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Really? That's surprising. English speakers wouldn't think of changing a word of a 19th century classic written in English just to update the language. If anything, the 19th century work is better English than most (all?) English speakers can now speak.
I would get the original. Hugo's french was a bit more formal but not that different than today. French written language as a rule is more formal than the spoken one, so if you've studied french and were taught to write it, chances are you'll get Hugo own words. I wouldn't recommend watered down Hugo for dummies any more than I'd recommend Shakespeare for Dummies, unless you just need to write a paper on it, and are just after the Grade. If you are interested in reading it for you own pleasure, then go for the original
My point is that I challenge you to find a 19th century work written in English that has been rewritten in modern English. I don't think you can. That's because there is little difference between 19th century (or even 18th century) English and today's English except we have more words now. What I think is surprising is that French could have changed so much in less than two centuries that a Modern French version of Les Miserables is even possible, much less desirable.
Correct Dan, I believe it is the same with French litterature. There are however rewrites of Classic Masterpieces, but it is not because of language per se, but to make it accessible to children of elementary school. It is a very watered down version to introduce the Story and keep it interesting for children, but I've only seen a few of those. The idea behind those books is to get the kids between 8 and 12 to like the story being told so much that they would look for the original work in their teens or as a young adult and read it now that they are able to digest it.
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Dan
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May 01, 2013 07:15PM
Really? That's surprising. English speakers wouldn't think of changing a word of a 19th century classic written in English just to update the language. If anything, the 19th century work is better English than most (all?) English speakers can now speak.
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I would get the original. Hugo's french was a bit more formal but not that different than today. French written language as a rule is more formal than the spoken one, so if you've studied french and were taught to write it, chances are you'll get Hugo own words. I wouldn't recommend watered down Hugo for dummies any more than I'd recommend Shakespeare for Dummies, unless you just need to write a paper on it, and are just after the Grade. If you are interested in reading it for you own pleasure, then go for the original
My point is that I challenge you to find a 19th century work written in English that has been rewritten in modern English. I don't think you can. That's because there is little difference between 19th century (or even 18th century) English and today's English except we have more words now. What I think is surprising is that French could have changed so much in less than two centuries that a Modern French version of Les Miserables is even possible, much less desirable.
Correct Dan, I believe it is the same with French litterature. There are however rewrites of Classic Masterpieces, but it is not because of language per se, but to make it accessible to children of elementary school. It is a very watered down version to introduce the Story and keep it interesting for children, but I've only seen a few of those. The idea behind those books is to get the kids between 8 and 12 to like the story being told so much that they would look for the original work in their teens or as a young adult and read it now that they are able to digest it.
