Hugo Read
Queila Neubecker
For science-fiction geeks only. Because I wanted to, I wasted several hours rating the Hugo and Nebula-award winning novels, from top to bottom. Totally subjective, inconsistent, and really long, but I find sometimes that I like reading a list like this, so I did one myself. I have read almost all of them, or at least tried.
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I've been "reading" Les Misrables for more than a year now. This isn't because I'm a slow reader (although I often am) or because my life is unbelievably busy. It's because I've constantly picked it up, only to set it aside again when things get slow -- and yeah, things can get slow.
Victor Hugo famously gets off track, leaving main characters aside for chapters as he recreates the battle of Waterloo, waxes philosophical about something, or obsesses over the design of the Paris sewers.
These digressions can be interesting and informative, if occasionally offensive ("A little girl without a doll is almost as unhappy, and quite as impossible, as a woman without children." Really, Victor? REALLY?). But sometimes I'm just not in the mood for a dry essay about sewers. I was some fiction! I want some action! I want to know what my man Jean Valjean is up to, and where Javert is lurking!
But I'm a purist and a completionist and a literary snob, so I'm not about to skip the dry parts. Instead, I end up avoiding Les Mis and cheating on it with something faster-paced.
Still, I keep coming back. Why?
For whatever reason, Les Mis has a hold on my heart. Maybe it's my innate attraction to all things French. Maybe it's the compelling social justice arguments that endure more than a century later. Maybe it's stuff I read between the lines. Maybe it's all about Javert; I've always had a bit of a thing for dark, complex, not-exactly-good-but-not-evil-either characters. Maybe it's just a damn good story.
The novel is divided into five "parts" -- Fantine, Cosette, Marius, The Rue Plumet Idyll and the Rue St-Denis Epic, and Jean Valjean -- and into several "books" within the parts. Those "books" are further divided into the segments I'm referring to as "chapters." Many of these are quite short, which makes tackling at least one a day a painless prospect.
After reading, I'll post a brief blog entry about whatever I found notable about the chapter. These will likely focus on visualizing the scenes, historical facts I learned, or other random stuff I didn't know about 19th century France.
Quick translation note, on the incredibly remote chance that both 1) someone is reading this, and 2) that someone is nerdy enough to care which translation I'm using: After a bit of research and reading some sample passages, I chose to go with the 2013 Christine Donougher translation released by Penguin Classics. I read the first couple hundred pages using the old Lee Fahnestock translation, however.
(On the off-off-off chance that someone reading is trying to choose a Les Mis translation, I found this post helpful -- although it doesn't include Donougher's version, which I recommend.)
Up next: Part Two (Cosette), Book 5 (Silent Stalkers in the Dark), Chapter III (Consult the 1727 Map of Paris).
My college French class at Winona State was a disaster for me. My knowledge of the language was insufficient and could not appreciate our daily assignment of us sharing reading responsibilities, orally. I think I developed a proper French accent from it, but that was about it. I dropped the class, the only class I ever dropped in college.
Dr. Michael J. Baglino, Ed. D. is a retired college teacher, most recently an adjunct professor in behavioral science at Palm Beach State College, Florida. He is also a retired entertainer [singer/actor] , performing primarily as a Frank Sinatra tribute artist under the name Michael Matone. A parishioner of St. Therese de Lisieux Catholic Church in Wellington, FL, Michael serves as a lector and Knights of Columbus member. Michael is the author of 5 books all on Amazon: most recently, 'The Dr. B. Reader on the Ologies: Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology'. He can be reached at dr.mb...@gmail.com You
The book, a product of printing, belongs to industry and is the foundation, in all its forms, of a large commercial enterprise. It is bought and sold; it is a form of property, a value created, uncompensated, a form of riches added by the writer to the national wealth. Indeed, all must agree, this is the most compelling form of property.
The legal change he thought would do that? Extending copyright to the absurd length of life plus 50 years. (It is now life plus 70). Ah, Thomas, if only you could have been there for the Sonny Bono Term Extension debates.
This is the second in a series of postings of material drawn from our forthcoming, Creative Commons licensed, open coursebook on Intellectual Property. The first was Victor Hugo: Guardian of the Public Domain The book will be released in late August.
Professor Alex Sayf Cummings, author of a fascinating book called Democracy of Sound: Music Piracy and the Remaking of American Copyright in the 20th Century (recommended as a thought-provoking read) has an interesting post up about attempts to shut down music lyric sites such as Rapgenius.com.
Aaron Swartz committed suicide last week. He was 26, a genius and my friend. Not a really good friend, but someone I had worked with off and on for 11 years, liked a lot, had laughed with frequently, occasionally shaken my head over and deeply admired.
A group of fans, reviewers, and critics who like art and media. Hugo Award Winners2. (We really like Hugo Award recommendations.) You can support us on Patreon, read our past work by month or by topic, but please note our comment policy. Learn more
I moved to Vienna at the beginning of last year. Renounced my home in Japan, slowly and painfully came to terms with death, and experienced a year-long crisis of the soul that culminated in me walking the palace grounds of Schnbrunn, coffee in hand, completely alone, and perhaps, finally, on the cusp of some peace and understanding.
I rarely read reviews or commentary before completing a book, but I noticed some months back when I searched for what people had to say about this novel that some complained of Hugo spending too long at the beginning giving attention to a peripheral character before introducing the lead. How sad and unfortunate to be a reader who finds they must either endure or skip over time spent with Bishop Bienvenue.
Glasgow 2024 has announced the availability of a Hugo Awards Voter Packet so that members of the 2024 Worldcon eligible to vote on the final ballot of the 2024 Hugo Awards can see the shortlisted works. As announced in their press release:
The Hugo Awards Voter Packet is a collection of material made available free of charge to Worldcon Members to assist them in deciding how to vote in the Final Ballot for the 2024 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.
The event will be moderated taking questions in advance. If you wish to submit a question for consideration please do so below. There may not be enough time to cover all questions. You can submit questions for consideration ahead of time.
Glasgow 2024, the 82nd World Science Fiction Convention, announced on March 29, 2024 the finalists for the 2024 Hugo Awards, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and Astounding Award for Best New Writer. The full list of finalists is on the 2024 Hugo Awards page.
1720 valid nominating ballots were received and counted from the members of the 2023 and 2024 World Science Fiction Conventions for the 2024 Hugo Awards. Voting on the final ballot will open during April 2024.
More information about the Hugo Awards is available at -awards/. Questions about the Hugo Awards process should be directed to hugo...@glasgow2024.org. Please do not submit questions to the Hugo Awards website, as we do not administer the Hugo Awards and can only pass your questions on to the award administrators.
Nominations for the 2024 Hugo Awards, The Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer closed on March 9. The finalists in each category will be announced on Friday, March 29, at Levitation, the UK National Convention (Eastercon) taking place in Telford, UK. Details of the final ballot process will be announced during April 2024.
"World Science Fiction Society", "WSFS", "World Science Fiction Convention", "Worldcon", "NASFiC", "Lodestar Award", "The Hugo Award", the Hugo Award Logo, and the distinctive design of the Hugo Award Rocket are service marks of Worldcon Intellectual Property, a California non-profit corporation managed by the Mark Protection Committee of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society. You can contact the WSFS Mark Protection Committee at m...@wsfs.org.
Although he was a committed royalist when young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism, serving in politics as both deputy and senator. His work touched upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. His opposition to absolutism, and his literary stature, established him as a national hero. Hugo died on 22 May 1885, aged 83. He was given a state funeral in the Panthon of Paris, which was attended by over 2 million people, the largest in French history.[2]
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