One-line summary: This is an amazing English translation of one of the best novels of all time.
The Julie Rose translation of Les Miserables was published in 2008.
I cannot recall being so captivated by a book since I read Atlas Shrugged for the first time. I’ve read other English translations and liked them (My French is not fluent enough to read the book as Hugo wrote it), but Julie Rose’s translation is in a whole different realm.
She captures Hugo’s plays on words, his dry humor. The historical interludes, which I had previously skimmed, held my attention completely. Afterwards, I felt as though I had been there, walking through 19th century Paris, running my hand over the Elephant of the Bastille, peeking through iron gates into secluded gardens.
/sb
