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The Last Day of a Condemned Man

by Victor Hugo, Geoff Woollen (Translator), Libby Purves (Foreword by)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 1,934 ratings · 113 reviews

Deeply shocking in its time, The Last Day of a Condemned Man is a profound and moving tale and a vital work of social commentary. A man vilified by society and condemned to death for his crime wakes every morning knowing that this day might be his last. With the hope for release his only comfort, he spends his hours recounting his life and the time before his imprisonment....more

Paperback, 109 pages

Published July 1st 2002 by Hesperus Press (first published 1829)

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Dec 30, 2012 arcobaleno rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: letteraturastraniera

Misere leggi e miseri uomini
E' il diario degli ultimi giorni, fino agli ultimi istanti, di un condannato alla ghigliottina: non ci rivela il suo nome, né la sua colpa. Non usa toni enfatici e non lancia invettive. Ci racconta invece, con estrema intensità, i suoi sentimenti, i suoi pensieri, i suoi stati d'animo, le sue angosce. Risulta dunque un'accusa contro la pena di morte ancora più efficace, dal momento che non si riferisce ad una vicenda particolare, a quel condannato, ma a uno qualunque...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Isairon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: letteratura-straniera

La presa di posizione dell'autore contro la pena di morte. L'ultimo giorno angosciante di chi sa che perderà la propria vita. Struggente. La frase che mi ha più colpito: “Miserabile! Che delitto ho commesso, e che delitto ho fatto commettere alla società!”. Il condannato è consapevole dell'atrocità del gesto da lui compiuto, ma anche del gesto che la società compierà, per colpa sua, su di lui. Vittima e carnefice si invertono.

Pag. 20
Tutte quelle creature umane sono state freddamente risistemate...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Margarida rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"O último dia de um condenado" é um pequeno romance de Victor Hugo escrito em 1829, que constitui um manifesto político pela abolição da pena de morte.

O livro é um diário de um condenado à morte, que funciona como um monólogo, uma reflexão sobre aquilo que o condenado viveu, sentiu e pensou nas últimas semanas que antecedem a sua execução. O leitor não sabe nem o nome deste homem e nem o que ele fez para ser condenado ( existe algumas vagas indicações que nos fazem pensar que ele cometeu homicíd...more

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Aug 12, 2011 الوجــد added it · review of another edition

يقع في 200 صفحة
فيكتور هيجو يظل اسمه بارزًا في عالم الروايات وفي قنص لحظات الحزن والألم وتجرع العلقم كله أو بعضه أو جزءًا منه
تحكي الرواية يوميات رجل محكوم عليه بالإعدام وتصف اللحظات المريرة والعصيبة بوصفها بأكثر الكلمات عمقًا
فهاهو ذا يُنقل من سجن لسجن ويقيد بأصفادٍ وأغلال
ثم يُجس نبض ما حوله ، يستمع لحفيف كل شيء لكأنما المخنوق شنقًا يرى مالم يره مسبقًا وإن رأه عيانًا
وختم روايته بحديث ساخر ،، محكوم عليه بالإعدام
من الرواية :
أن كل ربع ساعة تمر تجعلنا أشيخ بمقدار مرور سنة
**
هل أنت قادم يا هذا من مستشفى...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Maxine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: europe, france

Hugo was vehemently opposed to the death penalty, and wrote this book go "wrestle free" of the preoccupation his mind found in contemplation of the death penalty.

This is a very readable novella, and very thought-provoking; not only in querying the fairness or value of the death penalty, but also in thinking how one might spend one's own last day if condemned to die for some crime. Hugo declines to name the crime for which his protagonist was sentenced to death, and instead chose to focus on all...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Khaled rated it 5 of 5 stars

