內容簡介
內容簡介 據說托爾斯泰曾稱《悲慘世界》為「有史以來最偉大的小說」,這部作品對《戰爭與和平》的創作亦產生了深遠影響。從某個層面看,它是一部偵探小說,描述不懈的警探賈維爾如何執著追捕越獄的尚萬強,最終在巴黎下水道展開戲劇性的追逐;但從另一層面看,雨果的這部鉅作是一齣關於罪行、懲罰與救贖的劇作,同時也是對拿破崙垮台後法國社會的全景式描寫。 然而,這部書更深層地探討了每個人與每個社會中「善與惡」之間的形上學掙扎。作品深受雨果獨特哲思的浸染,是一篇為社會正義、政治開明與個人仁慈發出的深切呼籲;自出版以來,歷經百年,依然以不減其力的聲音,持續感動世人。Tolstoy is said to have called Les Miserables the greatest novel ever written, and it exerted a powerful influence on the creation of War and Peace. At one level a detective story in which the relentless Inspector Javert obsessively pursues the escaped convict Jean Valjean, culminating in a dramatic chase through the sewers of Paris, at another level Hugo's masterpiece is a drama of crime, punishment and rehabilitation set against a panoramic description of French society in the years after Napoleon's fall from power. But this book is also about the metaphysical struggle between good and evil in the soul of every man and every community. Coloured by Hugo's distinctive philosophy, it is a plea for social justice, political enlightenment and personal charity which continues to speak with the undiminished authority more than a century after its first appearance.