Choses vues

by Victor Hugo

Collection Classiques dirigée par Michel Zink et Michel Jarrety. Édition de Frank Laurent. Le 15 décembre 1840, lors du transfert des cendres de Napoléon aux Invalides, Hugo se trouve parmi la foule ; le 22 février 1848, quand commence ce qui sera une révolution, il quitte la Chambre des pairs pour assister aux affrontements de la place de la Concorde. Mais ce dont Hugo est témoin, c'est aussi l'agonie de Balzac dont il serre une dernière fois la main inerte, et de nombreux événements de toute nature, dont, hélas, les plus tragiques : la folie de sa fille Adèle et la disparition de ses deux fils, Charles et François-Victor. C'est en 1887, deux ans après sa mort, que son ami Paul Meurice puise dans ses papiers et carnets la matière d'un premier volume de Choses vues qui plus tard s'accroîtra. Des Mémoires ? sans doute non. Une sorte de Journal, plutôt, mais qui accueille à la fois des pages écrites a posteriori et de simples notes très diverses : un ensemble de fragments à la fois historiques et intimes, où l'écrivain, souvent placé comme en retrait, nous propose, si l'on veut, sa chronique d'un demi-siècle.

Genres: Biography, French Literature, Nonfiction

768 pages, Pocket Book

First published January 1, 1887

About the author

After Napoleon III seized power in 1851, French writer Victor Marie Hugo went into exile and in 1870 returned to France; his novels include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).

This poet, playwright, novelist, dramatist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, and perhaps the most influential, important exponent of the Romantic movement in France, campaigned for human rights. People in France regard him as one of greatest poets of that country and know him better abroad.

Reviews

[Tien · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is filled with events which were memorable to Victor Hugo. Whilst events referred to are real, it is filled with many descriptions and reads rather like short stories. Since Hugo is a bard at heart, this is not surprising. They were quite enjoyable to read though not that easy mostly because I'm not familiar with Hugo's life nor French history. I think I'd like it better if I'm familiar with these things as I'd know better what he's talking about and why certain things he said may be funny or ironic etc.

[Stephen Kibler · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's all pretty interesting ... but the first bit where M. Hugo is wandering about Paris during the riots is fascinating.