يتحدث فيكتور هوجو في هذه الرواية عن قضية هامة وهي عقوة الحكم بالإعدام
يتناول في المقدمة رأيه الشخصي بهذه العقوبة ويطالب منذ البداية بإلغاء حكم الإعدام, ويفند كل الأسباب التي يتبجح بها كل من يتمسك بهذه العقوبة ويحللها تحليلاً منطقية بحجج وأدلة تثبت سلبيات حكم الإعدام اكثر من إيجابياته.
ثم يبدا الكاتب روايته ويتحدث فيها عن بائس محكوم بالإعدام فيتناول حالته النفسية بمونولوج جميل منذ لحظة نطق الحكم وحتّى تنفيذه.
يتجنب الكاتب في هذه الرواية ذكر تهمة المحكوم وذلك خدمةً لرسالته التي تحملها هذه الرواية وه...more يتحدث فيكتور هوجو في هذه الرواية عن قضية هامة وهي عقوة الحكم بالإعدام
يتناول في المقدمة رأيه الشخصي بهذه العقوبة ويطالب منذ البداية بإلغاء حكم الإعدام, ويفند كل الأسباب التي يتبجح بها كل من يتمسك بهذه العقوبة ويحللها تحليلاً منطقية بحجج وأدلة تثبت سلبيات حكم الإعدام اكثر من إيجابياته.
ثم يبدا الكاتب روايته ويتحدث فيها عن بائس محكوم بالإعدام فيتناول حالته النفسية بمونولوج جميل منذ لحظة نطق الحكم وحتّى تنفيذه.
يتجنب الكاتب في هذه الرواية ذكر تهمة المحكوم وذلك خدمةً لرسالته التي تحملها هذه الرواية وهي المطالبة بإلغاء حكم الإعدام كي يعمم مطلبه هذا على جميع المحكومين سواء كانوا مظلومين أو أبرياء, ومهما كانت الجريمة الذي ارتكبها هذا المحكوم وكي لا يخصص المطلب على نوع معين من المحكومين,
مع العلم ان الكاتب على الرغم من مطلبه هذا فإنه يطالب بالمحاسبة وسيادة القانون لكن بنوع من الرحمة الإنسانية على مبدأ كل إنسان قد يخطئ وكل إنسان قد يتوب ويندم..والإعدام جريمة يرتكبها المجتمع في حق نفسه.
الرواية جميلة تمتد على مساحة 200 صفحة لا تكاد تبدا فيها حتّى تنهيها.
وأجمل ما فيها أن هوجو يذكر على لسان بطل الرواية المحوم بالإعدام أن هذه الرواية ستكون ناقصة لأنه لن يتمكن من كتابة شعوره بعد تنفيذ حكم الإعدام. وهذا فعلاً ما جرى..

الرواية تستحق اـ 5 نجوم لأنها تحمل محاكمة ونقاش منطقي في بدايتها قبل البدء في الرواية لفكرة عقوبة الإعدام وسلبياتها,
وتاتي الرواية بعدها لتؤكد فكرة الكاتب من وجهة نظر انسانية وبلغة راقية وألوب شيق , بالإعتماد على مشاعر هذا البائس الذي يكمن بؤسه في إستعداده للموت وليس في الموت نفسه فموته كل يوم قبل تنفيذ الحكم ألف مرة أصعب بكثير من لحظة تنفيذ الحكم ,
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Jun 16, 2012 Rick rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

A strong example of literary advocacy, Hugo’s novella is an intimate look at a convicted murderer’s last day of life. It is a polemic against the death penalty but one where the story and the argument have a narrative integrity that doesn’t thumb the scales. It’s possible to read this fine story and think differently than the author but he will challenge all readers on the inhumanity of killing another human being by the state. Hugo writes in the first person, tracking the emotions of the condem...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Josh rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: o-death

The cold rain, the shackles, the dingy cell, the blood-thirsty crowds, and of course the galleys.
If you haven't read Hugo, this slim volume is a nice place to get your feet wet.

Further reading suggestions:

1. The beautiful prose, and dark humor of Nabokov's "Invitation To a Beheading."
(Nabokov clearly read "The Last Day...")

2. Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych;" a masterful portrait of a man in the grip of death.

