The Hunchback of Notre-Dame[巴黎圣母院]

VictorHugo,bornin1802inBesancon,France,wasoneoftheleadingFrenchauthorsoftheRomanticmovement.Althoughheoriginallystudiedlaw,Hugodreamedofwriting.In1819,hefoundedthejournalConservateurLitteraireasanoutletforhisdreamandsoonproducedvolumesofpoetry,plays,andnovels.Hugo'smostnotableworksincludeTheHunchbackofNotreDameandLesMiserables.Publishedin1831,TheHunchbackofNotreDameappealedtothepublic'sconsciousnessconcerningsocietyandthetreatmentofoutcasts.ItwaswiththepublicationofLesMiserablesin1862thatHugogainedinternationalfame.Anothertaleofoutcasts,thisstoryfollowsthelifeofJeanValjean,amanimprisonedfor19yearsforstealingaloafofbread.Afterhisreleasefromprison,ValjeanishuntedbythepolicemanJavert.Fullofintricatedetails,thestoryalsodescribesthefamousBattleofWaterloo.(Hugo'sfatherhadbeenanofficerinNapoleon'sarmy.)Bothoftheseworkshavebeenadaptedforthestageandscreenmanytimes.TheseadaptationsincludetheWaltDisneyversionofTheHunchbackofNotreDame,andtheaward-winningmusicalsensationLesMiserables.Inadditiontohisliterarycareer,Hugoalsoheldpoliticaloffice.In1841,hewaselectedtotheAcademieFrancaise.Afterpoliticalupheavalin1851,hewasexiledandremainedsountil1870.HereturnedtoParisin1871andwaselectedtotheNationalAssembly,thoughhesoonresigned.DuringHugo'slife,hehadsuffereddevastatinglosses,includingthedeathofhisdaughterin1843,hiswifein1868,onesonin1871,andanotherin1873.Helivedouttherestofhislifeasanationalheroandsymbolofexcellence,dyingonMay22,1888.GrahamRobbistheaward-winningbiographerofBalzac,VictorHugo,andRimbaud.HisotherbooksincludeTheDiscoveryofFrance,Parisians,andStrangers:HomosexualLoveintheNineteenthCentury.HelivesinOxford,England.