid hardship still speak to readers today. Public information is limited; this note describes only the themes and style suggested by the works in the collection.