Notable quotes:

"Nothing wrong with me? Well, of course, I am young, healthy and...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Tesni rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, foreign-language, french-literature

So. One of the first things you should know about me is how much I love Victor Hugo. I read Notre-Dame de Paris last November and it was an entirely welcome break from the frenzy that is NaNoWriMo for a few days.
Yes I am going somewhere with this. When you're so in love with a book, when you've read it two or three times and highlighted your favourite parts and drawn little pictures it's easy to forget how thrilling it is to read a Victor Hugo book for the first time. Reading The Last Day of a...more So. One of the first things you should know about me is how much I love Victor Hugo. I read Notre-Dame de Paris last November and it was an entirely welcome break from the frenzy that is NaNoWriMo for a few days.
Yes I am going somewhere with this. When you're so in love with a book, when you've read it two or three times and highlighted your favourite parts and drawn little pictures it's easy to forget how thrilling it is to read a Victor Hugo book for the first time. Reading The Last Day of a Condemned Man there are some moments where you're just entirely blown away, like, "Oh my God, this man is a freaking amazing writer." The writing, the emotions and the tension are just so entirely enthralling, even though the impending death of the unnamed narrator leaves nothing a mystery. Still, the pacing is pretty perfect and the build-up to his execution is entirely tense.

Both of the stories are something of a social commentary of French society in law in the day. We never really find out what the condemned man has done (there's one implication of a murder, but that's it), and there's next to no deep detail about the crime he committed, his past and his personal life. All we know is that he has a wife and a young child. In some scenarios and books I prefer it when books go into lots of detail about the character's past, but I think it worked really well here. The way you were cut off from the narrator, and there was just you, him and his impending death: he could have done something absolutely awful but it makes no difference to the reader. Claude Gueux goes into more detail about the functioning and dynamics of an early nineteenth-century prison, and there's less focus on the emotions.

While I'm talking about it, Claude Gueux is a short story, and alas it didn't live up to my expectations for two reasons. One: Although I too felt sorry for his plight, his imprisonment and his desperation, which were as excellently portrayed as in TLDOACM, it appeared to me that Claude just wanted his little friend back because he shared his food out with him and without the extra bread he was going to be hungry. Not even starving, just hungry, even. In all his speeches and pleas to the workshop manager, he always seems to mention the food, or lack thereof, first and his friend second.
The second thing was the ending. It gradually morphed into a long speech of sorts about the unfairness of prison life and how it could be fixed, the ideal path for improving the prison system in France, and the transformation was pretty gradual until about two pages from the end I was like, "Hang on a minute...this is meant to be about a prisoner..." And although on one hand you're totally punching the air like, "Yes, Victor! You da MAN!"* it would be kind of nice if we could get on with the story.

Oh, and here's a delightful coincidence I noticed. Claude Gueux= Age thirty-six. Claude Frollo, my favourite antagonist in literature= age thirty-six. Claude Gueux= obsessed with the man who gave him his extra food. Claude Frollo= obsessed with a sixteen-year-old truant. I'm sure Monsier Gueux is the great-great-great-great (etc. etc.) grandson of Dom Claude.

So, to conclude it was an entirely awesome return to Victor Hugo. Now I'm off to order Ninety-Three and The Man Who Laughs. (I know, no Les Miserables yet. It intimidates me. So many pages...)

*I should not be talking about one of the most influential writers in French literature like this.
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Nov 24, 2012 Najlepša leta rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Zadnji prizor

Ich hätte diesen Idioten keiner Antwort gewürdigt, wäre mir nicht eine tolle Hoffnung durch den Kopf geschossen. In der verzweifelten Lage, in der ich mich befinde, glaubt man für Sekunden, man könnte eine Kette mit einem Haar zerbrechen. “Hör zu”, sagte ich zu ihm, wobei ich so gut, wie ein Sterbender das fertigbringt, Komödie spielte, “ich kann dich in der Tat reicher machen, als der König ist; ich kann dich Millionen gewinnen lassen. Unter einer Bedingung.”

