Hugo's Collected Works (Volumes 1-12)

Author: (French) Victor Hugo, Cheng Zenghou, et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-01-01
Features: Hugo was not only a great literary figure but also a great humanitarian and a passionate social fighter. His works were so numerous and accomplished that he excelled in all fields. As one of the world's most prolific and outstanding writers, he wrote over 20 poetry collections with more than 200,000 lines as a poet, 5 long novels with over 3 million words as a novelist, and numerous short and medium-length stories surpassing even those of novelists like Dickens and Tolstoy. In drama, he composed over a dozen romantic plays and other works, along with three political treatises, three travelogues, several volumes of memoirs, and literary critiques, among others—all nearly unparalleled. As a poet, Hugo did not belong to any single category but was multidimensional. He held titles such as "Poet of the French Nation," "Historical Poet," and "Poet of Turbulent Times." Hugo lived through France's turbulent historical era, from empire to republic, through repeated rises and falls, from Napoleon to the Third Republic. His poetry reflected France's major historical events, its rise and fall, its triumphs and tribulations. The voice of the people found expression through Hugo as their spokesperson. For instance, the publication of his Chatiments had the impact of a "revolutionary pamphlet," spreading widely and influencing society immensely. In terms of history, his poetry collection Legends of the Past chronicled the development of human society, from religious myths to the progress, evolution, events, and phenomena of the 19th century and beyond. This work is grand in scope, rich in content, and a monumental epic unprecedented in world literary history. Hugo also achieved remarkable success in lyric poetry. His poems were filled with a sense of justice for national and people's struggles, anger and hatred toward tyranny, and heartfelt odes to love, friendship, and family. He was particularly adept at writing about family. Hugo had five children, four of whom died before him, leaving only one daughter, Adèle II, whom he reportedly called a "illegitimate" child and who was mentally ill. His Elegies were deeply moving, bringing tears to the readers. In his late 70s and 80s, he was surrounded only by grandchildren and great-grandchildren, pouring his affection into them. He wrote the emotionally resonant Grandchildren's Promise, which became a masterpiece in world literary history for its portrayal of familial love. In drama, Hugo completed the transition from classicism to romanticism. His preface to The Preface to Cromwell, published in 1927, was exceptionally eloquent. He argued against classicism, advocating for a broader scope of artistic expression and proposing the principle of combining beauty and ugliness in stark contrast. Hugo's dramatic works were vibrant, dynamic, and featured romantic and engaging stories. Some plays sparked fierce debates between the old and new schools of thought before their performances, ultimately concluding with the success of the plays and establishing romanticism's dominance on the stage. He had over a dozen plays that held a monopoly on the French stage for over a decade—a significant achievement. By the 20th century, his romantic plays were still being performed at the French National Theater. Hugo was one of the few great novelists in the world. While it was generally believed that the novel was dominated by realism, with figures like Balzac, Dickens, and Tolstoy as representatives, Hugo's novels could rival those giants. Works like Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame had hundreds of millions of readers worldwide. These works had stood the test of time. In prose and political essays, Hugo's travelogues were widely praised. His political writings, though less read, included The Coup of December 2, 1851 and Napoleon the Little, which sold over a million copies worldwide. These were the truths of his era, and Hugo himself had fought against Napoleon. He had suffered persecution and spent 19 years in exile. Hugo was also an outstanding painter, skilled in both etching and watercolor. France even published an album of his paintings. From all these aspects, if one had excelled in just one, they would have been immortal. Yet Hugo achieved greatness in so many fields—how remarkable! His was outstanding, and I call it the "Hugo Phenomenon," leaving us in awe and making us realize how insignificant we are in comparison. This is why we celebrate Hugo. Hugo was a great social fighter among the few brilliant stars of literature! As a great writer, Hugo was exceptionally rare as a great social fighter among literary figures. He consistently supported the national liberation struggles of colonized and semi-colonized peoples, celebrated movements for democracy and republicanism, and opposed wars. After the Anglo-French burned the Forbidden City in 1861, he published a famous protest letter, furiously condemning the Anglo-French forces' destruction of Eastern culture. From the fall of the July Monarchy to the 1848 Revolution, Hugo was a pivotal figure in French politics, representing the democratic and republican left and playing a significant role in the parliament. He went into exile in Britain for opposing Napoleon III's coup, though Napoleon III offered him amnesty multiple times, which Hugo refused. This made him a symbol, a spirit, and an ideology in the fight for republicanism and democracy. When the Paris Commune was suppressed, he stood up, called for the commutation of sentences for its members, and even used his home as a refuge for them. Hugo's creative style was fundamentally romantic, and his various works could be categorized as such. In art, he proposed the principle of contrast, emphasizing the sharp juxtaposition of the grotesque and the sublime, light and darkness, good and evil. However, at times, his use of contrast became overly exaggerated, losing balance and becoming too artificial. For example, in Les Misérables, Jean Valjean is exceptionally compassionate and selfless, while the police officer Javert is cunning and cruel. In The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Quasimodo is grotesquely deformed but kind-hearted, while the seemingly pious priest is hypocritical and morally corrupt. Hugo's works addressed social issues and reflected social realities, such as the suffering of women, children, and the poor, all drawn from real-life experiences. With his rich emotions, keen observations, vivid imagination, and strong use of color, he depicted social realities and archetypes to highlight social problems. He said: "As long as the people I describe are not forgotten, this work will never be outdated." In the preface to Les Misérables, Hugo wrote: "As long as the three great problems of this century—men falling into moral corruption due to poverty, women sinking into depravity due to hunger, and children becoming frail due to darkness—cannot be fully resolved, as long as ignorance and poverty persist in the world, books like this will not be in vain." His humanitarianism and humanism remain relevant today. Hugo was French, yet he belonged to the world, and his immortal works are a shared spiritual treasure of humanity.