"The Last Day of a Condemned Man and Other Prison Writings (World's Classics) - Softcover

Hugo, Victor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192828908 ISBN 13: 9780192828903

Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks, 1992

Synopsis

Victor Hugo, the shining light of French Romanticism, was an indefatigable campaigner against the death penalty. This unique anthology of his controversial writings on crime and punishment reveals the author's generosity of spirit and his pity for the condemned. However, as always in Hugo, a degree of endearing self-glorification is never absent. The Last Day of a Condemned Man, while not seeking to minimalize its protagonist's responsibility for the murder he has committed, reminds the reader of the mental anguish endured by a man condemned to a cell. Claude Gueux is a documentary account of the martyrdom of a prisoner driven to crime by poverty, and to murder by the casual brutality of a head warder. Also included are Hugo's moving diary entries recording his visits to the prisons of La Roquette and the Conciergerie.

About this title

Review:

"The message could be delivered by any present-day liberal, about any extreme punishment." --"Amnesty International"

From the Publisher:

Only edition in print of this passionate work by Hugo. It includes preface of 1832, a manifesto of Hugo's personal opinions.
Thought-provoking piece by Director of Amnesty International, UK

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0192828908
• ISBN 13: 9780192828903
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 228