Er öffnete seine törich...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Mamdouh Abdullah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

القارئ لمجمل أعمال فيكتور هيجو يلحظ قضية دائماً ما يكررها في أعماله ويشدد عليه. هذه القضية أصبحت تؤرق روح هذا الشاعر الفرنسي, ويصرخ طالباً وقفها وإدانتها حتى. القضية هي حكم الإعدام. كون هيجو من جيل الثورة الفرنسية ومن الشاهدين على أخطائها, فمن الواقعية أن يكون هيجو أحد أنصار رافضي حكم الإعدام وبالمقصلة تحديداً. في عهد روبسبيير أصبح الإعدام يومياً بالمقصلة من المشاهد المألوفة في باريس .قال عنه المؤرخون أنه قتل ستة آلاف مواطن فرنسي في ستة أسابيع دون أن يهتز له ضمير!

هذه الرواية التي تحكي الأيام الأ...more

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Nov 26, 2010 Tanabrus rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. E’ un attacco alla pena di morte portato dallo scrittore francese, portato sotto forma di diario di un condannato a morte.
Non è propriamente un diario, teoricamente si tratterebbe di fogli scritti durante l’ultimo giorno di prigionia del condannato a morte, che tra le altre cose decide di scrivere ciò che prova, ciò che sente, i suoi sentimenti riguardo tutto questo.

Ecco, i sentimenti sono la parte meglio riuscita del libro.
Perchè l’immedesimazione è tanta. Certo, non sono mai stato condannato a...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Stuart rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love it when you can read a whole book in a day and this is definitely one of those books. Scarcely more than a 100 pages, this is a comparatively economical and breezy read for Hugo- albeit, loaded with the usual social commentary and metaphysical roller-coaster. The narrator is imprisoned and awaiting execution for an unspecified time and we follow him through a series of conversations, both with himself and others, until his ultimate and unavoidable end. Hugo describes both the physical and...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Lamia rated it 3 of 5 stars

An ordinary man, still young, was condemned to death. The execution is imminent. What to do to stave off the anguish of waiting? The anonymous man decides to keep a journal. What says he? The daily suffering of prisoners (convicts shoeing), the circumstances of his trial, the memories of his past life, happy, and especially terror as the time approaches the scaffold with nightmares, hallucinations ... The crazy hope too in order to not sinking, hope for a royal pardon that will never come ...
We...more

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Apr 11, 2011 Jorge rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hugo's work is filled with social criticism, and this book directly attacks the death penalty due to its inhuman nature. I am particularly fond of this novel(lete?) because of the time period it was published in and the intentions, Hugo takes his time to present the criminal not as the source of all evil but as a human being, who commits mistakes, yet not matter how grave the mistake is the suffering he is put through is beyond cruel. The attack on the death penalty can be called as old as histo...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is definitely a very interesting and thought provoking read, and written around 30 years before Les Miserables, it effectively serves as a sort of prototype for what he was going to explore there in much more lavish detail. As the title suggests, this very short novel (or is it a novella?) details the last few days of a condemned man, describing the unravelling of his mind and of life in prison. It is here that it evokes the Les Miserables future to come, as there is an damning account of t...more

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Mar 09, 2013 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hugo's masterful abolitionist text, chronicles the horror of living under the knowledge of the death penalty. What emerges is that the cruelty of the penalty lies not only in the barbaric act itself, but in the certain and precise knowledge of knowing the exact moment of one's death. Hugo chillingly registers the prisoner's physiological and mental changes as the moment approach. Realistically set against the backdrop of Paris's execution system--from the Bicetre, to the Concergerie, to the Hote...more

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Sep 19, 2009 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone studying French history

Recommended to Jim by: The publisher

The book is presented as an account, a journal, written in the first person by a young, condemned man. In all his writing he never suggests for a moment that he is innocent or that there has been a miscarriage of justice. No. And I think it's important here that we realise that our unnamed protagonist is guilty of a capital offence. Hugo is not arguing for an innocent man's life here. That is not the point of the book. He is saying that the Old Testament mentality of "an eye for an eye" is outmo...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A thought-provoking meditation on the culpability of the (18th Century French) state in its use of capital punishment. Opposed to the guillotine, Hugo constructs this composition as a diary describing the thoughts and emotions of a condemned man as he progresses from trial to execution. These reflections provide the reader with ample material to draw their own conclusions concerning the long-term effects of execution and the fallacious assumption that it should inspire civil obedience and discou...more

