10 Best Books Of Victor Hugo

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Victor Hugo is considered to be one of the greatest and most popular French writers. Known for his compelling stories, unforgettable characters, and powerful writing style, Hugo’s works have been translated into several languages.

His books are also well-loved by readers from all walks of life. His two most famous novels are “Les Miserables” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” While he was a known royalist, Hugo’s views changed as decades passed.

RELATED READ: Interesting Facts About Victor Hugo

He is buried in the Pantheon in Paris. His legacy in France cannot be denied that his portrait has been included on the French currency. In this article, we look at Victor Hugo’s most notable books.

10 Best Books Of Victor Hugo

1. Les Miserables

Published in 1682, Les Miserables is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. Its popularity has spurned film, television, and musical adaptations. 

In English-speaking countries, the book is usually referred to by its original French title but several alternatives have been used such as The Miserables, The Wretched, The Miserable Ones, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, The Victims, and The Dispossessed.

Les Miserables is based on an incident that Hugo himself witnessed involving three strangers and a police officer.

Set in 19th-century France, Les Miserables revolves around the main character Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who served 19 years in prison for a minor crime.

After his release, Jean Valjeane breaks his parole and escapes his pursuers. Les Miserables follows him in his quest to rebuild his life and struggles against the social injustice of his era.

In Les Miserables, Hugo paints a stark picture of the harshness and poverty of the time and the cruelty the poor is experiencing.

It also depicts the triumph of the human spirit as it shows how the most desperate of people can rise up against oppression and fight for a better life.

2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Published in 1831, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is considered a classic of French literature. Written at a time when there was a cultural upheaval in France, the novel takes place at the Notre Dame Cathedral solidifying its position as a national icon of France.

Through the novel, Hugo called for the reservation of Gothic architecture as an element of cultural heritage. At that time, Gothic buildings were being destroyed and replaced by new buildings. In other instances, they were being defaced by replacing parts of a building with a newer style.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame tells the story of the hunchback Quasimodo, the bell ringer of the cathedral. Set in 1482 during the reign of Louis XI. Esmeralda is the object of interest of many men.

Aside from Quasimodo, she is also being eyed by Captain Phoebus, the poet Pierre Gringoire, and his guardian Archdeacon Claude Frolio. At the end of the story, Esmeralda was hanged and it was witnessed by Quasimodo and Frollo from the tower of the cathedral. Eventually, Quasimodo vanished and was never seen again.

3. Toilers of The Sea

Written in 1866, Toilers of the Sea is one of the most important and influential works of Victor Hugo. Toilers of the Sea is a book dedicated to the island of Guernsey. Hugo wrote the book while he was in exile in Guernsey.

To date, there have been at least five film adaptations of the novel. The first three adaptations released in 1914, 1915, and 1923 were silent movies. Toilers of the Sea is credited for introducing the Guernesiais word for octopus into the French language.

Toilers of The Sea is set just after the Napoleonic Wars and deals with the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the island of Guemsey.

The main character of the story is Gilliatt, a social outcast who fell in love with Deruchette, the niece of a local shipowner named Mess Lethierry. When the ship was stranded and wrecked on the Douvres, a perilous reef, Deruchette promised that she will marry the one who can salvage the ship’s steam engine. In love with Deruchette, Guilliatt sees this as an opportunity to escape his loneliness and hopefully find a love that lasts.

4. Cromwell

Cromwell was written by Victor Hugo in 1827. However, because it consisted of 6920 verses and a large cast of characters, Cromwell was only played in 1956. With this play, Hugo emerge as a true Romantic. His plays abandoned the formal rules of classical tragedy that were prevalent in Shakespearean plays.

In Cromwell, Hugo tried to resolve the contradictions of human existence– good and evil, beauty and ugliness, tears and laughter– by combining both tragic and comic elements in a single play.

Victor Hugo wrote Cromwell in 1827, way before his open rebellion against the monarchy. The play revolves around the life and career of Oliver Cromwell, the national leader who rose from the ranks of the people who sought to be king.

The play also tells about Cromwell’s internal conflicts in being offered the crown of England. The preface of the play has been considered as the manifesto of the Romantic movement.

The play depicts a personal and intimate portrait of Cromwell not only as a politician and warrior but as a father, friend, and husband.

5. La Legende Des Siecles (The Legend of the Ages)

La Legende Des Siecles is a collection of poems written by Victor Hugo. The poems were written between 1855 and 1876 white Hugo was in exile and working on other projects.

The poems were published in three series in 1859, 1877, and 1883. In  1859, the first series was published in two volumes. He dedicated it to his home country of France. The second series was published in 1877 coinciding with Hugo’s 65th birthday. Finally, the third series was published in 1883.