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Feb 25, 2009 Alexandre Piccolo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literatura-francesa, literatura-estrangeira

Romance (ou seria uma "novela"?) pungente, com o sabor do romantismo tanto no vigor da proposta (o combate à pena de morte) quanto nas construções do texto (nas palavras que não são capazes de expressar tamanha dor...). Cotejei o texto original com a tradução de Joana Canêdo para a Estação Liberdade, edição que recomendo (além do prefácio, publicado ao final do livro, a peça que acompanha a abertura deixa o volume precioso; algumas notas de pé de página poderiam ser evitadas, como "o sonho do au...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Yves rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: france, xixe-siècle

Avec ce livre, Victor Hugo prend position contre le peine de mort. Il exprime les sentiments d'un condamné à mort du jour du verdict jusqu'à quelques minutes avant de se faire guillotiner. Étant moi même contre la peine de mort, j'ai vraiment apprécié ce livre. Il y a un préface où l'auteur exprime clairement sa position en argumentant. Je ne sais pas si la nouvelle de Jean-Paul Sartre, Le Mur, a été influencée par ce livre mais l'idée générale des deux est la même à l'exception qu'ici, le priso...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Dave Turner rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hypnotic, Haunting and Horrifying.

Hugo's 66 page nightmare about an anonymous man's experiences of the death penalty is the very definition of a "must-read" work of literature.

We never know the convicts crime, nor his name but, neither of these are relevant - this is a exploration of the punishment not the crime. To read Victor Hugo is to confront the uncomfortable, and as we live in an age where the death penalty is still used by "civilized" countries and seen as acceptable by many, this is st...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am absolutely in love with Victor Hugo after reading this book. One of his lesser known works, 'The Last Day of a Condemned Man' criticises the use of the death penalty and the treatment of criminals. Not only was this a noble social criticism during the time it was written, it is still unfortunately relevant today. My edition also included 'A Comedy about a Tragedy' and 'Claude Gueux', providing an additional layer of complexity not only to the book but to Hugo himself. It should be a compuls...more

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May 07, 2013 Roberto rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Si dice che sia cosa da nulla, che non si soffre, ch'è una fine dolce, che in questo modo la morte è molto semplificata. Eh, che cosa sono quest’ agonia di sei settimane e questo rantolare di un intiero giorno? Che cosa sono le angosce di questa giornata irreparabile, che passa così lentamente e così in fretta? Che cos'è questa scala di torture che termina sul patibolo?"
“Che il sangue s’esaurisca a goccia a goccia, o che d’intelligenza si spegna un pensiero dopo l’altro, non sono forse due iden...more "Si dice che sia cosa da nulla, che non si soffre, ch'è una fine dolce, che in questo modo la morte è molto semplificata. Eh, che cosa sono quest’ agonia di sei settimane e questo rantolare di un intiero giorno? Che cosa sono le angosce di questa giornata irreparabile, che passa così lentamente e così in fretta? Che cos'è questa scala di torture che termina sul patibolo?"
“Che il sangue s’esaurisca a goccia a goccia, o che d’intelligenza si spegna un pensiero dopo l’altro, non sono forse due identici spasmi?”

L'ultimo giorno di un condannato a morte descrive le ultime sei settimane di vita di un uomo condannato alla ghigliottina. Il libro cerca soprattutto di descrivere le emozioni dell’uomo, le sue riflessioni e i suoi ricordi della famiglia e della madre. L'uomo, in uno stato di evidente disperazione, comincia a scrivere la sua storia per lasciare ai posteri un insegnamento per l'avvenire, sperando che quelle pagine possano contribuire all’eliminazione della pena di morte.
Il suo nome, la sua età, il suo aspetto, la sua condizione sociale e il suo lavoro prima di essere incarcerato non sono indicati. Non veniamo a sapere neppure se è effettivamente colpevole del crimine di cui è accusato. Hugo descrive invece benissimo la sua totale solitudine, trasmettendoci il panico, la rassegnazione e l'angoscia provati da quest’uomo. Riusciamo pian piano a immaginare lo stato di quest’uomo angosciato dal pensiero della morte imminente che non gli dà tregua, che non gli consente di pensare ad altro; tutto il suo mondo è condizionato dall’ansia dall’approssimarsi di quell’evento.

Molto ben descritto il flusso dei pensieri e l’alternarsi degli stati d’animo di fiducia e sconforto; un momento è pronto a morire sperando che i suoi scritti possano contribuire all’abolizione della pena di morte e un attimo dopo si rende conto che il suo futuro non esiste e che deve cercare di salvarsi subito.

Hugo ha scritto il libro in giovane età con l’obiettivo di contestare apertamente la pena di morte e la sua spettacolarizzazione. E devo dire che a mio parere l’obiettivo l’ha centrato in pieno.
Il libro è breve e lo stile scorrevole (che dire, è Hugo…). Sul patibolo, durante la lettura, è come se ci andassimo noi.(less)

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Jan 21, 2013 Ana Correia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own

Se há livros que nos mudam, o Último dia de um condenado foi sem dúvida um. É uma viagem pelas últimas semanas, pelos últimos dias e últimas horas de um condenado à morte, que vê o momento aproximar-se. Faz-nos de facto pensar na questão da pena de morte, na altura e na actualidade.

“Este jornal dos meus sofrimentos, hora a hora, minuto a minuto, suplício a suplício (…) não trará com ela um grande e profundo ensinamento? E neste processo verbal do pensamento agonizante, nesta progressão sempre cr...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Hoda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookoholics, favorites, own

I have read this book in its French edition during September 2012. Whenever you read Victor Hugo, I think, you will be moved by how beautiful the writing style and lexicon is. Hugo is an amazing writer.

This book is about how a prisoner is living his last day before he is executed at the blade of a guillotine. When this book came out, this topic was a taboo, it wasn't approved to be criticizing the death penalty through decapitation. Nowadays, it is forbidden, of course, and activists are tryin...more I have read this book in its French edition during September 2012. Whenever you read Victor Hugo, I think, you will be moved by how beautiful the writing style and lexicon is. Hugo is an amazing writer.

This book is about how a prisoner is living his last day before he is executed at the blade of a guillotine. When this book came out, this topic was a taboo, it wasn't approved to be criticizing the death penalty through decapitation. Nowadays, it is forbidden, of course, and activists are trying to render illegal the death penalty by hanging or by administering chemicals. SO, at the time, during the end of the 19th century, Hugo published this book anonymously, nobody knew who wrote it. It was an eye-opener to the people, and as I progress in this review, you will know why it was influential.

Hugo was always an advocate for the people, especially the poor. He believes that no matter what crime(s) you may have committed, the guillotine is too cruel and unjust and should be banned. This is basically what this book tries to tell us.

The book starts with a satirical dialogue between members of the bourgeoisie Française where they're ridiculing the book 'le Dernier Jour D'un Condamné' , attacking the poor, the prisoners and the writer of such a book that they wouldn't call literature. that was quite a clever way of introducing what Hugo is fighting against: the bourgeoisie, the class struggles, the snob society of the rich, the preconceived ideas, the merciless priests and politicians of his time, the absurdity of some so-called poets, and on.

He proceeds then to offer us in a diary-like account of an anonymous prisoner, on death penalty, telling us about his verdict, the prison, his execution, and about all the feelings and thoughts going through his mind. He wrote it all on his last day, thus the title of the book. We know few things about him: he killed someone, he is a husband and father of a little girl, he is a rich man, and he is living in utter fear. We do not know anything about the murder, Hugo is highlighting the fact that it doesn't matter, and regardless of what the crime was, the man is suffering because of his imprisonment and awaiting death.
There are many emotional instances in the book, especially the part about his daughter, about being in a cell where previously decapitated criminals lived until their own last days, about how merciless people are, how they would gather and celebrate an execution. This book is very personal to Hugo. He remembers having passed through a street one day, seeing people gathering in crowds since early morning, running around, singing and yelling, leaving their jobs, bringing their family and kids, all to witness joyfully an execution! He felt miserable about it, and he had to write this book as a protest against human cruelty and exaltation at the sight of a guillotine. There are some horrific details, like when the people would shout in disappointment if the guillotine's blade wasn't oiled or shaved properly as to decapitate the head at the first trial. That was one of many passages in this book that sent an icy shiver down my spine!
The condemned man is anonymous because Hugo wanted us to relate to this unknown person, to put ourselves in his shoes, and see what it feels like to live in a constant nightmare.