Legend of the Ages shows Victor Hugo’s spiritual power without sacrificing his exuberant capacity to tell a story. His personal mythology of the human struggle between good and evil is portrayed in each of the legends.

The liberation of mankind from all religions in order to attain divine truth is the theme of “Le Satyre” and “Plein Ciel.” Legend of The Ages also demonstrates Hugo’s conviction of indefinite progress toward the union of science and moral awareness.

6. Hans Of Iceland

Written in 1821, Hans of Iceland is the first novel of Victor Hugo.  He was barely twenty years old when he completed it.

The book already shows the sparks of the spirit of social denunciation that will accompany Hugo throughout his life. It pleads the alliance of the king, youth, and the people in the face of the absolutism of evil as a result of the people dying of hunger outside the gates of the palaces. Unlike his two most popular books, Hans of Iceland received mixed reviews from critics.

Set in 17th-century Norway, the story focuses on Han, a misanthropic creature, living in exile. He lives alone with a bear and feeds only on human blood. His story is intertwined with that of a romantic hero, Ordener Guidenlew,  offering a rich blend of gothic, romantic, and political subplots. 

Hans of Iceland is a melodrama set in a fictitious place where intrigues and romance is in the background. Hans is a rustic and ferocious man who seeks revenge for the death of his son.

7. The Last Day Of A Condemned Man 

First published in 1829, The Last Day of A Condemned Man was translated twice in 1840. While the book is less popular than Les Miserables or The Hunchback of Notre Dame, other others believe that The Last Day of A Condemned Man is the most real and truthful of everything that Hugo wrote.

Hugo wrote the novel to express his feelings about the abolition of the death penalty. It was based on his experience when he saw an executioner greasing his guillotine in anticipation of a scheduled execution.

The Last Day of A Condemned Man tells the story of a man who has been condemned to die by the guillotine in 19th-century France. While awaiting his execution, the sentenced man wrote down his feelings and fears about his upcoming execution.

From the changes that transpired during his imprisonment, his life in prison to what his cell looks like, and to the personality of the priest. The book also provides a blueprint for Jean Valjean, the main character in Les Miserables. On his last day, the man sees his three-year-old daughter for the last time.

8. Mary Tudor

Mary Tudor is another play written by Victor Hugo in 1838. It was adapted into an opera at least twice. The first adaptation was in 1863 by JV Bridgeman entitled “The Armorer of Nantes” and the second adaptation was in Italian in 1879 by Antonio Carlos Gomez.

It was also adapted into a film in 1912. Directed by Albert Capellani, Marie Tudor was a silent film version of the play. Then in 1966, Abel Garcia directed a French television firm.

Marie Tudor is a historical work based on the rise, fall, and execution of Fabiano Fabiani, a fictional favorite of Mary I of England.  Fabiani was imprisoned in the Tower of London and remained there until his death even with Queen Mary I showing her desire to spare his life.

9. The Man Who Laughs

Published in 1869, Victor Hugo wrote The Man Who Laughs over a 15-month period while living in the Channel Islands while in exile from France due to the controversial political content of his previous novels. Despite some negative reviews about the book, it is considered one of Hugo’s greatest works.

The working title of the book was actually By Order of The King but his friend suggested The Man Who Laughs. Some of Hugo’s drawings have a connection with the book and its theme. It pictures the English royalty and aristocracy of that time as cruel and power-hungry. 

The Man Who Laughs follows the story of Gwynplaine, a young nobleman who was disfigured as a child by orders of the king (hence the working title). He travels around with Ursus, his protector and companion, and Dea, a baby girl he rescues during a storm.

Eventually, Gwynplaine realizes that it was better that he was poor than indifferent like the ones he find in the wealthy lords and nobles. The 1928 silent film was based on this book.

10. Les Contemplations

Published in 1856, Les Contemplations is another poetry collection of Victor Hugo. It consists of 156 individual poems spread out over six books. It revolves around various themes such as memory, death, love, and religion.

It also explores mourning, the love of young men, and sensual love in lyrical form.  In Les Contemplations, Hugo experiments with the genre of autobiography in verse. It also served as a tribute to his daughter Leopoldine, who drowned in the Seine in 1843.

Les Contemplations is divided into two parts: Autrefois and Aujourd’hui written from 1830 to 1843 and from 1843 to 1855, respectively.

At first glance, one would think that the book was chronologically written but Hugo distorted the date of writing in some of his poems. From there, it can be deduced that Hugo chose the order to be more psychological than historical.