I will end my review by raising a few questions:
- Do you think that criminals should be punished?
- Do you think the death penalty is too harsh?
- Many people, including myself, believe the guillotine was one of the most barbaric form of torture. Don't you think that the death penalty through painless merciful ways is a necessity?
(I think that although the criminal would be in a horrendous psychological turmoil, and although sometimes an innocent man is convicted - this has to do with the laws of convict, not with death penalty per se - , but if you kill, you should pay for it, and you do not deserve to live in a 5 stars prison cell - like there are in some developed countries - while the person you've denied the right to live to your victim. So, I believe that a merciful death penalty, like injecting certain chemicals to stop the heart painlessly, is the best justice we can offer both the victim and the criminal, that is as far as I could sympathize with a murderer. Do not torture the murderers, but let them pay for their crime.)(less)

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Sep 12, 2011 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. There were moments when I felt like the story was mocking our unnamed narrator. For example when that architect comes to measure the cell, telling the condemned man that the prison will be much improved in six months from then but he won't benefit from it, or when the new guard asks the prisoner for the winning lottery numbers. I was like "leave the poor guy alone already!". Also, the part where his three-year-old daughter visits him but calls him "sir" instead of "papa" was heart-breaking.

I was...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Anastasia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classici, francia, alphabet-challenge-2012

Come si fa ad essere a favore della pena di morte? Un tempo non era così difficile, ora fortunatamente in molti paesi hanno pensato bene di eliminare un crimine del genere, che non regge, non regge assolutamente in nessuna logica che si preponga il benessere del cittadino.
Ma d'altronde è facile essere a favore della pena di morte se sei bello seduto sulla tua sediola da giudice, da accusatore, da chi punta il dito; ti voglio vedere a commettere il suddetto crimine e a sentirti dire "sei condanna...more

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Dec 09, 2010 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-print, political-social-issues, law, read-2010, fiction

Victor Hugo's "The Last Day of a Condemned Man" may be a short read, but it is by no means an easy one. Not necessarily enjoyable in the usual sense, "The Last Day..." is an important and powerful work in opposition to the death penalty. The book reads like the thoughts and journal of a condemned man in France, who is given six weeks to live. The reader is forced to delve into the thoughts and fears of a man that we never really get to know in a sense; we are told very little about his life, and...more Victor Hugo's "The Last Day of a Condemned Man" may be a short read, but it is by no means an easy one. Not necessarily enjoyable in the usual sense, "The Last Day..." is an important and powerful work in opposition to the death penalty. The book reads like the thoughts and journal of a condemned man in France, who is given six weeks to live. The reader is forced to delve into the thoughts and fears of a man that we never really get to know in a sense; we are told very little about his life, and told practically nothing about the crime he has committed that has led him to prison and to be sentenced to death. But that is Hugo's point -- that capital punishment is so inhumane that it should not matter the crime, or the details, or who a person is, only that the sentence is so cruel and unusual that it should not be an option.

This was an especially interesting read for me as I work in a law office that represents people on death row in their appeals, and some of the ideas in this short novel are interestingly at odds with the work we do. One thing David Dow mentions in the foreword is how death penalty litigation is heavily focused on individual stories and individual cases, trying to show how and why a certain client should not be put to death, but that Victor Hugo's novel approach to death penalty discussion, the idea that it does not matter who the criminal is or what the circumstances are of the specific case, is an important one. It was fascinating to feel how compelled I was and how sympathetic the main character could be even when I knew nothing of his circumstances or what he had done.

This short novel can definitely be tough to get through (it's quite short page-wise but took me a few sittings because I could only take in so much at a time) but I think it's an incredibly important intellectual work to read if one is interested in the death penalty. This should honestly be required reading for anybody involved in the criminal justice system, if not everybody period.(less)

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Aug 24, 2010 Célia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dn, own, 2010, 3-stars, bought, classics

Victor Hugo, escritor francês (1802-1885), é especialmente conhecido por ser o escritor de Os Miseráveis ou de O Corcunda de Notre Dame, apesar da produção bastante prolífica na escrita de poesia e teatro. Para além dos romances referidos, Victor Hugo escreveu também várias outras histórias, entre as quais este O Último Dia de um Condenado, que tive oportunidade de ler devido à recente colecção DN/JN.

Escrito nas vinte e quatro horas que antecedem a sua execução, o livro é uma espécie de diário d...more Victor Hugo, escritor francês (1802-1885), é especialmente conhecido por ser o escritor de Os Miseráveis ou de O Corcunda de Notre Dame, apesar da produção bastante prolífica na escrita de poesia e teatro. Para além dos romances referidos, Victor Hugo escreveu também várias outras histórias, entre as quais este O Último Dia de um Condenado, que tive oportunidade de ler devido à recente colecção DN/JN.

Escrito nas vinte e quatro horas que antecedem a sua execução, o livro é uma espécie de diário de um homem condenado à morte na França do século XIX e relata na primeira pessoa os acontecimentos das seis semanas que antecedem o dia fatídico. Assistimos ao julgamento e à sua transferência para um local onde os condenados passam os seus últimos dias. Ao longo desse tempo, a personagem principal vai fazendo várias reflexões sobre a vida e a iminência de a perder. Pondera a sua pena de morte face à perspectiva de trabalhos forçados que durariam anos, e tão depressa prefere que a sua vida acabe como depois percebe que a vida é o seu bem mais precioso, repleto de coisas belas e que a fazem valer a pena. É um relato muitas vezes imbuído de angústia e de saudade da sua vida anterior.

Ao leitor, nunca é revelado qual o crime que a personagem principal cometeu, nem sequer o seu nome. Isto contribui para a intemporalidade da crítica subjacente ao teor desta história, a existência da pena de morte. O condenado é uma espécie de representação de todos os condenados, independentemente do crime que cometeram e da sua própria história. É importante referir que em nenhum momento o autor tenta transmitir a ideia de que este homem é inocente e que não merece ser punido: é contra a forma de punição que ele se insurge.

Ao tratar de um tema ao qual sou bastante sensível, e digo desde já que sou contra a pena de morte, foi uma leitura por vezes angustiante, mas que considerei muito interessante. Gostei da escrita e da forma como o autor apresenta a sua história de modo a atingir o objectivo a que se propõe. É um livro que não nos deixa indiferentes, e que para mim teria funcionado ainda melhor caso fosse mais desenvolvido. Fica a curiosidade por ler Os Miseráveis, que tenho em lista de espera.
Nota final para esta edição: não só o papel é de má qualidade para um livro (quase parece papel de jornal) como a encadernação dificulta a leitura; juntando as gralhas, que são mais que muitas, recomendo que tentem ler outra edição deste livro.(less)

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Victor-Marie Hugo was a French poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights campaigner, and perhaps the most influential exponent of the Romantic movement in France.

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“But secondly you say 'society must exact vengeance, and society must punish'. Wrong on both counts. Vengeance comes from the individual and punishment from God.” — 13 people liked it

“The merciful precepts of Christ will at last suffuse the Code and it will glow with their radiance. Crime will be considered an illness with its own doctors to replace your judges and its hospitals to replace your prisons. Liberty shall be equated with health. Ointments and oil shall be applied to limbs that were once shackled and branded. Infirmities that once were scourged with anger shall now be bathed with love. The cross in place of the gallows: sublime and yet so simple.” — 7 people liked it

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